Last Sunday I preached a sermon called You Cannot Lose Your Salvation.
You Cannot Lose Your Salvation and it's very much the milk of God's Word.
Salvation is not salvation if it can be lost.
Either you're saved or you're not saved.
And I proved that, you know, with many, many scriptures.
And the scriptures that I used last week were scriptures that anybody, any child can read.
And it's clear that the moment you believe in Christ, you receive eternal life.
Eternal means it cannot be lost.
And so those that teach you can lose it don't actually believe they have eternal life.
Okay, which means they don't believe the record that God gave of his Son,
meaning that they are not saved.
Now what I wanted to do today is do a second or follow-up sermon to this
and show you certain scriptures that people use to say you can lose your salvation.
I can't give you a comprehensive list in one sermon.
I decided to just use the scriptures that I've personally heard most often brought up to me.
Okay, so you might be familiar with other verses out there.
I don't know.
It's not that I'm trying to avoid them.
It's just that otherwise this can continue on for like three full sermons.
If we just wanted to use a, you know, comprehensive list of every verse people use.
But I wanted to have the reading there in second Peter chapter three for a reason.
Because it says in verse number 16, and this is Peter speaking about the epistles of Paul.
He says,
You know, there are some things in the Bible that they're hard to understand.
Even Peter who walked with Christ says some of the scriptures are hard for him to understand.
But he's not denying the scriptures.
He just says they're hard to understand.
You know, like I said last week, the verses I used were not hard to understand.
They were simple verses, the milk of God's Word.
We're going to look at some verses that might be a little bit challenging,
might be a little bit difficult, okay.
But look, when the reverses that are hard to understand,
verses that are maybe more cryptic, maybe not so clear,
this is what happens as a result.
It says here,
Okay, rest is short for wrestle.
Okay, when you wrestle someone, you're trying to take them down, right?
You're trying to twist their arms or whatever it is.
Well, when there's a passage that is hard to understand,
the people that are unlearned, and that are unstable,
hope that's none of you guys.
Okay, in other words, those that are stupid and do not have a strong foundation,
they're going to wrestle with those scriptures.
It says here,
When you go to the scriptures and start to wrestle,
I don't really get this, but you're trying to make sense of it.
And you're unlearned, you're still new to the faith,
you're not even saved potentially.
You know, you're wrestling those scriptures.
You know, you're twisting the scriptures to try to make sense of them,
and you do it to your own destruction.
Those that want to twist scriptures to teach you can lose your salvation,
they're not just destroying themselves, they're destroying themselves for eternity,
because they're refusing to believe the simple gospel of Jesus Christ.
So the title for the sermon this morning is,
Conditional Salvation and Twisted Scriptures.
We don't believe in conditional salvation, we believe in eternal salvation,
everlasting salvation, unconditional salvation.
Okay, the only condition of course was Christ,
but that's his business for us.
It's unconditional, it's God's grace.
We did not deserve it.
We simply put our trust on Christ alone.
But there are some that say, well, yes, salvation is faith alone,
but there are conditions to remain saved.
And so whatever the conditions are, they start to list whatever their personal,
you know, preferences are for what you need to do to maintain or to keep your salvation.
I don't know, once I'm saved, I'm saved.
You know, Jesus Christ has saved me.
How can Christ say he saved me and still I die and go to hell?
Then Jesus Christ lied if he said he saved me.
Okay, salvation is to be saved, meaning that you are no longer damned.
But there are those that say, no, no, it's based on conditions and you better do your parts.
And they start throwing works and whatever requirements at you.
If you don't do it, then you have lost your salvation.
Well, let's continue there in verse number 17 in 2 Peter 3.
It says, ye therefore beloved, seen ye know these things before,
beware lest ye also being led away with the error of the wicked,
fall from your own steadfastness, but growing grace in the knowledge of our Lord and Savior,
Jesus Christ, to him be glory both now and forever. Amen.
Verse number 17 says, we need to be careful when people start to twist scriptures
that we also can fall in that trap.
The reason they twist scriptures is to cause deception and lies.
And we, if we're not stable, if we remain unlearned, we can fall at the trap of the wicked.
Which is why it says in verse number 18, but grow in grace
and in the knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ.
The point of this sermon today is that you would grow and that you'd gain more knowledge.
Okay, that's the purpose of the sermon this morning.
Come with me to John 3 16 very quickly.
John 3 16, John 3 16.
So the title for the sermon was conditional salvation and twisted scriptures.
So all the scriptures that I'm going to show you in a moment,
they've been twisted by some to teach you can lose your salvation.
Okay, and I want to be able to give you a response to those accusations.
But very quickly before we do, just a quick reminder of last week's sermon.
John 3 16.
For God so loved the world that he gave his only begotten Son,
that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life.
Okay, everlasting security, everlasting life, not conditional life.
Okay, we don't believe in conditional salvation.
It's everlasting.
Look, what I want to show in that verse, we all know it, okay, is that it's just so simple.
Whether it talks about everlasting life right there.
Okay, so what do I need to do to have everlasting life?
I need to believe in him.
And that's simple, right?
The milk of God's Word.
It has the word everlasting.
Believe, you know, this is this is as clear as you can get from the scriptures.
Come with me to John 5 24, John 5 24, John 5 24.
So these are verses that we use to teach that you cannot lose your salvation.
Because everlasting means it lasts forever.
It cannot be lost.
Okay, lasts forever.
John 5 24.
Verily, verily, I say unto you, he that heareth my word, and believeth on him that sent me,
hath, that's present tense, hath everlasting life.
That's simple, everlasting life, believing on him that sent me,
and shall not come into condemnation, condemnation, you will not be damned.
But if you could lose your salvation, then there are some people
that can be damned even after they have everlasting life.
Now Christ says that it cannot and shall not come into condemnation,
but is passed from death unto life.
That's past, okay?
You're not going to return back to the past.
If you could lose your salvation, you'd return back to the past.
No, you've passed from that.
Now you have life.
Again, like simple, right?
Believing, everlasting life, shall not come into condemnation.
You see the clarity of the scriptures that I'm showing you here?
Just clear.
Like no one can debate that's what Christ is saying.
Come with me to John 10 and verse number 28.
So these are verses that are not hard to understand, right?
Like it takes us a wicked, corrupt person to try to twist
even the verses that are clear and easy to understand, okay?
But John 10, 28, Christ says, and I give unto them eternal life.
That's clear.
And they shall never perish.
That's clear, isn't it?
Never.
Oh, you can lose your salvation and still go to hell.
Christ says never perish.
So am I going to believe Christ?
Am I going to believe the person that believes in conditional salvation?
You're going to believe in Christ, okay?
Simple, clear, okay?
And then, and you give unto them eternal life,
there shall never perish.
Then shall any man pluck them out of my hand.
We've seen that one again.
Now I'll just read to you.
If you guys come with me to Romans 10, come with me to Romans 10.
And while you're turning to Romans 10,
I'll read to you from another clear passage in Acts 16, verse number 31.
I know these are verses we use when we go soul winning.
And they said, believe on the Lord Jesus Christ and thou shalt be saved.
Saved, believed.
It's all clear, right?
The believing, now the word saved, the words everlasting or eternal.
I mean, these things about our life, eternal,
these things are clearly about the salvation of the soul, right?
It's clear that these are what it's talking about.
You're there in Romans 10 and look at verse number nine.
Romans 10 and verse number nine.
That if thou shalt confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus
and shall believe in thine hearts that God have raised him from the dead,
thou shalt be saved.
Clear.
What saves us?
You know, confessing the Lord Jesus,
believing in our hearts that God has raised him from the dead.
Not just that he died for our sins, of course,
but we have to believe in the resurrection.
We need to trust that Christ did all those things for us.
And again, I'm showing you these passages, not to spend much time on them.
But when we talk about passages about salvation, okay, they are clear.
God does not want to make salvation a cryptic passage
that you need to somehow work out, you know,
and put all the puzzle pieces together.
And it takes like 10 years of Bible college
to finally figure out what you must do to be saved.
No, it's called the milk.
It's easy.
All the work was done by Christ.
It's everlasting life.
It's simply believing and you're saved.
So think about all these words that God uses to make salvation clear.
Saved, eternal life, everlasting life, believe, okay.
And have, present tense, not to have some time in the future.
You have it now, the moment you believe on Christ.
So let's go to the passages that they use.
Now, you would think that if you could like,
just think about God's nature and how he makes it so clear.
You would think that if it was possible
to lose your salvation, which is important,
like if that was a real, you know, you could lose salvation.
That's a really important doctrine to know.
Like that shouldn't take 10 years of Bible college
and put in puzzle pieces together to figure out.
And so the verses that people use to say you can lose salvation
should be as crystal clear like these verses.
They should be saying the word saved and eternal life or lose salvation, right?
That's when thou shall be saved or thou shall lose your salvation.
The verses should be so clear like that, like the milk of God's word.
But you'll notice when they bring up verses to you that you can lose your salvation.
It's never mentioned those words.
It's never that clear.
It's harder to understand.
And they love those harder to understand passages
because they can twist it and confuse the mind.
It's harder to confuse the mind of those verses that I just quoted.
But they take the harder ones, maybe not so clear.
And guess what?
They don't say eternal life anyway.
But they'll just make it seem like you can lose your everlasting life.
You can lose your salvation, even though the verses themselves actually never say that.
Okay.
And we're going to look at some of those verses right now.
So come with me to 2 Peter.
You know, you were there earlier.
But 2 Peter chapter 2, please.
2 Peter chapter 2.
Now again, I don't know if I have these in any major order.
I think the last one is maybe the hardest one to explain.
I don't know.
But anyway, as I said, these verses are the ones that I've been confronted with.
People have challenged me.
What about this verse past or whatever it is?
Okay.
So 2 Peter chapter 2 and verse number 20.
All right.
2 Peter chapter 2 verse number 20.
For if after they have escaped the pollutions of the world,
through the knowledge of the Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ.
Okay, so someone's escaped the pollutions of the world.
And you know, they say that's saved person.
I actually agree that is a safe person.
But anyway, they are again entangled therein and overcome.
The latter end is worse with them than the beginning.
So they'll say, see, if you go back to living a,
going back to the pollutions of the world, right?
You got saved, but you just want to live in the pollutions of the world.
Then it's worse for you than it was at the beginning.
So they'll say you cannot be saved.
Now, honestly, this is a verse that I'm not just checking in.
This is the verse that people use.
Now, does that mention everlasting life or eternal life?
Does it mention the word believing or not believing?
Does it mention, what's the other one?
Saved or unsaved or lose salvation?
None of those words, but they'll make it seem like it's worse.
Therefore, you must obviously be lost.
But then you're lost before.
So how are you worse than you were before?
Like you were lost before you got saved.
And then let's say you could lose it where you're lost again.
Like you're not actually worse than you were from the beginning.
Like you're back where square one where you were before.
So what is this teaching us?
Well, let's continue there in verse number 21.
For it had been better for them to have not known the way of righteousness
than after they have known it to turn from the holy commandments delivered unto them.
So holy commandments, good teachings been taught to them.
And they've turned away from that.
They've gone back to the pollutions of the world, right?
That's better if you just did not know that is what it's saying there.
Verse number 22.
But it has happened unto them again, according to this true proverb.
It says the dog is turned to his own vomit again.
So this person that goes back to their old ways,
it's like going back to their own old vomit.
Like a dog eats up its own like vomits and then eats up the vomit again, right?
And then it says, and the soul that is washed to her wallowing in the mire.
I guess this is like a pig, you know, that's been cleaned up.
And the pig just goes back into its filth and mud.
And it's dirty once again.
See, you can lose your salvation.
Where are the words saved?
Where's eternal life or lost everlasting life?
Where's the lack of believing or anything like this
that we see in the clarity of the scriptures?
So what is this verse teaching us?
Well, let's go back to verse number one,
second Peter chapter two, verse number one.
And I don't plan to spend a lot of time explaining these verses in great depth.
Otherwise we'll be here forever just to give you a flavour
what this is actually teaching us, okay?
But second Peter chapter two, verse number one says,
but there were false prophets also among the people,
even as there shall be false teachers among you,
who privily shall bring in damnable heresies,
even denying the Lord that bought them,
and bring upon them themselves swift destruction.
So this is about false prophets.
These are about false teachers.
And I say, but look, they're denying the Lord that bought them.
So they were bought, but now they're not bought.
No, no, no, hold on.
Christ has bought the price of everyone's salvation.
Christ has paid for your sins even if you're not saved today.
You've already been bought.
You've just not redeemed the purchase.
And the way you receive redemption,
the way you redeem the purchase is by believing
and trusting only solely on what Christ has done for you.
Dying for your sins, rising from the dead.
Now you've redeemed it.
I used the illustration before.
It's like if my wife places an order at big W,
sometimes she does that.
And when I'm going to Sydney and I'm driving back, she says,
can you stop by big W and redeem the item I bought?
It's been bought, it's been purchased,
but we've not redeemed.
It's not ours.
It's not, it doesn't belong to us.
It's still in the warehouse of big W.
And what happens if I never got a big W
and never redeemed that product?
It's never ours, but it's been bought, but it's never mine.
So I've got to go to big W and redeem the item.
Here's the barcode, whatever it is.
Here's the number, you know,
under the name of Christina Sepulveda.
Thank you.
They give it to us.
We've redeemed it.
It now belongs to us.
But the item was bought before we redeemed it.
Same thing.
Christ has paid for the sins of the whole world.
Just because they've been bought doesn't mean
they've actually received the salvation.
They're false prophets.
They're false teachers.
They're bringing in damnable heresies.
They're bringing in lies,
which is why when you get to verse number 19,
in 2nd Peter 19, before that passage,
it says, while they promised them liberty,
they themselves are the servants of corruption
of whom a man is overcome of the same
he is brought in bondage.
So then we get to verses 20, 21, 22.
All right.
So we have false prophets that enter in.
They bring in damnable heresies.
They promise liberty, but instead they're servants of corruption.
And these people are then teaching God's people.
They get, they creep into churches.
They make themselves a position of authority.
And they ultimately end up teaching God's people
to go back to the pollutions of old.
Because once you're saved, guess what?
I mean, I don't really teach about salvation that much in church.
Once you're saved, that's it.
It's a settled deal.
It's eternal security.
Now we're teaching holiness.
Now we're teaching all the good things in the Bible.
How we ought to live in Christ Jesus and do the works
that will please the Lord and serve him faithfully
in every aspect of our life.
But if we get some false prophet come up and go,
Oh, that's all garbage.
Let's go back to the alcohol.
Let's go back to the fornication.
And they lead the people that way.
Well, yeah, that's why it's, it's those individuals
that get deceived by these false prophets.
It's like it says in verse 20,
for if after they escape the pollution of the world,
through the knowledge of the Lord and Savior Jesus Christ,
they get entangled therein and overcome the latter
and is worse with them than the beginning.
It's worse for them.
They're going back to their old ways.
They're going back to the sinful ways.
It's like they've learned nothing of the holy living
that was taught in church or whatever situation
they learned God's word.
And so this is not teaching you can lose salvation.
Just teaching us.
You know, if you got out of some bad sins in your life
from holy living and you go back to those things,
well, I mean, that that's what it's teaching
that some people do that.
You've probably done that in your life.
You've probably gotten saved,
got yourself out of some bad situations,
some bad sins, and then found yourself later on
doing them again.
It doesn't mean you've lost your salvation.
It just means you're struggling to walk as a believer.
And many times it is the result of a false prophet like this.
No, this verse does not teach you can lose your salvation.
Salvation is not even mentioned.
Eternal life is not even mentioned.
Believing on Christ Jesus is not even mentioned.
So this is, look, you know, putting this together
kind of frustrates me because like,
when you read this passage, it's like,
it's clearly not teaching you can lose your salvation.
It's not that hard.
Like really, I mean, it's not that hard
because we've been saved for a while.
We read God's word.
You know, we stand on the foundations of God's word.
So when we approach a passage like this,
we're like, well, we know we can't lose our salvation.
So it's definitely not about that.
It must be something about something else, right?
And that's just how it is.
Like we just, to many of us that have been saved
and read the Bible a long time, it's like,
that's just ridiculous to use passages like this.
But they do.
They do use passages like this to try to fool the simple.
Can you come with me to Galatians 5?
Galatians 5.
Galatians 5 and verse number 4.
And this again, this is another one that is so simple,
but they use it like, ha ha, gotcha, Pastor Kevin.
You can lose your salvation.
Galatians 5 and verse number 4.
Just before we read it, you know,
for by grace are you saved through faith.
We know that our salvation is, yes, our faith,
but it's because of God's grace.
It's because of God's grace
that we can put our faith on Jesus Christ.
So we are saved by God's grace.
And so because of that truth, it says in Galatians 5
and verse number 4,
Christ is become of no effect unto you,
whosoever of you are justified by the law,
ye are fallen from grace.
See, if you're saved by grace
and now you've fallen from grace,
this must mean you've lost your salvation.
Again, you know, these passages,
let's get a bit of context.
Let's start there in verse number 1.
Stand fast therefore in the liberty
where with Christ have made us free
and be not entangled again with the yoke of bondage.
Behold, I Paul say unto you,
that if ye be circumcised, Christ shall profit you nothing.
So the circumcision there is returning back
to the yoke of bondage.
People are coming back under the law
and saying in order for us to be saved,
we must keep the law.
And part of the keeping of the law was circumcision.
And so this has been taught here
in the Galatian church, okay?
So what Paul is saying,
like if you think circumcision is what saves you,
if you think it's the works of the law that saves you,
guess what, you're not saved, okay?
Because salvation is faith on Christ.
Faith on Christ's death, burial, resurrection,
his payment for your sins.
Salvation is not keeping the law,
get circumcised in the flesh.
None of that.
It profits you nothing, okay?
Because this is why,
because verse number 3 says this,
for I testify again to every man that is circumcised,
that he is a debtor to do the whole law.
If you think you've got to be circumcised to be saved,
you've got to do the whole law.
You know, one of the commandments is
thou shalt not bear false witness.
If you've told a lie and every one of you have,
so have I, it means we've not kept the whole law.
So that's it, that's done.
If you think going to heaven is based on you telling the truth
and never telling a fib, never telling a lie,
then you're not saved.
You've fallen from grace.
You're not trying to be saved by God's grace.
You're trying to be saved by the works of the law
and you're not good enough to keep them all.
That's why we get to verse number 4.
Christ has become of no effect unto you.
This is why whosoever of you are justified by the law.
So the people that have fallen from grace
are the people that are trying to justify themselves
by the law.
They believe salvation is by works,
which means they're not saved to begin with.
These people that are not saved to begin with,
they are fallen from grace.
Christ offers salvation by grace.
Everybody else offers salvation by the works of the law.
If you choose works of the law,
you're not going by grace.
You've fallen from that opportunity.
That option, that choice that you have to be saved by grace.
You want the works, then it's not grace.
Or if you want grace, guess what?
It's not works.
Okay, which is why it continues in verse number 5.
For we through the Spirit wait for the hope of righteousness.
Look at this, by faith.
We through the Spirit wait for the hope of righteousness by faith.
Okay, thereby works whereby faith.
That's why it says in verse number 6,
for in Jesus Christ neither circumcision availeth anything,
nor uncircumcision, but faith which worketh by love.
Okay, so the only thing that avails you,
the only thing that profits you anything is faith.
Okay, faith in Christ Jesus.
And if you're trying to get saved by works,
then you're not being saved by grace.
So you've fallen from that.
You're trying some other method.
Now is this saying you can lose?
Are the words there talking about believing on Christ
or losing your salvation or losing everlasting life?
No, it's just saying that those that are trusting in their works
were not saved to begin with.
Okay, they weren't saved and they're still trying to make the efforts by works.
They're trying to get themselves physically circumcised,
whatever it is that they've been told to do.
They're not saved, they're not being saved by grace.
They're trying their works and they didn't lose their salvation.
They're just not saved.
But the rest of us, we're saved by God's grace
because we've put our faith on Christ Jesus.
Again, to me, that's simple.
It's like, I don't know, I feel like I'm over-explaining to be honest with you.
That's straightforward to me.
I don't know how that can be understood any other way.
You know, if that doesn't make sense to you,
I'll just quickly read to you from Romans 11 verse number six.
And if by grace, then it is no more of works.
Otherwise grace is no more grace.
But if it be of works, then it is no more grace.
Otherwise work is no more work.
So you got a choice.
You either get saved by grace,
which is what saves you by faith on Christ Jesus,
or you try your best by works.
And guess what?
You're not good enough.
Because if you think it's by works,
you're a debtor to do the whole law and you've already failed.
So make it easy for yourself.
Be saved by God's grace.
Be saved by believing on Christ Jesus alone.
Oh, but you still have...
No, no, no, no.
Works is over here.
If it's works, then it's no more grace.
If you want to be saved by grace, then it's no more works.
Stop basing your salvation on your works.
It's grace and faith alone on Christ Jesus.
All right.
Come with me to John 15, please.
John 15.
John 15 and verse number six.
And this is just an example.
This can actually become other examples,
but I'll give you this one because this one comes up the most, I guess.
This is an example where someone says something to me
and I just, I realize when they say these things,
they just, they don't have the Holy Spirit of God in them.
I'll be honest with you.
Because here in John 15 verse number six,
it says, Jesus Christ says these words.
If a man abide not in me, he is cast forth as a branch and is withered
and men gather them and cast them into the fire and they are burned.
So they'll say, well, you see, you need to continue abiding in Christ
or you're cast into the fire and you're burned, i.e. you're cast into hell.
Okay.
As soon as someone says that to me, it's like the mistake they make is what,
and mistakes that I sometimes make in other aspects,
is that as soon as they see fire or burn, they think hell.
Like every time.
Now, of course, hell is a place of everlasting torment and fire.
Of course it is.
Okay.
But if we were to look at this passage,
what is it that's actually been cast into the fire here?
The branches.
Okay.
A branch.
Now, when we talk about Christ sending people to hell,
who is it that sends people to hell?
Is it not God?
Of course, hell is the place of God's wrath.
God's anger.
Okay.
God's judgment for those that reject his son.
The ones that cast people into hellfire is God himself.
Now, the problem is when people read a passage like this,
where a branch has withered and is burnt and is in illustration,
they start taking it literally, this must be hellfire.
Because it says burn, it says fire, hellfire.
Okay.
Now, if you're going to take something literally, you've got to take it literally.
Now, let's look at it again there at verse number six.
If a man abide not in me, he is cast forth as a branch and is withered,
and men gather them and cast them into the fire and they are burnt.
Okay, let's take it literally.
So I guess this means that when someone goes to hell, men, not God,
gather them and throw them into hell.
Is that what happens when someone goes to hell?
No.
What I'm trying to say to you is that people will take the Bible literally,
just wherever they feel like, okay, yeah, this part's literal,
the burning of the fire, but the men gathering them,
that's kind of just, no, it's either in illustration.
Okay, an object lesson, or it's literal, make up your mind.
It's one or the other.
You can't be like half a sentence, now it's literal,
and then half of the now it's no longer literal.
That's kind of, that's a stupid way of reading the Bible.
So that's why, as soon as someone says something like that to me,
I'm like, man, you just, how can you struggle so much with English?
Like the English language, like we all kind of speak it, you know.
I mean, I grew up speaking Spanish first.
When I went to primary school, I had a hard time speaking
because teachers were like, well, he's been hearing Spanish all day at home,
and then he comes here and it's all English.
He doesn't know what words to use or how to communicate.
But to me, the Bible's English, like it's okay, like it's fine.
Like sometimes it's literal, sometimes it's not.
And when it's not, to me, it's quite obvious.
Like when I read the Psalms, there's a lot of great teaching,
but it's a song.
I recognize it's poetry.
I recognize it's going to be exaggeration.
There's going to be expressions of language.
There's going to be illustrations and all this.
And to me, it's like at some point you're going to realize,
well, sometimes the Bible's literal and take it literally.
Sometimes it's figurative or an illustration and take it as such.
Now that just, we'll go back to verse number one.
Let's read it from verse number one.
John 15, verse number one.
I am the true vine and my father is the husbandman.
Every branch in me that beareth not fruit he taketh away.
All right.
First of all, I just want to point out verse number two.
Every branch in me.
So this is a branch that's already in Christ Jesus.
Now, the reason I point this out is not something for the Psalmist to say,
but some say you've got to, if you don't do the works, you're not saved.
They add works to salvation.
Well, no, in this, and they use this scenario to say,
you've got to have the works, otherwise you go to hell.
No, no.
The branch is already in Christ.
This person's already saved.
This is not teaching us how to be saved.
We're already saved.
Every branch in me, okay?
That beareth not fruit.
So can you be a branch in Christ that does not bear fruit?
Yeah.
That's what he said.
Every branch in me that beareth not fruit.
Okay.
So you can be a Christian that does not bear any fruit.
You know, you get saved.
I trust Christ and you're still just living the same way you've always lived.
There is no fruitfulness in you.
There's no growth.
There's no maturity.
All right.
I mean, if we go, let's say we go to the middle of Africa,
we do a missions trip there and we get some African like tribal African saved
and they believe in Christ Jesus, right?
But there's no good church in their area.
Maybe they don't even have a Bible in their own language.
Do you think they're going to grow much?
You think they're going to be very fruitful?
Look, they've got the Holy Spirit of God.
They might be able to, as they speak to the father,
but you know, the likelihood that they're going to become
these amazing Christians is very slim.
Okay.
Without God's word, without a good church.
You know, you'd probably look at their life and say,
well, I don't see the fruit.
Therefore they're not saved.
No, they're saved because they're in Christ.
They're just not bearing fruits.
And you, maybe you've been saved for a long time, but you can say,
pastor, man, I went the first 10 years of my life.
I've gone the last 10 years of my life.
Not bearing any fruit, not doing anything for Christ Jesus.
Well, you're saved because you're in him.
Okay.
So it's possible to be in Christ and not bear fruits.
But this is what happens to you if you don't bear fruits.
It says here, he take away and every branch that bear fruit,
he purges fruit that he may bring forth more fruit.
Okay.
So if you bring forth fruit, God wants you to bring forth more fruit.
Okay.
Now verse number three, this is so important.
Now ye are clean through the word, which I have spoken unto you.
Christ is making this clear.
He's teaching his disciples and just to make sure the disciples
don't get the wrong idea.
He says ye are clean.
Okay.
So he's speaking to some disciples that bear fruit.
Some disciples don't bear fruit.
They're in Christ Jesus.
Christ says, look, you're clean.
Don't worry about that.
You're clean.
All right.
Then he says, because you're clean through the word.
Verse number four, abide in me and I in you.
As the branch cannot bear fruit of itself, except it abide in the vine.
No more can ye accept ye abide in me.
So in order for us to be fruitful, what do we need to do?
Abide in Christ.
Is this saying in order for you to be saved, you must abide in Christ?
No.
It says in order for you to be fruitful, you need to abide in Christ.
You know, has anyone ever said, what must I do to be saved?
You must be fruitful.
But that's essentially right.
Anyone that's works is essentially saying that.
It's like, well, what's the measure of fruit?
How much fruit do I need to bring forth?
Oh, at this level.
Okay.
But this one says that if I bring forth this level,
God wants me to bring this much more level.
Like at what level of fruit do I need to bring forth?
To know that I'm saved and I'll never lose it and be cast as a branch in the fire.
See, it starts asking all these ridiculous questions.
But where is it saying, where anywhere here is it saying salvation, everlasting life,
believing on Christ.
Christ says no, you're clean.
Okay.
But if you want to bring full fruit, you need to continue to abide in him.
Okay.
And then verse number five, he says, I'm the vine, ye are the branches.
He that abideth in me, and I in him, the same bring forth much fruit,
but without me ye can do nothing.
All right.
So abiding Christ, much fruits, not abiding Christ, no fruits.
Is it saying abiding Christ, saved, not abiding Christ, not saved.
That's not what it's teaching is it?
And then he says, verse number six, if a man abides not in me,
he is cast forth as a branch, as a branch.
Okay.
And is withered and men gathered them and cast them into the fire and they are burned.
Meaning that if you're not fruitful, you're not profitable to Christ.
Just like a branch that's not bringing forth fruit, it's just casting the fire.
Okay.
We cut down some trees a few months ago.
We've got a guy come and just put him into a chipper machine, whatever it is.
What is chipper machine?
I don't know.
And he goes, that branch has gone into, into like sawdust.
It's gone.
Like it didn't, well, it probably was bringing forth fruit,
but it's just a nuisance in our backyard.
So we got rid of it.
There he goes.
Right.
Cast away.
Now, what is it teaching us?
This is actually teaching us in a very important doctrine is that we,
if we do not abide in Christ, we become good for nothing.
As Christians, as being fruitful for him, doing the works, getting people saved,
living whole lives, you can't do this without Christ.
There are unfruitful Christians all over Australia, but they abiding,
they're in Christ and they're clean.
They're in Christ, but they're just unfruitful.
Let me give you another teaching in the same, about the same doctrine.
Come with me to Matthew five, come with me to Matthew five and verse number 13.
You know, once that branch is burnt, it's not going to bring forth fruit, is it?
At all.
It's done.
It's pointless.
You can be saved and be completely unprofitable for your Lord and savior, Jesus Christ.
I'd hate that for you.
I'd hate that for me.
There is a doctrine like this.
The Bible teaches here in Matthew five, 13.
Matthew five, 13.
It says ye are the salt of the earth.
Again, again, another illustration, right?
Another like parable, another story.
We were like a branch and now we're like a salt.
We're like salt.
Okay.
Ye are the salt of the earth.
But if salt has lost, hath lost his savor, wherewith shall it be salted?
It is henceforth good for nothing, but to be cast out and to be trodden underfoot of men.
Now this one doesn't mention burning with fire because you're not going to burn salt,
but you're going to burn a branch.
Okay.
But it's teaching the same thing, that we are the salt of the earth.
We ought to be salty to the earth, but if we lose our saltiness or if we are no longer fruitful,
we are good for nothing, but to be cast out and trodden under the foot of men.
So this is teaching me that some Christians can get to a point where they're saved, praise God,
but they've grown cold to the Lord, they've backslidden,
they've gone back to the pollutions of the world.
And you know, I mean, God's merciful.
He gives us time.
He tries to prune us.
He tries to make us fruitful.
But if we just refuse, nah, I'm not going to continue abiding in Christ.
You're good for nothing.
And you're going to go to heaven, praise God, you go to heaven,
but you're not going to have much to show Christ.
You're not going to have any works to show Christ.
And those eternal rewards will be lost for you.
Okay.
You have eternal life, you're saved, but the eternal rewards,
the eternal treasures in heaven will be lost to you.
You know, the Bible speaks about this also in the Old Testament,
when Jeremiah is preaching, you don't have to turn there,
but Jeremiah speaks of the nation of Judah having gone into perpetual backsliding.
Not just backsliding, not just you've gone back to your old ways,
and then you're like, man, I'm doing bad, I better get back to walking with the Lord.
Perpetual backsliding, meaning it's continual.
They will never recover themselves back.
They just continue backsliding.
And that's why at the end of the day, God had to judge the southern king of Judah by the Babylonians
because they were rejected by him.
They had gone into perpetual backsliding.
Christians can go into perpetual backsliding as well,
where, you know, you're saved, but you're good for nothing, not fruitful.
You're not doing anything for the saviour.
Again, people will say, oh, that's you losing your salvation.
No, no, no, you're just not fruitful.
You're good for nothing.
And praise God, again, you go to heaven.
Because you go to heaven not because how much you're worth,
you go to heaven because of what Christ is worth.
You go to heaven because of the price of the blood of Jesus Christ which purchased you.
Which is without corruption.
That's the blood of Christ that saved you.
But your fruitfulness plays no part whether you're saved or not.
And again, this passage does not mention salvation,
does not mention believing, does not mention everlasting life.
Like the clarity of the other scriptures.
But they'll take these verses.
See, you can lose it.
Where?
Just because it's burned.
A branch being burned, that means you go to hell.
It's just a stupid way to read the Bible.
Okay, either it's literal, but it's got to be literal all the way
or it's figurative and then it's figurative all the way.
Can you come with me to Matthew 24, please?
Matthew 24, Matthew 24.
And I would say this one in Matthew 24
is the one that gets brought up the most to me.
Okay, the most.
And yet I think it's probably the easiest to explain.
Okay, Matthew 24 and verse number 13, Matthew 24 and verse number 13.
But he that shall endure unto the end, the same shall be saved.
Look, I give them credit now.
Because at least the word saved is here.
At least there's something like that kind of sounds like out salvation,
salvation of a soul or something like that, right?
So you've got to endure, you've got to try hard to make it to the end.
Got to keep all the, you know, that will explain to you what endure means to them.
Got to keep the laws, go to church, got to be reading the Bible,
you got to be living a holy life and turning from all your sins.
If you can do that to the end of your life, then you'll be saved.
But I'm already saved.
That's what last week's sermon was about.
I'm already seated in heavenly places.
I'm already up there in Christ Jesus.
And but this is the easiest one to explain.
Like, I don't know about you guys, but this is the one that comes up a lot.
Like a lot.
It's like, man, do you not know what Matthew 24 is about?
Okay, Christ is not teaching you how to be saved, how to save your soul
and have everlasting life and go to heaven in Matthew 24.
This is a completely different topic.
Okay.
And in fact, this is kind of similar to the burning thing, right?
It's like as soon as they see the word save or saved, that must be about going to heaven.
Now, if you like, read the Psalms, how many times the Psalm has talked about being saved.
But it's talking about physical salvation, because it's being confronted by enemies
and people seeking to hurt him and attack him.
And there are armies of the enemy.
And you know, King David's talking about all these people are out against him.
And he talks about the deliverance that God has given him.
And he's been saved by, you know, from the hands of his enemies.
You know, the Bible speaks more so, in fact, as a Bible as a whole,
you use that term salvation or saved more so about physical salvation.
Just being saved, like from drowning or something like that, right?
Being saved from an attack of the enemy, something like that.
But yeah, the Bible does also talk a lot about salvation of your soul in terms of saved.
But again, usually those words saved is in conjunction with believing
and everlasting life and eternal life, something like this.
You know, again, for by grace are you saved through faith.
Ah, so that's saved.
It's not just a physical salvation.
It's about my faith in God's grace.
And so this is obviously salvation of the soul.
So when you start to combine these words, you understand, okay, this is about soul salvation.
This is not about talking about physical salvation.
But to prove that is so simple.
If you just backtrack to verse number nine, before you get to verse number 13,
is this talking about physical salvation or the salvation of your soul?
Matthew 24, verse number nine says,
Then shall they deliver you up to be afflicted and shall kill you.
And you shall be hated of all nations for my name's sake.
So Christ is telling us about tribulation to come, afflictions to come.
Sometimes people are going to try to kill you just for being a Christian,
just for believing on Jesus Christ.
He will seek to kill you, okay.
Then he says,
But he that shall endure unto the end, verse number 13, the same shall be saved.
Saved from what?
From being killed by those people, okay, in the context.
Say, pastor, I don't know.
That's verses nine, then you get 10, 11, 12, then 13 saying that.
Look, I mean, learn to read the babbling context.
That's all I have to say.
Learn to read the babbling context.
But if you want more of an immediate context, come with me to Matthew 24, 21, same chapter.
Look at verse number 21.
Matthew 24, 21.
It says, for then shall be great tribulation,
such as was not since the beginning of the world to come,
nor, no, nor ever shall be, verse number 22.
And except those days should be shortened, there should no flesh be saved.
But for the elect's sake, those days shall be shortened.
All right, so what is it that's been saved here?
There should no flesh be saved, okay?
So as you keep going through this chapter, what's the context?
The salvation here is a physical, is a fleshly salvation.
People seeking to kill you, Christ says, you know what?
Those that endure to the end, your flesh will be saved.
Oh, that'd be nice to know that if we are the generation
that goes through these end time periods, there's the potential
that we could make it all the way to the end and even our flesh will survive
until the coming of Christ.
But those days shall be shortened.
And then it can tease there, let's drop down to verse number 29.
Immediately after the tribulation of those days,
shall the sun be dark and the moon shall not give her light
and the stars shall fall from heaven and the powers of the heaven shall be shaken.
And then shall appear the sign, the son of man in heaven.
And then shall all the tribes of the earth mourn
and they shall see the son of man come in the clouds of heaven
with power and great glory.
And he shall send his angels with a great sound of a trumpet
and they shall gather together his elects from the four winds
from one end of heaven to the other.
So there's the salvation.
Christ is coming, gets his angels, we gather the elect together
to him in the clouds.
The salvation of your flesh if you go through these end times tribulation.
This is not talking about everlasting life.
Is it?
It's not saying those that believe on him,
he in this passage will be the only ones that are saved or anything like that.
Some of the elect, they're already saved, they're already believed on Christ.
They're already in Christ Jesus.
Whether how fruitful they are or how fruitful they're not is irrelevant.
They've been gathered together with these angels into Christ Jesus.
But I said I wanted to give you a bit more direct context.
I gave you the general context of what this is about.
Salvation is the salvation that comes when Christ comes in the clouds, okay?
To deliver us from those that have brought great tribulation on the saints.
But go to verse number 21, Matthew 10, sorry, Matthew 10.
Matthew 10, Matthew 10 and 21.
Matthew 10, verse number 21.
Let me give you just a direct, you know, context of this.
Matthew 10, 21.
Christ says, and the brother shall deliver up the brother to death
and the father of the child and the children shall rise up against their parents
and cause them to be put to death.
Now what death is that talking about?
If families can kill another family member, is that the death,
like the spiritual death going to hell or the lake of fire?
No, it's a physical death, right?
And then it says this in verse number 22.
And you shall be hated of all men for my name's sake,
but here that endureth to the end shall be saved.
Saved from what?
From being murdered by your own family members.
Again, a physical deliverance, a physical salvation.
And that verse number 22 is sandwiched with verse number 21,
talking about physical death.
And also look at verse number 23.
But when they persecute in this city,
flee ye into another, for verily I say unto you,
ye shall not have gone over the cities of Israel till the Son of Man be come.
So one way to endure to the end is if there's persecution
and people are trying to kill you in these end times is flee to another city.
And then if you get persecution there, flee to another city.
You get persecution there, flee to another city.
You say what?
So we can endure to the end?
Yes, but also you go from city to city preaching the gospel
of Jesus Christ, getting people saved all over the place
as you're trying to save your flesh to see the coming of Jesus Christ.
And again, is this teaching us how to go to heaven, how to have everlasting life?
No, it's talking about salvation of the flesh.
Sometimes people are going to try to, thank God we live in 2024 right now.
Yes, people mock our faith, but they're not trying to kill us.
I mean, the devil might be trying to kill us,
but generally speaking, you know, our society is not trying to kill us in that sense.
But there are times in history when this has been the case.
Simply by believing on Jesus Christ, they seek to kill you.
Well, if you endure to the end in these coming tribulation times,
then you'll be saved at the coming of Jesus Christ.
Your flesh, okay, your flesh will be saved.
Come with me to Hebrews 6, please.
Hebrews 6, Hebrews 6, Hebrews 6.
Then the other one is, what about Hebrews 6?
What about Hebrews 6?
Now, I'll just say to you, I believe Hebrews 6 is challenging.
I do believe it's quite challenging, okay.
But one thing that's not challenging about Hebrews 6
is that this is teaching that you can lose salvation.
Like that's not, like that's easy to disprove that, you know,
Hebrews 6 says you can lose your salvation.
It's quite easy to say that's not actually what it's teaching.
It's more difficult maybe to show people really what it is teaching.
Like I'm probably familiar with at least three, maybe four positions
that saved, spirit-filled Christians say this passage is about, okay.
But let me make it very clear what it's not about, okay.
So if we have a look at verse number four, Hebrews 6 and verse number four,
it says here, for it is impossible for those who are once enlightened
and have tasted of the heavenly gifts and were made partakers of the Holy Ghost.
So as I say, see this person was a partaker of the Holy Ghost,
they've tasted the heavenly gift, therefore they're saved, okay.
We'll be that conclusion.
Verse number five, and have tasted the good word of God
and the powers of the world to come.
So they've tasted God's word and the powers of the world to come.
They're also familiar with eternity.
I guess they've had the hope on the world to come.
Verse number six, if they shall fall away,
oh, you can fall away,
and renew them again unto repentance,
seeing they crucify to themselves the Son of God afresh
and put him to an open shame.
I'll quickly read verses seven and eight.
For the earth which drinketh in the rain that cometh oft upon it
and bringeth forth herbs meat for them by whom it is dressed,
receive of blessings, blessing from God.
Then they say this,
but that which beareth thorns and briars is rejected
and is nigh unto cursing, whose end is to be burned.
There's that word burned again, right, burned.
Burn must mean hellfire.
Again, sometimes it does, all right.
But again, I want you to notice what has been burnt in verse eight there,
that which beareth thorns and briars, which is rejected.
Okay, now what is this teaching?
I say, see, you've tasted the word of God,
but you fell away and now you're going to burn in hellfire forever.
So you were saved, they'll say,
and now you're not saved and you're going to hellfire forever.
All right, let me address that this is clearly not teaching
you can lose your salvation, okay.
Before I explain to you where I stand on this passage,
let me just say this is not teaching that at all, okay.
Because everybody, and look, you might have your own individual story,
but everybody I've ever come across that says you can lose your salvation,
and even if you look up articles online, just general articles
about people that say you can lose your salvation,
they also believe, at least the majority,
the general consensus that holds to this doctrine,
they believe, yes, but if you fall away and lose it,
you can still get it again in the future.
That's their general view.
That is the majority view of those that teach you can lose your salvation.
They can get it back if you do well enough again in the future.
All right, let's break it down slowly and show you why it's impossible to get it back.
Because verse number four says, for it is impossible.
For it is impossible.
There is something that is impossible, but it is impossible.
Now before we read, continue reading, look at verse number three.
See how verse number three ends with full stop.
I want you to think when you read the Bible, think of the structure of the sentences.
And again, I'm not the best at grammar.
I sometimes get confused with Spanish, but I get, I know what a full stop is.
I know what a comma is.
I know when a sentence starts and when a sentence ends.
And if you can just do that in your Bible reading, it's going to help you a lot, okay.
But verse number three ends with full stop.
So verse number four begins with a new sentence.
It's not unrelated to what's come before because it says full.
It's a conjunction.
It's related, but it's a new sentence.
Okay, it says for it is impossible.
Okay, now something is impossible.
Okay, all right.
For those who were once enlightened.
So there's something impossible for those that were once enlightened.
And have tasted of the heavenly gift and were made partakers of the Holy Ghost.
And have tasted of the good word of God and the powers of the world to come.
See how verse number four ended with a comma and verse number five ended with a comma.
The sentence has not finished.
There is something impossible for the person, whatever your belief is about this person.
There's something impossible for that person, okay.
This is what's impossible for them.
Verse number six.
If they shall fall away to renew them again unto repentance.
So this is what's impossible for them.
If they fall away and renew unto repentance.
It's impossible for them to repent, okay.
Seeing they crucify to themselves, the Son of God afresh and put into open shame.
This is why it's impossible.
Because if it was possible for these people to fall away, okay.
And come back to repentance, they are essentially put into Christ on the cross again, right.
How does it say again?
Crucify to themselves the Son of God afresh.
Now can the Son of God be crucified afresh?
No, okay.
You're in Hebrews.
Come with me to Hebrews 9 28.
Hebrews 9 28 please.
Hebrews 9 28.
So Christ was once offered to bear the sins of many.
And unto them that look for him shall he appear the second time without sin unto salvation.
So Christ was once offered to bear the sins of many.
Okay, so if Christ was once offered and these people are trying to offer Christ afresh,
a second time, a third time, a fourth time.
The Bible is telling us that is impossible.
It's impossible to do that.
So those that say you can lose your salvation, but then you can get it back.
No, it's impossible.
If this was teaching you can lose your salvation.
Then this is also teaching.
It is impossible to get it back.
But they don't go that far.
They want to use something that's a bit tricky, a little cryptic, a little difficult to understand.
They wrestle it because they're unlearned because they're stupid.
They're stupid people.
You notice that they never go to the John 3 16 that are just clear.
They never go to those passages that are just clear.
Let me show you.
And like I said, Hebrews 6, I think three or four different interpretations I've heard
from spirit-filled born-again believers.
So this teaches me that even believers can have a hard time understanding this passage.
And because even believers can have a hard time, hard to be understood like Peter said.
Don't think it's a horrible thing.
If it's hard to understand, fine.
Peter said there are passages that are hard to understand.
So these people, these unlearned wicked people come, oh, it's hard to understand.
This is my opportunity to wrestle and make it appear that you can lose your salvation.
If anything, this passage is saying it's impossible to be resaved.
That's what it's saying.
It's impossible to be resaved.
I believe it's impossible to be resaved because you're once saved, you're always saved.
You cannot be resaved.
It's impossible.
It's like, it's impossible for me to go back into my mother's womb
and be born for my mother again.
So that's impossible.
Yes, it is.
Now rather than just leaving it there and saying, look, there are different views.
Let me show you at least where I lean toward, but maybe in a few years I'll have a different
leaning, okay?
Cause like I said, people can have different views on this.
Let's start there in Hebrew.
Now, before we read Hebrew six, look at this.
Sorry, Hebrew six, six, let's look at it again.
If they shall fall away and renew them again unto repentance.
Okay.
When I read the Bible and I want to understand something further,
I want to stick to its immediate context as much as possible.
So what is this repentance?
Well, it's not, you don't have to go that far to look at it.
Okay.
Verse number one.
Therefore, leaving the principles of the doctrine of Christ, let us go unto perfection,
not laying again the foundation of repentance from dead works.
So when you got saved, you repented from your dead works.
You may have once believed that your works is what saved you,
but we saw if it's by works, it's not by grace.
So you repented, said what?
It's not by works.
I'm not good enough.
I'm a sinner.
Therefore, I'm going to repent.
Okay.
From my dead works and put my trust on Christ alone.
God's grace alone.
All right, good.
Okay.
These are the principles of the doctrine of Christ.
These are the very foundational things, the easy things in our Christianity.
And it says in our faith toward God.
Some of the ones here, verse number two, of the doctrine of baptisms
and of laying on of hands and the resurrection of the dead.
And of eternal judgments.
And this will we do if God permits.
So we're moving on.
We're becoming more perfect.
The perfect man.
We're growing.
We don't need to rehash all the former things of the past, right?
You've repented from your dead works.
You're now saved.
Okay.
You don't, like if I just keep teaching on salvation week in, week out, week in,
week out, week in, week out, week in.
Be like, hey pastor, let's, can we move on from the principles?
Okay.
Can we grow?
Can we become more perfect?
Can we get more Bible?
You know, that's what it's essentially teaching us, right?
We need to grow up.
Then it's saying, for it is impossible.
Anyway, this is where I want to be careful.
I could be a little bit wrong here.
I'll just tell you, but this is where I lean toward.
Okay.
For it is impossible.
Okay.
For those who are once enlightened, I think this is a safe person.
Okay.
I was once, I've tasted of the heavenly gift and made partakers of the Holy Ghost.
So to me, that partaking of the Holy Ghost means I must have had him in me.
Partook of that.
That's it.
Okay.
And have tasted of the good word of God and the powers of the world to come.
If they shall fall away.
Now, can a believer fall away?
Yes.
I believe he can fall away.
All right.
And renew them again unto repentance.
Seeing they crucify themselves the son of God afresh and put into open shame.
Remember, verse number six is what verse number four is saying is impossible.
So once you have repented from your dead works and are now saved, if you fall away,
it's impossible to be re-saved because you were always saved.
It's once saved, always saved.
Once you've turned from your dead works and you've believed on Christ in grace,
Christ God's grace, it's impossible for you to go back to a state of being unsaved
and repent all over again from your dead works.
Dead works.
That's what I believe it teaches.
What about the burning?
What about the branch that burns?
Okay.
Abiding in Christ.
Things like that.
Another way to understand this, I'll just quickly go to Hebrews 9.
Come with me to Hebrews 9.
And I think this is good as well.
Hebrews 9 13.
Dead works gets brought up again here in Hebrews 9 13.
For if the blood of bulls and goats and the ashes of an heifer,
sprinkling the unclean, sanctified to the purifying of the flesh,
how much more shall the blood of Christ, who through the eternal spirit offered
himself without spot to God, purge your conscience from dead works to serve the living God.
You can read Hebrews 9 more in your own time.
But what Hebrews 9 14 seems to point as the dead works
are the offerings of the blood of the bulls and the goats.
Okay.
So there works.
But those offerings don't save you.
That's what the book of Hebrews is about, right?
That it's the blood of Christ, the lamb of God that saves you.
And so I guess the Hebrews of this day had a hard time adjusting
from going from the old covenant system to the new covenant.
And even some Hebrews probably saved wondering,
well, should we go back and continue offering our sacrifices?
We've been doing that for generations, you know?
And no, it's impossible.
Like that was a figure for Christ.
You know, we can't go back to those old ways.
It's done in Christ Jesus.
And so those things are just dead works.
That's another view that's been out there.
And maybe I can see that point as well.
I mean, at the end of the day, dead works are dead works.
And if you would trust in your works at one point to be saved,
and now you no longer trust it, you're saved.
It's impossible for you to get back to a point of damnation and have to repent all over again.
Because if that were possible, then Christ would have to die a second time.
And no, Christ, Bible says Christ died once for the sins of many.
Now you might have a different view to me.
I don't mind.
I don't think it's a big deal.
But one thing we can all agree on.
This is not teaching you can lose your salvation and get re-saved all over again
and lose it again and get re-saved all over again.
That is just stupidity.
Can you come with me to 2 Timothy chapter 2?
2 Timothy chapter 2.
Thank you for your patience.
2 Timothy chapter 2.
This is why I can't do a comprehensive list.
Otherwise, we'll be here for hours and hours and hours.
Okay, I'm just showing you the ones that have been brought up to me most often.
Now, believe it or not, this is a question I get most of the time.
Not most of the time, I get this question.
Like this is one of my top three questions as a pastor.
Pastor, what if someone says they no longer believe?
We know that salvation is by faith alone.
I agree.
What if they said that?
They used to say, this person believes on Christ, whatever it is, right?
And but now they say they no longer believe.
And that's what some people say.
Yes, you can lose it if you no longer believe.
Now, as I've gone soul winning through the years,
there have been times that I've tried to, you know, give someone the Gospel.
And people at the door sometimes say, oh, yeah, I used to believe that.
I don't believe it any longer.
Now, that testimony comes up quite a lot.
I used to be a Christian.
I used to believe the Bible.
I used to, yeah, yeah, those things you say, I used to believe that.
And so that's why in a lot of people's mind, they think, well, they don't believe anymore.
But they believed it.
So they must have been saved and now they've lost it.
But those same people, this is, you know, challenge for you.
I'm sure those that experienced soul winners, you already do this.
But when someone says, I used to believe that, you know what the follow up question is?
What was it that you used to believe?
What was it that you thought got you to heaven?
And I said what the answer is, oh, you gotta be a good person.
You gotta keep commandments.
So they didn't believe the Gospel.
They just believed a false Gospel.
And they no longer believe that false Gospel.
It's not that they were saved and they lost it.
They were never saved to begin with.
Like, you do it.
When you talk to people, I used to believe it.
Ask them, what did you used to believe?
Don't give them the answer.
If you give them the answer, oh yeah, that's what I believe.
No, let them answer for themselves what it is that they used to believe.
And you'll notice that they never believed the right Gospel to begin with.
So pastor, what if someone says they've stopped believing?
Are they saved or are they unsaved?
Look, I wish I could just give you a black and white answer.
And this is my answer to you.
Human beings are complicated creatures.
That's all.
I know you want the black and white all the time.
Human beings are complicated.
If you really spent thinking about yourself, you know how complicated you are.
Even though I'm just down the line, pastor, I'm just.
We all understand we live in a world where we interact with different types of people,
different types of doctrines out there.
And sometimes we have to position ourselves in a certain way
to explain to others or explain differently or whatever it is.
Look, I've come across people that have said to me,
I no longer believe the Bible.
I no longer believe in Jesus.
Then, three years later, four years later, five years later,
oh no, I do believe it.
I do believe in Christ.
I do believe the Bible.
But remember you said five years ago you didn't believe?
I was just lying.
Why were you lying?
I just didn't want to be held accountable following the Bible anymore.
And I kind of just wanted to live my own life.
And it was just easier for me to say I no longer believe it
than to say I'm just a backslidden Christian.
There are examples like, I know examples like this,
where they are true saved believers today.
But five years ago, 10 years ago, they said I don't believe it.
But they weren't telling the truth.
They were lying to themselves.
The Bible says we can deceive ourselves.
Remember last week I mentioned the new man versus the old man?
In a scenario like that, someone that is saved,
the old man can go, I don't believe it.
I just want to live a worldly life.
And the new man's going, you're an idiot.
Of course you believe it.
Stop telling people that you don't believe it.
It's like Peter, when Christ was taken and arrested.
And they're like, Peter, you know Jesus?
We've seen you Jesus.
I don't know who he is.
Was Peter lying or telling the truth?
He's lying.
Of course he's lying.
Because human beings are complicated.
They're like, no, I would have just said, of course I believe in Christ.
What, the percentage of you getting arrested and maybe put to death yourself?
Look, we have emotions and thoughts and feelings and all this stuff and
pride and arrogance and the new man and the old man constantly at war with each other.
You can say a lot of stupid things.
I believe that.
In fact, I can think of one friend.
I don't know if I can him a friend still,
but I can think of one friend that today says I no longer believe it.
But I remember sitting down with him and we'll talk about the gospel.
And I want to be careful what I want to say because I say too much people know who this is.
But this individual had multiple pastors in his family or has multiple past,
multiple IFB pastors in his family.
And a couple of them are not saved pastors.
They're not saved.
They teach you got to turn from your sins, hardcore.
If you're an alcohol, you got to give up the alcohol to be saved.
And we're talking over lunch one day and you're saying,
you know, I'm getting confused by the gospel here.
What's saying this, saying that?
I'm like, brother, it's salvation by faith alone.
You don't have to turn from your sins.
It's like, yeah, that's what I thought.
But why is this person in my family?
It's pastor in my family.
IFB pastor in my family saying these things.
And so, you know, it cleared the cobwebs a little bit.
He grew up in a very strict, militant Christian family.
And I got to be careful what I say.
But anyway, he confronted, you know, this pastor in his family.
You're teaching a false gospel.
It's by grace for faith alone.
Stay on the truth.
He got shot down.
He got shot down by his family.
You know, stop being rebellious.
Stop being, you know, difficult.
You know, stop being difficult.
You're the black sheep of the family.
Blah, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah.
Wearing down his, you know, confidence.
Wearing down, you know, his love for his family.
Today he says to me, I don't believe it.
Now it's possible that he's not saved.
I accept that.
It's very possible I'm not saved.
But by his own confession, you know, by his own testimony
of where his faith was, is at that point.
So that man is saved.
He's just discouraged.
He's like, man, I'm over this.
If these IFB pastors can't even get it right,
then I'm out of here.
I'm done.
I'm so discouraged by Christianity.
I'm so discouraged by church.
I'm so discouraged by my own family.
I'm just going to live like the world.
I'm going to be the branch that does not abide in Christ
and does no longer bring forth any more fruits.
And I'll just burn away.
Is that possible?
I believe so.
But I don't really know that deep down.
I don't know his heart.
I really don't know that.
But I can tell you that I've seen people go from saying,
yeah, I didn't believe it now.
Yeah, of course, I've always believed it.
And I reckon if I get this individual down
for another coffee one day and we just talk about it,
I'm pretty confident going to say, yeah, actually, I do believe it.
I'm pretty confident.
I just, I'm saying that I don't believe it
because I'm just trying to get away from my hypocritical IFB family
that I grew up under.
And it's just easier to do that.
You know, it's just easy to say I'm not saved.
I don't believe it.
Then, you know, trying to live a life that's trying to please the family
and trying to argue on the gospel and getting discouraged at church.
People get discouraged at churches, you know that?
I don't want to be part of your discouragement by the way.
I want to give you confidence that if you put your faith and trust in Christ alone,
you are eternally secured.
You are.
Nothing will ever change that.
Now you're in 2 Timothy, right?
Did I get you in 2 Timothy?
Before we read that, I'm going to read to you from John 3, 36.
John 3, 36.
What if you stop believing?
John 3, 36 says,
He that believeth on the Son hath everlasting life.
See, you believe you have everlasting life.
Then it says, and he that believeth not.
I used to believe, but I don't believe anymore.
Here's the argument people use, right?
He that believeth not the Son shall not see life,
but the wrath of God abideth on him.
They say, see, if you stop believing, you believe and you stop believing,
you lose your salvation.
But if you look at that verse carefully, read it carefully.
He that believeth on the Son hath everlasting life.
So the person that's believed on God, believed on Christ,
have they seen life?
They have it.
They have everlasting life.
They've seen the life, they have it.
Then it says, and he that believeth not the Son shall not see life.
So the one that does not see life, is he the same person
that once did see the life and have life in him?
Cannot be because that person did not see life.
So you can't see life and have life and then lose it.
If you don't have it, it's because you never had it.
Okay.
If you don't have life, you cannot see life, you're not believing the Son.
It tells me you never had it.
Okay.
But remember, when we believe on Christ, we believe with our hearts.
These mouths can lie.
It's just true.
And they can say all kinds of horrible things.
So when someone says to a pastor, what if this person says they no longer believe?
It's much more complicated than just, oh, he's not saved.
Now, let me say this.
If someone says, I used to believe it, I no longer believe it.
I'm going to treat them as an unsaved person.
And I'm going to try to give them the gospel and get them saved.
I'd rather treat them as an unsaved person and try to get them saved.
Okay.
And hopefully get them saved, then go, well, I think he's saved.
So leave him alone.
No, I never have that attitude.
If someone's not, if someone's saying, look, I don't believe in Christ.
I'm just automatically, I'm going to treat you as though you're not saved.
I'm going to treat you as someone who needs to hear the gospel.
But there's a part of me that says maybe he was saved, especially if they can articulate
and give evidence that they once did trust Christ as the gospel teachers.
Because once you have life, it's everlasting life.
And I know that Christians can get into a really bad place sometimes
and say all kinds of stupid, stupid things.
But again, in that scenario, I'll still try to give you the gospel.
That friend of mine that I spoke about, if I get a coffee with him,
I'm pretty sure I'm going to be able to get him to confess he still believes in Christ.
But if he's adamant, no I don't.
I'm going to try to give him the gospel.
Try to get him saved.
Okay.
Now you're in 2 Timothy chapter two, verse number 13.
I just want to end on this one.
This is why you cannot stop believing and lose salvation.
Because it says in 2 Timothy 2.13, if we believe not.
Now, if we, okay, this is Paul writing to Timothy.
So believers.
Amen.
Paul and Timothy are definitely believers.
There's no doubt about that.
If we believe not, yet he abideth faithful, he cannot deny himself.
Look, if someone is truly saved and they say, I no longer believe.
They could be lying.
But if they were truly saved and they say stupid things,
you don't, to be saved, you don't have to maintain your faithfulness.
You get saved by grace through faith one time.
You're born again.
Okay.
But the one that remains faithful is God to you.
He remains faithful to you.
Why?
Because God cannot deny himself.
Guess who's living within you?
The Holy Spirit of God.
Christ in your heart.
Your old man could say, ah, garbage.
I don't believe it anymore.
But if you're truly saved, God cannot deny you.
Or he cannot deny himself.
And Christ is the one that lives within you.
So look, you definitely cannot lose your salvation.
Look, I believe the context of this is just our faithful living.
Sometimes we're not very faithful in our life toward God.
And sometimes we can walk away from God, but God will never leave us nor forsake us.
He remains faithful to us.
Like I believe the context is not about salvation, like going to heaven, salvation.
But the principle is there.
If that is a reality where someone is saved by grace through faith,
and now they're just going for a bad time and just easy to say, I don't believe it anymore.
But the new man in says, yeah, you do.
You're an idiot.
Shut up.
You do believe it.
Well, God remained faithful to that person anyway.
And they're saved anyway.
So you cannot lose it even if you stop believing.
Even if, even if, um, hypothetically, someone could say, I don't no longer believe it.
And was saved.
They cannot lose it anyway.
Salvation cannot be lost.
Thank you for your patience, brethren.
Total for the sermon was conditional salvation and twisted scriptures.
You see how awful these people are.
That twist wrestled the scriptures to make you lose your hope and confidence in Jesus Christ alone.
Brethren, you can be sure that you're saved today.
That you're going to heaven today.
That if you were to die today, you would be in heaven and not in hell.
And if you don't have that confidence, please speak to me after the church service.
I'm not going to speak to you the way I preach.
I will speak to you lovingly, gently.
Okay.
I speak to you kindly because I love your soul and you need to be sure that you're going to heaven.
Okay.
Let's pray.