The verse I want to focus on was verse 24 where the Bible read,
Verily, verily, I say unto you, He that heareth my word,
and believeth on him that sent me, hath everlasting life,
and shall not come into condemnation,
but is passed from death unto life.
And the title of the sermon this morning is Once Saved,
Always Saved.
Once Saved, Always Saved.
Another theological term people use to describe this
is the eternal security of the believer.
Now, this is a very important doctrine
because even in this shopping center today,
there's four other churches.
I mean, you just walk down here,
there's four other churches
you could be meeting at this morning.
And guess what?
They're all Pentecostal,
and they all teach you can lose your salvation.
They do not believe once saved, always saved.
And this is a key doctrine to understand.
Look, if you don't understand this,
you don't understand the gospel.
The gospel is clear
that once you believe on the Lord Jesus Christ,
that you're given eternal life,
that there's nothing that can separate you from His love,
that there's no way you can go to hell
after you've believed on the Lord Jesus Christ,
that once you're saved, you're always saved.
It's very clear.
Go, if you would, to Romans chapter number eight
this morning.
Now, some people get confused, and you'll teach,
you'll say, oh, I'm once saved, always saved.
And they'll say, oh, you're a Calvinist.
No, just because you believe
that you can't lose your salvation
does not automatically make you a Calvinist.
This is kind of the logic when someone says,
hey, did you vote for, you know, Barack Obama?
And you're like, no.
And you're like, oh, so you must've voted Republican then.
No, I didn't vote at all.
Look, just because somebody has two options,
that doesn't mean you have to pick one of the two.
Sometimes there's a third option.
And the Calvinists believe
in the perseverance of the saints.
They believe that someone who is saved
will continue to follow in good works,
will continue to do good things.
And if you're backslidden,
well, you must not have been saved in the first place.
But that's not what the Bible teaches.
The Bible makes it clear
that your works are not how you're saved.
That's not the best picture of what,
if someone is saved or not.
It's by what comes out of your mouth.
It's your testimony,
because the Bible makes it clear you're saved by faith.
That's why in Ephesians chapter two, it says,
for by grace are you saved through faith
and that not of yourselves.
It is the gift of God, not of works,
as any man should boast.
According to the Bible, we're saved by grace,
something we don't deserve.
And it's our faith that saves us.
It's a gift that we receive today.
But the problem with the Calvinists
is they don't believe that you have to do anything
to be saved, not even believe on the Lord Jesus Christ.
That it's just this laser beam
that God just decides you're saved and you're damned.
It doesn't matter what you do.
You don't have any free will.
God just elects whom he will.
That's a false doctrine,
because Romans chapter 10 says that if,
that if thou shalt confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus
and shalt believe in thy heart
that God hath raised him from the dead,
thou shalt be saved.
Look, the Bible has this big word called if.
There's a lot of ifs in the Bible.
And if you're a Calvinist,
you don't even understand this word.
You don't realize that there is a response of man.
But according to the Bible, it's not by our works.
It's not by living a good life.
It's not you're willing to give a gift exchange.
Some people think, well, I gave my life to Christ.
That's not a good way to word it,
because look, God's not wanting you
to give him something to be saved.
He wants you to receive his free gift.
On your birthday, you don't have to give a gift
to everybody that's giving you a gift.
On Christmas, do you have to give your parents a gift
for them to give you something?
No, that's a gift exchange.
That's why a gift is something you just receive for free.
And if, you know, you go down to the store today,
you go to Target, they'll say,
hey, you can get a free shirt
if you buy two other at the regular price.
That's not a gift.
That's you buying it.
They might as well just said, hey, it's 33% off.
And you know, there's all these tactics
and marketing ploys for people to trick you and deceive you,
because you look at the sign, it says free shirt.
You're like, sweet, I want one of those.
But you gotta buy two of them.
That's not a gift.
And that's how people think the gospel is today.
They think that they have to earn it and work for it
and do some kind of good deeds in order to receive it.
According to the Bible, it's just by faith that we're saved.
Just putting simple faith on the Lord Jesus Christ,
his gospel, just believing in him,
and we receive eternal life.
But I have nine points this morning,
nine points as to why once we're saved, we're always saved.
It's not like a temporary thing.
It's not a conditional thing.
You don't receive conditional life.
You don't receive temporary life.
No, according to the Bible, it's eternal life.
It's everlasting life.
But here's my first point.
Look at Romans 8, verse 38.
For I am persuaded that neither death, nor life,
nor angels, nor principalities, nor powers,
nor things present, nor things to come,
nor height, nor depth, nor any other creature,
shall be able to separate us from the love of God,
which is in Christ Jesus our Lord.
According to the Bible, once someone believes
on the Lord Jesus Christ,
once they've gone through the Lord Jesus Christ
to receive salvation, the Bible says it's impossible
for you to escape God's love.
Nothing can separate you from God's love.
God will love you forever.
There's nothing that'll stop you.
Now, of course, just like a loving parent,
won't parents punish their children?
But does that mean they don't love them?
Acts of the Bible makes it clear
that if you love your children, you will punish them.
You will chase and discourage your sons,
according to the Bible.
Go to Hebrews chapter number 12.
But the truth is that someone who's not saved,
they don't have the love of God on them.
They actually have the wrath of God on them.
He that believeth on the Son hath everlasting life,
but he that believeth not the Son shall not see life,
but the wrath of God abideth on him.
Every single person outside these walls
that does not believe in the Lord Jesus Christ,
or even in this room that does not believe
in the Lord Jesus Christ, God's wrath is abiding
on them right now because they're a sinner,
because we've all sinned and come short
of the glory of God.
And if you were to die in that condition,
you will go straight into hell.
You will split hell wide open.
But as soon as you believe on the Lord Jesus Christ,
he's given you your love.
His wrath is taken from you and his love is shown on you.
And there's nothing that can separate you
from the love of God after you've been saved.
Look at Hebrews chapter 12, verse five.
And ye have forgotten the exhortation
which speaketh unto you as unto children, my son,
despise not thou the chastening of the Lord,
nor faint when thou art rebuked of him.
For whom the Lord loveth, he chasteneth
and scourgeth every son whom he receiveth.
If ye endure chastening, God dealeth with you as with sons.
For what son is he whom the father chasteneth not?
But if ye be without chastisement,
whereof all are partakers,
then are ye bastards and not sons.
So look what the Bible's saying is if you save today,
and God's obviously loves you,
then the Bible makes it clear that he's gonna chase
and discourage you when you sin.
There's not a license to sin.
Some people say, oh, once saved always saved
just means you can just live however you want.
Yeah, if you want God to constantly punish you,
if you want God to constantly be upset with you,
if you want your parents to constantly discipline you
and spank you and take away all your goods,
then disobey them.
But look, you can't change who your parents are.
You can't change your mom, you can't change your dad,
and if you believed on the Lord Jesus Christ,
you can't change that.
But a proof of God's love is that he will chase
and discourage you in your life.
If you're just living a wicked life with no recourse,
with nothing bad ever happening to you,
here's my question.
Did you ever believe on the Lord Jesus Christ?
Were you even saved?
Because the Bible makes it clear if you're saved today,
then you're gonna receive correction when you screw up,
when you sin.
If you're in unrepentant sin and you're a believer today,
God will punish you in this life.
Go to Ephesians chapter number one.
So the first point I have is,
you're once saved, always saved, why?
Because of the love of God.
Once you're saved, God loves you.
And the Bible says in John 3.16,
for God so loved the world.
God loves every single person,
that's why he sent his son to die on the cross.
But if someone rejects the gospel,
if someone never gets saved,
he's not gonna love them anymore.
And it's not loving to send someone to hell.
God does not love the people that he sends to hell,
but he loves you, he loves every single person
that is in this world, he's loved them at some point.
And the Bible makes it clear that if they believe
his gospel, then there's nothing that can separate them
from the love of God.
Look at Ephesians chapter one, verse 11.
In whom also we have obtained an inheritance,
being predestinated according to the purpose of him,
who worketh all things after the counsel of his own will,
that we should be to the praise of his glory,
who first trusted in Christ,
and whom ye also trusted,
after that ye heard the word of truth,
the gospel of your salvation,
and whom also after that ye believed,
ye were sealed with that Holy Spirit of promise,
which is the earnest of our inheritance,
until the redemption of the purchase possession,
under the praise of his glory.
So not only are you given the love of God,
which what a great blessing that is,
that God will always love us,
but the Bible says you're sealed
with that Holy Spirit of promise.
So as soon as someone believes on the Lord Jesus Christ,
they have the indwelling of the Holy Ghost,
and the Holy Ghost will never leave thee
nor forsake thee according to the Bible.
You've been sealed with him.
It even says in verse 14,
which is the earnest of our inheritance.
You say, what is earnest?
A lot of people use this in context of maybe buying a house.
You put earnest money down,
or maybe buying land or buying something.
Whenever you want to buy something,
but it's not gonna happen today,
people will put down what they call an earnest payment.
An earnest payment just is a promise
that they will buy this in the future.
And when you're saved today,
the Bible makes it clear your old man, the flesh,
nothing changed.
Your body is still the old corruptible man.
It's still capable of sin.
That's why if you walk in the flesh,
you're gonna fulfill the lust of the flesh.
That's why we have to read our Bible.
That's why I have to pray.
That's why we have to go to church
so that we can crucify the flesh daily
and then walk in his light, walk in the gospel,
walk according to his word.
But what did God do in between?
Because once we die,
the Bible says in the end there'll be a resurrection
and our corruptible will put on incorruption,
that will put on immortality, that will have a new body.
But what's happening in between?
Well, God put an earnest down payment.
What is that?
It's the Holy Ghost.
The Holy Ghost dwells inside you and that's his earnest.
That's his promise saying,
I will redeem your body one day,
but right now you have the Holy Ghost living inside you.
That's my earnest.
You've been sealed with the Holy Spirit of what?
Of promise.
He's saying, look, I am gonna deliver you.
Once you've believed on the Lord Jesus Christ,
you've been sealed.
He's put his earnest payment down with the Holy Ghost.
You will be redeemed.
There's no question about that.
You've been sealed with the Holy Spirit of promise.
Go to 1 John chapter number three.
The Bible says in Ephesians four,
and grieve not the Holy Spirit of God,
whereby ye are sealed unto the day of redemption.
Look, he says, you're sealed.
It's a done deal.
I put my stamp on it.
It's gonna happen.
Now that you have the Holy Ghost living inside you,
once saved, always saved.
Look at 1 John chapter three verse one.
Here's my third point.
Behold, what manner of love the Father
hath bestowed upon us,
that we should be called the sons of God.
Therefore the world knoweth us not because it knew him not.
Beloved, now are we the sons of God,
and it doth not yet appear what we shall be,
but we know that when he shall appear,
we shall be like him, for we shall see him as he is.
So according to the Bible,
not only are you given the love of God,
not only are you sealed with the Holy Spirit of promise,
you actually become a child of God.
When you believe on the Lord Jesus Christ,
you now the spiritual Father in heaven, that's the Father.
And you're born again through the Lord Jesus Christ.
And it says, look, now are we the sons of God.
It doesn't say in the future.
It doesn't say later.
It says now.
As soon as someone believes on the Lord Jesus Christ,
then what the Bible says, born again.
And they become a son or a daughter of God.
And there's nothing that can change who your parents are.
Once you're born into the family,
you're always in the family.
Now they might, you know, in the worldly sense,
people might cast you out or have no fellowship with you.
But can you really change who your parents are?
Can you ever change that DNA?
Can you ever change who that mother was?
Can you become unborn?
No, according to the Bible,
it's the same way with spiritual salvation.
Once you're born into the family,
you're always in the family.
That's why God's never gonna stop loving you.
And that's why he's put a seal of the Holy Ghost inside you.
Go to Galatians chapter three.
Galatians chapter number three.
I think this is one of the strongest points
when going sowing, when talking to somebody,
when trying to give them the gospel,
showing them how we become the sons of God,
how now we are the sons of God.
That's a very earthly example
that makes a lot of sense to people
of how I can't change who my parents are.
And I'll even ask people this question.
I'll say, if I come and live with you
and I start following all your rules,
would I become your son?
And they say, of course not, right?
That doesn't even make any sense.
Well, that's what a lot of people think
they're gonna get to heaven.
That's how a lot of people think
that they're gonna be saved by following God's rules.
Look, following the rules
does not determine who your parents are.
It determines their relationship with your parents.
If you follow your parents' commandments,
they're gonna be pleased with you.
If you don't follow them,
they're gonna be displeased with you.
The same thing as the Lord Jesus Christ.
Look at Galatians chapter three, verse 26.
For ye are all the children of God
by faith in Christ Jesus.
Some people wanna stop there.
They wanna just say, oh, we're all God's children.
We're all brothers and sisters in Christ, right?
Like the Mormons.
The Mormons will teach that everybody's a brother and sister.
Jesus Christ and Satan are brothers and sisters.
That's wicked.
That's not what the Bible teaches.
Look, you become a son of God
by believing on the Lord Jesus Christ.
But as many as received him,
to them gave you power to become the sons of God,
even to them that believe on his name.
Once someone believes on the Lord Jesus Christ,
now they're a son of God.
By faith, that's how the Bible describes it.
Clip over a couple chapters,
go to Galatians chapter four now.
That's why in John chapter three,
when Jesus was speaking to Nicodemus,
he said, verily, verily, I say unto thee,
except a man be born again,
he cannot see the kingdom of God.
There is a requirement to going to heaven.
You gotta be born again.
Not of the flesh, but of the spirit.
Nicodemus was like, how can a man be born when he's old?
Can he enter the second time
into his mother's womb and be born?
Jesus is like, no, you don't get it.
It's a spiritual being born again, not a physical.
Look, some people might not even
have their mother alive today.
How would that work?
According to the Bible, it's clear,
it's a spiritual salvation.
It's a spiritual being born again.
Look at Galatians chapter four, verse four.
But when the fullness of the time was come,
God sent forth his son, made of a woman,
made under the law, to redeem them
that were under the law,
that we might receive the adoption of sons.
And because ye are sons,
God has sent forth the spirit of his son
into your hearts, crying, Abba, Father.
Wherefore, thou art no more a servant, but a son,
and of a son, then an heir of God through Christ.
So according to the Bible, again,
he's talking to these Galatians, which are not even Jews.
We're in the New Testament.
He's talking to Gentiles, and he's saying, you're sons.
You're a son of God.
If you believed in the Lord Jesus Christ today,
you're a son or a daughter of God.
You say, how can I change that?
You can't.
That's why I'm preaching always save this morning,
because once you've done it, it's over.
You're always a son of God.
Now, you might be the black sheep of the family.
If you don't come to church, if you don't read your Bible,
if you don't do good, God will chase and discourage you.
You're just a bad example.
You're like Lot.
Lot didn't do anything good in his life.
He was just a bad example all throughout the Bible
to warn people that would also be a bad example,
to warn of sin and of not having a close relationship
with the Father, of not seeking God.
But look, once you're saved, you're always saved.
Go to John chapter three now.
There was a question asked to the Lord Jesus Christ
in Matthew 19, and behold, one came and said to him,
good master, what good thing shall I do
that I may have eternal life?
Isn't that what a lot of people think today?
They think they have to do some good thing.
They think there's some good work that they have to do.
What is it that I have to do to have eternal life?
That's a great question, at least wanting
to have eternal life, but he's asking it the wrong way
because he's saying, what do I have to do
as far as a good thing?
He's saying, what kind of good work?
Do I have to go to church?
Do I have to get baptized?
Do I have to confess some sins to some priest
in some private sanctuary somewhere?
What do I have to do to get eternal life?
Look at John chapter three, verse 15.
That whosoever believeth in him should not perish,
but have eternal life.
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.
Look at John 3, 36.
He that believeth on the son hath everlasting life,
and he that believeth not the son shall not see life,
but the wrath of God abideth on him.
Go to John chapter number 10.
Look, when the guy was asking the question,
Jesus didn't give him this answer.
Why, because the guy didn't even realize he was a sinner.
He thought that he had done everything right
up to that point.
He's like, follow the commandments is what
Jesus Christ told him, and he's like,
all of these have I kept up for my youth?
What lack I yet?
He said, look, I'm perfect.
I wanna figure out the next perfect thing I need to do
just to make sure I have eternal life.
He's trying to work for it.
He's trying to earn it.
He thinks he's righteous because of what he does.
He thinks he's righteous because of his works.
The Bible calls this willing to justify yourself,
and that's why so many people are not saved today.
You knock on their door.
You ask them if they die if they go to heaven today.
Yeah, I'm a good person.
Yeah, I rescue people and animals, and I go to church,
and I give money to the poor, and I do this.
I gave up my drinking, and I blah, blah, blah.
Just good work after good work after good work.
They're willing to justify themselves.
They're not pointing to the cross.
They're not pointing to the death, burial, and resurrection.
They're not pointing to the fact that the Lord Jesus Christ
wants to give you a gift, the gift of eternal life.
There's no bragging and boasting in a gift.
That's my fourth point.
How can we know we're once saved, always saved?
Because we're given a gift, and the gift is what?
Everlasting life.
And the Bible says as soon as you believe on him, you have it.
Look at John chapter 10, verse 27.
My sheep hear my voice, and I know them, and they follow me.
And I give unto them eternal life,
and they shall never perish.
Neither shall any man pluck them out of my hand.
My Father which gave them me is greater than all,
and no man is able to pluck them out of my Father's hand.
So he's like, what is eternal life?
It's the fact that you won't perish.
It's the fact that no man can pluck you out of his hand,
nor the Father's hand.
Meaning, look, you're not stronger than God.
It doesn't matter how strong you think you are.
You weren't strong enough to get yourself saved,
and you're not strong enough to stop yourself from being saved.
God's going to give you that eternal life,
and it's going to last forever.
Not because of you, because of him.
And he's going to give you that gift.
Not temporary life, not conditional life,
not 10 years of life, not 100 years of life,
everlasting life.
Some people really struggle with that point.
Go, if you would, to 1 John chapter number 5 now.
We'll answer that question for that guy again.
In Titus 1, it says, in hope of eternal life, which
God that cannot lie promised before the world began.
So according to the Bible, God's promised eternal life
before the world even began to every person,
and he can't lie if you believe in him, you have eternal life.
If you have faith in the Lord, you have everlasting life
today.
That's why it's once saved, always saved.
And Romans chapter 6 says, for the wage of sin is death,
but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ
our Lord.
It's just a gift.
We receive it.
We don't have to work for it.
We don't have to earn it.
We just ask for it, and he gives it to us by faith.
Even says in 1 John 2, I'll read for you, it says,
and this is the promise that he has promised us,
even eternal life.
It's by his promise that we're saved,
and he promises us what?
Eternal life.
Look at 1 John chapter 5 verse 10.
He that believeth on the Son of God hath the witness
in himself.
He that believeth not God hath made him a liar,
because he believeth not the record
that God gave of his son.
So there's only two people in the world.
There's people who believe God's record,
and there's people who don't.
What's the record?
Well, the record's the gospel, right?
The death, burial, and resurrection
of the Lord Jesus Christ.
And even defines the record further in verse 11,
and this is the record that God hath given to us eternal life.
And this life is in his son.
So it's only through God's son that someone saves
the Lord Jesus Christ.
There's not multiple gods, there's not 10, there's not 20,
there's one God.
And it's through his son, the Lord Jesus Christ,
that we receive the forgiveness of sins.
His death, his burial, and his resurrection.
But in order to understand this, you have to realize,
what is he giving us?
He's a gift.
He says he hath given to us.
So if I think I have to pay for it, if I have to earn it,
if I have to do good to keep it, look, I'm not believing it's a gift.
I don't believe his record.
That can't save me.
But lastly, what does he say the gift is?
The gift is eternal life.
If someone thinks they can lose their salvation,
they don't believe the record of God.
They don't actually trust in God.
They're trusting in themselves.
They think, well, as long as I don't commit murder,
I'll still go to heaven.
Well, who are you trusting at that point?
Are you trusting in the death, burial, and resurrection?
Are you trusting in the fact that Christ already paid all your sins?
Or are you trusting in yourself to be good enough to keep it?
And insert whatever sin you want to.
That's how all people are that think they can lose their salvation.
They're ultimately trusting in their works.
They're not trusting in the gospel.
Go if you would to Psalms chapter 71.
So we have to know that we have eternal life.
Look, he wanted eternal life, didn't he?
Wasn't that a question, what good thing
shall I do to have eternal life?
Look, the answer is, believe on the Lord Jesus Christ
and thou shalt be saved.
Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ and you
shall have everlasting life.
You shall not come into condemnation,
but are passed from death unto life.
In Galatians chapter 3, it said, for if there
had been a law given which could have given life,
verily righteousness should have been by the law.
So according to the Bible, if it were possible for you
to do some good work and be saved and go to heaven
and have everlasting life, God would have given it.
God would have said, well, if you're circumcised in the flesh,
you're going to have everlasting life.
If you get baptized, you're going
to have everlasting life.
If you give all your money to the poor,
you'll have everlasting life.
If that were possible, God would have given that law.
And then that guy's question would have been answered simply
by whatever that law was.
Hey, just get circumcised, you can have everlasting life.
That's the response the young rich ruler wanted.
He wanted to know, OK, what's the good commandment
I have to keep in order to just have everlasting life?
And Christ is like, you don't get it.
You have to first realize you're a sinner.
Because if you don't realize you're a sinner,
you're not going to realize you need a savior.
In order to receive the savior, you
have to believe in his gospel.
You have to believe that he died for you,
that it's a free gift, that he paid it all.
You pay nothing.
It's not a gift exchange.
It's not you trying to give your filthy rags unto the Lord.
No, you just receive it by faith.
My fifth point, though, is that not only
are we given everlasting life, our spirit has been quickened.
We're sealed with the Holy Ghost.
But not only that, our spirit man has been made alive.
You say, what does it mean to be quickened?
What does quick mean?
It means to be brought to life or made alive.
Let's prove this from the Bible.
Look at Psalms chapter 71, verse 20.
Thou which hast showed me great and sore troubles
shalt quicken me again, and shalt bring me up again
from the depths of the earth.
So a lot of times the Bible is a built-in dictionary.
It says this very obviously, hey, quicken me again
is bringing me up again.
So someone that's perished, someone that's dead,
bringing them back to life would be quickening them.
This is one way to look at it.
Go to Romans chapter 8.
Bible says in Psalms 143, quicken me, O Lord,
for thy name's sake, for thy righteousness' sake.
Bring my soul out of trouble.
So you see, he's rescuing him.
John chapter 5, verse 21, for as the father raises up the dead
and quickeneth them, even so the son quickeneth whom he will.
So he likens being raised from the dead by being quickened.
Says in Romans chapter 4, verse 17, as it is written,
I have made thee a father of many nations,
before him whom he believed, even God,
who quickeneth the dead, and calleth those things
which be not as though they were.
So why is he saying, contrasting with the dead?
Because can you make something alive that's already alive?
No, that's why he's contrasting with the dead,
saying the dead need to be quickened and be made alive.
And when we sin, when we commit our first sin,
the Bible says we're spiritually dead.
And the day thou shalt eat, thou shalt surely
die, is what he said to Adam.
When they ate of that fruit, they
were spiritually dead in that moment,
and they needed to be quickened again.
And that's what happens when you believe
on the Lord Jesus Christ.
Your spirit man is quickened.
It's made new.
It's a type of resurrection.
Look at Romans chapter 8, verse 11.
But if the spirit of him that raised up Jesus from the dead
dwell in you, he that raised up Christ from the dead
shall also quicken your mortal bodies by his spirit
that dwelleth in you.
Now, our physical bodies have not been quickened.
That's what we're talking about in the resurrection.
The earnest has been made.
The down payment's been made.
The Holy Spirit of promise.
And in the resurrection, our mortal bodies
will be quickened.
But when you believe on the Lord Jesus Christ,
your spirit is quickened in that moment.
Go, if you would, to Ephesians chapter 2.
Go to Ephesians chapter 2.
Galatians, Ephesians, Philippians.
So you have 1 and 2 Corinthians, and Galatians, Ephesians.
Some short books there.
In 1 Corinthians 15, the Bible says,
thou fool, that which thou sowest is not quickened,
except it die.
So the Bible says you can't be quickened unless you die.
Why?
Because it's telling us that quickening is making alive.
And like I said, you're not going
to make something alive that's already alive.
You've got to make something that's dead come back to life.
That's the quickening.
In Ephesians 2, verse 1, and you hath he quickened,
who were dead in trespasses and sins.
So your spirit was quickened when you believed
on the Lord Jesus Christ.
When you trusted in his gospel, you were quickened.
Look at verse 5.
Even when we were dead in sins, hath quickened us together
with Christ.
By grace are you saved.
Look, your spirit's been quickened.
Now go backwards.
Go a couple of chapters backwards to 2 Corinthians
chapter 5.
The Bible says in Ephesians 4 that you put off
concerning the former conversation
the old man, which is corrupt according to deceitful lust,
and be renewed in the spirit of your mind.
And that you put on the new man, which
after God is created in righteousness and true
holiness.
The moment you believe on the Lord Jesus Christ,
the spirit man comes back to life.
Now you can walk in the spirit.
Now you can put on the new man.
Now you can be pleasing unto God the Father.
The Bible says without faith, it's impossible to please him.
Unsaved people cannot please God.
They cannot please the Father.
The only way is to believe on the Lord Jesus Christ
to become saved.
And now you can walk in the spirit.
Now you can follow God's commandments with faith
and he can be pleased with you.
Look at 2 Corinthians chapter 5 verse 17.
Therefore, if any man be in Christ,
if any man be in Christ, if any man be in Christ,
he is a new creature.
Old things are passed away.
Behold, all things are become new.
Now people will take this passage out of context
and they'll try to say, well, look,
if you're not living a righteous life, you must not be saved.
Because it says here, behold, all things are new.
But here's my question.
If all things are new, then are you still in sin?
Do you still have any sin?
The Bible says the thought of foolishness is sin.
Do you still have foolish thoughts?
Look, the Bible's not saying you're going to be sinless.
It's saying your new man, that's completely new.
But guess what?
The old man that lives inside you, he's still the same.
You can still walk in the flesh.
You could never walk in the spirit.
You can still be in the same sins that you were before.
Look, how you live your life doesn't determine
if you have eternal security.
Doesn't determine if you're saved.
Once you're saved, you're always saved.
But now if you want to be pleasing unto God,
we're going to walk in that new man.
We have to understand that our spirit's been quickened.
Now we have the ability to walk in his commandments.
And the Bible makes it clear that the new man can't sin.
It's impossible for the new man to do anything wrong.
That's why through the book of 1 John, which we're going
through on Wednesdays, there's a lot of verses
that talk about how once you're born again, you can't sin.
And people get confused.
And false teachers like to use this to try and teach, well,
if you're practicing sin, then you're not really saved.
And all the modern verses will change those verses
to say practicing sin or committing sin,
teach all kinds of weird false doctrine.
The Bible teaches once you're saved,
your spirit man becomes alive.
And you cannot fulfill the lust of the flesh if you're walking
in the spirit.
It's impossible.
Because all things have become new.
Go to Colossians chapter 2 now.
Go forward a couple chapters.
After 2 Corinthians, Galatians, Ephesians, Philippians,
Colossians.
Go to Colossians chapter number 2.
So it's important.
This is kind of a deeper truth to the fact
that once we're saved, a lot of things
happen when you believe on the Lord Jesus Christ.
I mean, there's so many things that happen in that moment.
Your spirit man becomes alive.
You've been everlasting life.
You become a son of God.
You can't be separated from God's love.
Look, he takes his wrath from you.
You've been sealed with the Holy Spirit of promise.
Look at Colossians chapter 2 verse 13.
And you, being dead in your sins and young in circumcision
of your flesh, hath he quickened together with him,
having forgiven you all trespasses.
Look, we've been quickened.
Our spirit man has been quickened.
And in the resurrection, our mortal bodies will be quickened.
They'll be brought back to life.
But look at the last phrase.
Having forgiven you all trespasses.
What's my sixth point?
Is that, look, all your sins have been forgiven.
Not only has your spirit man been made new,
but all the sins that you committed to that old man,
they've all been forgiven.
All trespasses.
Not some trespasses.
Not a few of them.
All of them.
Go to Psalms chapter 25.
We'll see.
Some people say, well, in the Old Testament,
how did they get saved?
Same way, through faith, by trusting in the Lord.
And we'll even see, you can see throughout the Old Testament,
the same plan of salvation is just by faith.
It's just by trusting in the Lord.
And that all your sins are forgiven when you
put your faith in the Lord.
Once you put your trust in the Lord,
he will forgive all trespasses, all sins.
Look at Psalms 25, verse 14.
The secret of the Lord is with them that fear him,
and he will show them his covenant.
Mine eyes are ever toward the Lord,
for he shall pluck my feet out of the net.
Turn thee unto me and have mercy upon me,
for I am desolate and afflicted.
The troubles of my heart are enlarged.
Oh, bring down me out of my distresses.
Look upon my affliction and my pain, and forgive all my sins.
Consider mine enemies, for they are many,
and they hate me with cruel hatred.
Oh, keep my soul and deliver me.
Let me not be ashamed, for I put my trust in thee.
So what is he saying?
Look, I'm going to put all my faith on you, Lord.
I'm putting all my trust in you.
Picture of salvation, and what is he asking for?
For him to forgive all his sins.
It's the same thing.
Once you believe on the Lord Jesus Christ,
all your sins are forgiven you.
So here's my question.
How can you go to hell when all your sins are forgiven?
Were they not really forgiven?
And that's what people do when they
say you can lose your salvation.
They're not saying that Christ paid for all their sins.
They're blaspheming the Lord Jesus Christ.
They're saying what he did on the cross was weak.
But we know what he did on the cross.
He said it is finished.
He finished the works of God.
He paid for everybody's sins.
It's done deal.
If you believe on him, he's going
to forgive you all your sins.
Go to Romans chapter 4 now.
Psalms 32 says, blessed is he whose transgression is
forgiven, whose sin is covered.
Psalms 85, thou has forgiven the iniquity of thy people.
Thou has covered all their sin, Selah.
Jeremiah 31, 34, and they shall teach no more every man
his neighbor and every man his brother, saying, know the Lord,
for they shall all know me.
From the least unto them, unto the greatest of them,
saith the Lord.
For I will forgive their iniquity,
and I will remember their sin no more.
God, not only does he forgive your sin, he forgets your sin.
That's what true forgiveness is.
True forgiveness is forgetting.
It's not even remembering.
He says, once you believe on me, once you put your faith on me,
not only am I going to forgive your sins,
I won't even remember them.
That's a great promise.
That's great mercy.
That's great love.
That's great compassion that the Lord has towards us.
He won't even remember them.
Acts chapter 10, verse 43, to him give all the prophets
witness that through his name whosoever believeth in him
shall receive remission of sins.
That means every single book of this Bible
teaches that if you believe in the Lord,
you shall receive remission of sins.
That's a great promise.
You say, well, I think the Old Testament
salvation is different.
Well, you don't believe Acts chapter 10 then, do you?
Romans chapter 4, verse 7, saying,
blessed are they whose iniquities are forgiven
and whose sins are covered.
Blessed is the man to whom the Lord will not impute sin.
What does impute mean?
Well, if you look in the dictionary,
it says to attribute or to credit,
which I believe is an accurate definition according
to the Bible.
So if we think about this, who gets the credit?
So if you're at your job and you're working really hard,
you do all the work, you're on a team, let's say,
and you're the one that does all the work,
then at the end of the day, the boss says, well,
who did all this?
Now the question is, who's going to get the credit?
If they give it to somebody else,
then your works were imputed unto them.
If you get the credit, then your works
were imputed unto yourself.
The same thing is with the Lord Jesus Christ and us.
Jesus Christ was perfect.
The Bible says he was tempted at all points
like as we are, yet without sin.
So who gets the credit for that perfection?
Well, actually, we do.
If you believe on the Lord Jesus Christ,
his perfection, his righteousness,
is credited to you.
When God sees you, he sees Christ's righteousness,
Christ's works, Christ's perfection,
and that's why you're saved.
Not because of your works,
not because of how you lived your life.
He took your works and your filthy rags
and he credited them to Christ.
Christ became sin who knew no sin.
So when Christ was on the cross,
he took the sins of the whole world.
He bare our sins and his own body on the tree.
That's why we have forgiveness of our sins.
Why, because they've been all forgiven.
He took the sins of the world upon himself.
He tasted death for every man, according to the Bible,
so that we could get his righteousness imputed unto us.
Go to 1 John chapter number two.
He said, well, I think I can still lose my salvation.
Well, here's my question.
Is Christ's righteousness ever gonna be wrong?
Is he ever gonna sin?
Well, then, if you're getting his righteousness,
how can you get there?
Because he's always gonna be perfect.
He's never gonna sin.
He's without sin.
It's impossible for him to sin, according to the Bible.
Look, that's why you know you're on your way to heaven,
because he's perfect, not because you're perfect,
not because you're gonna keep it,
because all your sins have been forgiven.
1 John chapter two, verse 12,
I write unto you, little children,
because your sins are forgiven you.
Look at this part, for his namesake.
Look, God's gonna get all the glory.
God's gonna get all the honor.
Why is he letting this happen?
Because he wants all the glory.
If you were still able to go to hell,
after that, then he didn't really pay for all your sins.
Now it kinda makes him look bad.
Now it looks like he wasn't strong enough
and powerful enough to pay for your sin.
Guess what he is?
And for his namesake, your sins are forgiven you.
If you believe in his name, that's what he promised us.
And God cannot lie.
Look at 1 John chapter one, back up, just one chapter.
Look at 1 John chapter one, verse seven.
But if we walk in the light, as he is in the light,
we have fellowship one with another.
And the blood of Jesus Christ his son cleanseth us
from what?
All sin.
So how much sin?
All of it.
But not only that, it says the blood is what cleanses us.
Here's my seventh point.
Not only are our sins forgiven,
we've been washed in his blood.
Go to Revelation chapter one,
just go a few chapters forward.
Revelation chapter number one.
We are saved by the blood of Jesus Christ.
The blood is a precious thing.
There's people that would even tack the blood of Christ,
and say that we're not saved by the blood.
John MacArthur.
Revelation chapter one, verse five.
And from Jesus Christ, who is the faithful witness,
and the first begotten of the dead,
and the prince of the kings of the earth,
unto him that loved us, and washed us from our sins,
in his own blood.
So you've been washed pure by the blood of Jesus Christ.
He washed us by his own blood.
Not somebody else's blood, his blood.
He's the one that died on the cross.
He's the one that suffered and went through the affliction.
Why?
So that he could wash us with his blood.
Go to first Peter chapter one,
back up a couple chapters.
Revelation seven, I'll read for you.
And I said unto him, sir, thou knowest.
And he said unto me,
these are they which came out of great tribulation,
and have washed their robes,
and made them white in the blood of the lamb.
Revelation 12, verse 11.
And they overcame him by the blood of the lamb,
and by the word of their testimony,
and they loved not their lives unto the death.
The Bible says without the shedding of blood
is no remission.
Look, God requires a sacrifice for our sins.
God requires, God is just.
God is a God that loves justice.
He loves recompense,
and he had to have recompense for our sins.
That is why he sent his son to die on the cross,
so that we could be justified through his blood,
not because of our own righteousness.
Look at first Peter chapter one, verse 18.
For as much as ye know that ye were not redeemed
with corruptible things,
as silver and gold, from your vain conversation,
received by tradition from your fathers,
but with the precious blood of Christ,
as of a lamb without blemish and without spot,
who verily was foreordained
before the foundation of the world was manifest
in these last times for you,
whom by him do believe in God,
that raised him up from the dead and gave him glory,
that your faith and hope might be in God.
Look, he washed us in the blood.
It's the precious blood of Jesus Christ,
the blood without spot, without sin,
the perfect blood of Jesus Christ is what washes us clean.
Not our own works, not our own righteousness.
Go to Romans chapter number seven now, if you would.
To give a recap, we've seen that,
hey, once saved, always saved because of the love of God,
because we're sealed with that Holy Spirit of promise,
because we've become the sons of God,
because we've been given the gift of eternal life,
because our new man has been quickened,
our new spirit has been quickened,
all of our sins have been forgiven,
and we've been washed by the blood.
Not only that, we are dead to the law.
The Bible says in Romans chapter seven verse one,
know ye not, brethren,
for I speak to them that know the law.
How that the law hath dominion over man
as long as he liveth.
For the woman which hath an husband
is bound by the law to her husband,
so that as he liveth, but if the husband be dead,
she is loosed from the law of her husband.
So then if, while her husband liveth,
she be married to another man,
she should be called an adulteress.
But if her husband be dead, she is free from that law,
so that she is no adulteress,
though she be married to another man.
Wherefore, my brethren, ye also become dead to the law
by the body of Christ,
that ye should be married to another,
even to him who was raised from the dead,
that we should bring forth fruit unto God.
For when we were in the flesh,
the motions of sins which were by the law
did work in our members to bring forth fruit unto death,
but now we are delivered from the law,
that being dead wherein we were held,
that we should serve in newness of spirit,
and not in the oldness of the letter.
So the Bible likens a spiritual truth
unto a carnal truth.
The carnal truth is that a woman
is supposed to be obedient under her husband.
But if the husband be dead,
does she have to be obedient to him anymore?
I mean, does she still have to do what he says?
Does she still have to follow
whatever his commandments are?
No, she's free from the law of her husband,
because he's dead.
There's no more reason for her to follow
what her husband says, because he's dead.
The same thing is with the law of God.
It's saying, look, we're now dead to the law
by the body of Christ.
So the question is, what does that mean?
Does that mean that there's no more sin?
We don't have to follow the laws of God?
No, we're dead from the curse of the law.
What is the curse of the law?
The curse of the law is,
if you don't follow all the laws of God perfectly,
you're damned to hell.
But now we're dead to that law.
We're not under that anymore.
Now we're under grace.
What is grace?
The thing that we don't deserve.
Even though we screw up,
God's grace continues to cover that sin,
cover that sin, so that we'll go to heaven.
Why?
Because now we're dead to that law.
Go to verse 14.
In chapter six, I'm sorry,
back up to chapter six and look at verse 14.
For sin shall not have dominion over you,
for you're not under the law, but under grace.
Now this verse proves a lot of different things here.
First of all, the Bible says
that sin is the transgression of the law.
So if being dead to the law
meant that there is no law anymore,
then there wouldn't be sin anymore.
Because the Bible says where there is no law,
there is no sin.
But we know that there's still sin.
If we break God's laws, that's sin.
But we're now dead to the law,
meaning that I don't have to go to hell
because I break the law.
Now I'm under grace.
Now I have received forgiveness of sins.
Now I'm dead to that.
Look at verse 15.
What then?
Shall we sin because we are not under the law,
but under grace?
God forbid.
So the question is, well,
should we just do whatever we want now?
I mean, look, if God's grace is gonna cover it,
can I just continue in sin that grace may abound?
God forbid.
Look, grace will abound though.
I don't care what sin you commit.
The Bible says that God's grace will still cover it.
You'll still go to heaven.
Why?
Because you're not under the law.
You're dead to the law.
Now you have a new husband, the Lord Jesus Christ.
And guess what his rule is?
If you screw up, I'll cover it.
If you screw up, I'll take care of it.
My grace will abound.
But guess what?
He's gonna chase and discourage
with every son in whom he received at the same time,
all right?
Go, if you would, to 1 Corinthians chapter number 15.
The Bible says, for whosoever shall keep the whole law
yet offend in one point, he is guilty of all.
Look, if we are under the law,
we would have to keep it perfectly to go to heaven.
But since nobody can do that,
for all the sin that comes short of the glory of God,
we need to believe in the Lord Jesus Christ.
We need to be married to another,
not be under the law, but be under grace,
be under the law of Christ.
Look at 1 Corinthians chapter 15.
My last point for once saved, always saved,
is that we shall not perish.
We're no longer under the curse of death and hell.
That's why in 1 Corinthians chapter 15, verse 55,
it says, O death, where is thy sting?
O grave, where is thy victory?
The sting of death is sin,
and the strength of sin is the law.
But thanks be to God, which giveth us the victory
through our Lord Jesus Christ.
Look, you can't die spiritually.
The Bible says once you believe in the Lord Jesus Christ,
you're gonna be alive forevermore.
Go to John chapter number five, if you would.
That's why it says, but whosoever believeth in him
should not perish but everlasting life.
For God so loved the world
that he gave his only begotten Son,
that whosoever believeth in him
should not perish but everlasting life.
Jesus said unto her, I am the resurrection of life,
he that believeth in me, though he were dead,
yet shall he live, and whosoever liveth
and believeth in me shall never die.
According to the Bible,
once you believe in the Lord Jesus Christ, you can't die.
Now, we're not talking about a physical death here.
We're talking about a spiritual death, the second death.
As soon as your spirit leaves your body,
that's called death, but you won't feel that sting.
You won't feel the victory of the grave
because you'll immediately be in heaven.
The Bible says to be absent from the body
is to be present with the Lord.
When you die physically, you will immediately be in heaven.
Bible makes it clear in John chapter five, verse 24,
the chapter that we started with,
verily, verily I say unto you, he that heareth my word
and believeth on him that sent me hath everlasting life
and shall not come into condemnation,
but is passed from death into life.
How come we're not gonna come into condemnation?
Because we pass from death into life,
because we're no longer under the curse of the law.
Some people would say, yeah, well, you're saved right now.
But I mean, if you sin in the future,
then you could lose it.
Then if you commit a big sin,
you'll come into what?
Condemnation.
But he says, look, you shall not come into condemnation.
You can't even come into condemnation.
So I'm gonna address a few more things this morning.
Because the question is, though,
we've seen very clearly from the Bible
that once you're saved, you're always saved.
I mean, I gave nine points.
There's even more than that.
It's not even the whole Bible.
But some people bring up these questions.
They'll say, well, what if I'm never baptized?
You know, am I really saved if I've never been baptized?
Go to Romans chapter six.
The Bible says, he that believeth and is baptized
shall be saved.
So people will point to that verse in Mark chapter 16
and say, see, he said believeth and is baptized
shall be saved.
But they don't read the rest of that verse that says,
but he that believeth not shall be damned.
So he's saying, look, yeah,
if you believe in your baptized, you'll be saved.
But you know how you're damned?
If you don't believe.
Obviously, baptism is important.
We're in a Baptist church this morning.
God has, you know, a lot of emphasis on baptism.
It's the first step after being saved.
But even if you're not baptized,
you're saved by your faith this morning.
It has nothing to do with being baptized.
And of course, you can't lose your salvation
if you're not baptized.
Some people like the Church of Christers,
they'll say, well, you don't have to get baptized
to be saved.
But if you're saved, you'll get baptized.
You know, so they're basically teaching
that if you didn't really get baptized,
you're not really saved.
Look, if you believed on the Lord Jesus Christ
with all your heart, you're saved.
I don't care what you do after that.
But if you want to be pleasing under the Father,
you'll get baptized.
Look at Romans chapter six, verse one.
What shall we say then?
Shall we continue in sin that grace may abound?
God forbid.
How shall we that are dead to sin live any longer therein?
Know ye not that so many us as were baptized into Jesus Christ
were baptized into his death?
Therefore, we are buried with and by baptism into death,
that like as Christ was raised from the dead
by the glory of the Father, even so we also
should walk in newness of life.
I love to show people this verse after I get them saved,
to say this is why we get baptized,
so that we should walk in newness of life.
Look, the Bible doesn't say you have to.
I'll even say, if you don't get baptized,
you're still going to heaven, amen.
They'll say yes.
But should you?
No.
According to the Bible, you should get baptized
so you can walk in newness of life, deciding, hey,
I don't want to live that wicked life anymore.
I don't want to continue in my sin.
I want to serve God.
And you know what's a common denominator between all people
serving God?
They got baptized.
Show me the guy that's on fire for God that's not baptized?
I don't know it.
Never seen it.
I've never met a guy who's serving God with his life, who's
a constant soul winner, who's reading his Bible faithfully
and never been baptized.
It doesn't exist.
The people that come to church and serve God and read
their Bible and go soul winning, they get baptized.
It's just an obvious statement of fact.
And if you can't follow the very simple thing of baptism,
how are you going to follow the deep things of God?
How are you going to suffer through tribulation
and affliction if you can't even just get baptized?
Go to James chapter 2.
Even in Acts chapter 10, we see a group of people
that are not baptized that are saved.
It says in Acts chapter 10, can any man forbid water
that these should not be baptized which have received
the Holy Ghost will as we?
So in the book of Acts, they're going out
and preaching the gospel.
They preach the gospel to a group of Gentiles,
and they start speaking with other tongues.
They're like, look, they've received the Holy Ghost.
We better get these guys baptized, right?
But what if they weren't baptized?
Did they just not receive the Spirit all of a sudden?
Did they not have the Holy Ghost inside them?
Of course, once you're saved, you're always saved.
But you should get baptized, right?
Obviously, I don't want to de-emphasize baptism and say
that it's not important, it's very important.
But it has nothing to do with being saved or staying saved.
What's the second argument?
Well, what if I have no good works?
This is probably the most common argument you'll see.
People will say, well, I know we're saved by faith,
but if you don't do good things, are you really saved?
All those that are saved, they will do good works,
and they try to use James 2 to justify it.
They'll say, well, faith without works is dead.
And I say, amen, that's what the Bible teaches,
but it doesn't say there that it doesn't exist, does it?
Look at James chapter two, verse 20.
But wilt thou know, O vain man,
that faith without works is dead?
Was not Abraham our father justified by works
when he had offered Isaac his son upon the altar?
Seest thou how faith wrought with his works,
and by works was faith made perfect?
And the scripture was fulfilled which saith,
Abraham believed God, and it was imputed unto him
for righteousness, and he was called the friend of God.
Ye see then how that by works a man is justified,
and not by faith only.
Now keep your finger here and go to Romans chapter four.
So people say, ah, see, we're not just justified
by our faith, we're justified by our works too.
That's what it said, didn't it?
Well, there's a key word in verse 24.
It says, ye see then how that by works a man is justified.
He's saying, look, to be justified means
to be cleared righteous, to be cleared right,
but we have to understand what context everything is in.
Is the context of James two being declared righteous
for salvation?
The answer is no.
The context was clear that it was being called
the friend of God that Abraham was being justified in.
The reason why Abraham was justified in being called
the friend of God is because he had works,
because he followed in God's commandments.
If you're saved today, you can't be separated
from God's love, but if you wanna have fellowship,
if you wanna be called his friend,
you have to continue in good works.
Jesus Christ said to his disciples, ye are my friends
if ye do whatsoever I commanded you.
So he looked at the disciples, he didn't say,
you're my friends, period.
He said, you're my friends if you follow my commandments.
Look, there's an if to being a friend of God.
If you wanna be justified and being called
the friend of God, you have to follow in his commandments.
But what about salvation?
Well, let's look at Romans chapter four and clear that up.
Verse one, what shall we say then that Abraham our father
is pretending the flesh hath found?
For if Abraham were justified by works,
he hath whereof to glory, but not before God.
For what saith the scripture?
Abraham believed God and it was counted
unto righteousness.
Now to him that worketh is a reward not reckoned
of grace, but of debt.
But to him that worketh not, but believeth on him
that justifieth the ungodly,
his faith is counted for righteousness.
So the Bible takes it to an extreme.
It says, even somebody that does nothing good,
no good works.
They're just a wicked sinner.
They have nothing good.
They're dying on the cross next to the Lord Jesus Christ.
And they say, Lord, remembrance me when thou comest
in thy kingdom.
He's saved by his faith, not because he was a good person,
not because he was gonna continue being a good person,
but because he had faith.
And the Bible makes it clear it's by our faith
that we're saved.
And didn't it say in verse four or in verse three
that Abraham believed God and that was what was counted
unto righteousness?
Now go back to James chapter two.
Does James two have a completely different message than that?
Is James two saying something completely contradictory
to that?
No, it says the exact same thing.
Look at James chapter two verse 23.
And the scripture was fulfilled which saith,
Abraham what?
Believed God and it was imputed to him for righteousness.
So James two teaches the same thing.
Abraham was saved by his faith.
But it's also saying and, and, and he was called
the friend of God.
Now how was he justified to be called the friend of God?
Verse 24, you see then how that by works a man
is justified and not by his faith only.
Teaching us what?
Your works matter.
Your works have importance in this life.
If you wanna be called the friend of God, do the works.
If you wanna have a close relationship with God,
do the works.
But if you wanna be saved, it's by your faith.
And we see how that by works a man is justified
and not by faith only.
Look, just cause you're saved doesn't mean
you're pleasing unto God.
Just cause you're saved doesn't mean God is glad
and how you're living your life.
No, if you want him to be pleased with you
and be your friend, you also have to continue in good works.
Does this prove that you can lose your salvation?
This just said they were saved by our faith.
It doesn't prove that at all.
And you know, people, liars, false teachers
wanna go out and deceive people and teach them
that they have to be good enough to keep their salvation,
that if they don't have works, they're not saved.
They're teaching a false message, a false gospel
that's getting nobody saved.
A faith plus something is not a salvation.
It's faith alone that saves us.
Let's go to my last point.
Go to 1 Samuel 28.
Here's another question people ask.
Well, what if I commit a really big sin though?
I mean, isn't there some really big sin?
What if I killed somebody?
Well, we see murderers going to heaven.
David committed adultery and murder.
He went to heaven.
The Bible says in Psalms 51,
restore unto me the joy of thy salvation
and uphold me with thy free spirit.
Now, of course, if you kill somebody,
you're gonna be pretty grieved with that sin.
The Holy Spirit of God is gonna be very grieved.
And David was praying, saying,
restore unto me the joy of thy salvation.
He's already saved, but he didn't have much joy
because he was living a wicked life at that point in his life.
So he's saying, restore unto me the joy of my salvation.
We see King Saul kill 85 holy men of God.
He still went to heaven.
We see Saul was consending under the death of Stephen.
He still went to heaven.
What about suicide?
Isn't that a, isn't a lot of people think,
well, I know you can't live your salvation,
but if you kill yourself, you'll go to hell.
I mean, that's what a lot of people teach.
That's what the Catholic church teaches.
That's what something I used to even believe
when I was younger,
because somebody said that was in the Bible.
They said there was a Bible verse that said,
if you kill yourself, you go to hell.
The problem is it doesn't exist.
You know, it's really hard to find a verse in the Bible
that doesn't exist.
It's really hard to find that,
that you can't find it because it's not there.
But let's even prove that wrong.
First Samuel chapter 28 verse 16.
Then said Samuel, wherefore then dost thou ask of me,
seeing the Lord is departed from thee
and has become mine enemy.
And the Lord hath done to him.
As he spake by me, for the Lord hath rent the kingdom
out of thine hand and given it to thy neighbor,
even to David.
Because thou obeyedest not the voice of the Lord,
nor executed his fierce wrath upon Amalek.
Therefore hath the Lord done this thing unto thee this day.
Moreover, the Lord will also deliver Israel,
with thee, and to the hand of the Philistines.
And tomorrow shalt thou and thy sons be with me.
And the Lord also shall deliver the host of Israel
and to the hand of the Philistines.
So when Saul's at the end of his life,
he's talking in this, you know, strange way
to the old prophet Samuel.
And Samuel's saying, look,
tomorrow you're gonna be with me, you and your sons.
Pointing the fact that he's gonna be in heaven
with Samuel tomorrow.
But skip forward a couple chapters to chapter 31.
We're gonna see Saul actually took his own life.
And you know, there's two people in the Bible
that we see take their life, Saul and Samson.
And guess what, they both went to heaven.
Not because they were good people,
not because they ended on a high note,
not because of the perseverance of the saints,
but because of the preservation of God.
The preservation of the saints.
If you wanna change that last point of Calvinism
to the preservation, then maybe I might, you know,
agree to that point.
But right now, I agree with no points of Calvinism,
because we're not gonna persevere to the end,
we're gonna be preserved by God.
Look at verse 31, chapter 31, verse four.
Then said Saul and his armor-bearer,
draw thy sword and thrust me through therewith,
lest these uncircumcised come and thrust me through,
and abuse me.
But his armor-bearer would not, for he was sore afraid.
Therefore Saul took a sword and fell upon it.
Look, he took his own life.
And that's probably one of the most selfish,
wicked sins that anybody could ever do,
is taking their own life.
I still think murder's worse,
because you're not only taking someone's life,
you're taking somebody else's life,
someone that doesn't deserve to die,
but suicide's a wicked sin.
It's something we should never do,
but even if you did, Christ paid for all sin, didn't he?
You've been sealed with the Holy Spirit of promise.
You've been given the gift of every life.
You've been promised that.
Go to 1 John 5, the last place we'll turn, okay?
Some people even say, well, what if I stop believing?
Now, I personally do not believe
that a believer can stop believing in the Lord Jesus Christ.
Obviously, we can have doubts.
Obviously, we can have laps of moments of faith,
but I don't think it's possible
for someone who's trusted in the Lord Jesus Christ
to just completely stop trusting in him.
But even if someone did, even if you just said,
well, I think it's hypothetically possible
for someone to do that, the Bible says in 2 Timothy 2,
if we believe not, yet he abideth faithful,
he cannot deny himself.
And I even say, look, if I told my dad, you're not my dad,
I don't even believe you're my dad anymore,
he would still actually be my father.
Now, that's a wicked sin.
That's something that would grieve him greatly,
and it would grieve the Lord to lose faith in him,
but that's not gonna stop the fact
that you've become a son of God.
That's not gonna stop the fact that you have everlasting life.
That's not gonna stop the fact that you forgave
all your sins.
That's not gonna stop the fact that Christ's righteousness
is imputed unto you.
Christ was perfect.
You don't have to be perfect.
And look, the conclusion is,
you're once saved, always saved.
Why?
Because nothing can separate you from the love of God.
Because you've been sealed with the Holy Spirit of promise.
Because you've become a child of God.
Because you've been given the gift of eternal life.
Because your new man's been quickened.
Because all your sins have been forgiven.
Because you've been washed in the blood.
Because you're dead to the law.
And 1 John 5, verse 13 says,
These things have I written unto you
that believe on the name of the Son of God,
that ye may know that ye have eternal life,
and that ye may believe on the name of the Son of God.
God doesn't give us hope so, maybe so.
He gives us you can know so.
You can know you have eternal life today.
That's why I was hoping to give you all these points.
And it's important for us to know
that we have eternal life.
You say, why?
Because if you're gonna go out there
and try and get someone saved,
you're not gonna get them saved
if you don't even know you have eternal life.
That's why we see all these false prophets
and false teachers can't convert anybody.
Hey, do you wanna know
if you could maybe hope so go to heaven?
I mean, the Jehovah's false witness,
they don't even believe they're going to heaven.
They believe there's only 144,000 people
that are gonna wake from soul sleep,
and they're not even gonna be that person.
What a depressing message that is.
But you can go out and preach
the glorious light of the gospel
and show people how they can know they have eternal life.
Not depending on how they are,
not depending on how they're gonna be in the future,
but because of Christ's free gift.
Let us always preach once saved,
always saved as a church.
Let's close in prayer.
Thank you, Father, so much for your unspeakable gift,
for the free gift of eternal life,
that you give it unto us freely,
that it's not of our works,
that it's all by your blood,
that we've been washed in your blood.
Thank you for sealing us with the Holy Spirit of promise.
I pray that we would just get that deep in our hearts
and in our minds so that when we go out,
we could preach your glorious gospel.
In Jesus' name I pray, amen.