Salvation and Scripture

Today I would just like to point out the absolute farce that many hold to, foolishly believing that a born again believer in Christ cannot be lost. I could choose innumerable passages of scripture to make this point clearly, but one should suffice, seeing that God is not the author of confusion: "And unto the angel of the [congregation] in Sardis write; These things saith he that hath the seven Spirits of God, and the seven stars; I know thy works, that thou hast a name that thou livest, and art dead. Be watchful, and strengthen the things which remain, that are ready to die: for I have not found thy works perfect before God. Remember therefore how thou hast received and heard, and hold fast, and repent. If therefore thou shalt not watch, I will come on thee as a thief, and thou shalt not know what hour I will come upon thee. Thou hast a few names even in Sardis which have not defiled their garments; and they shall walk with me in white: for they are worthy. He that overcometh, the same shall be clothed in white raiment; and I will not blot out his name out of the book of life, but I will confess his name before my Father, and before his angels" (Rev. 3:1-5). Okay, I would like to just skim through this passage of scripture which depicts Jesus' words to the messenger of the congregation of God in Sardis, and point out the evident falseness of the ideology known as 'eternal security.' The first thing Jesus says to this man of God is that while he thinks he has life, he is in the sight of God dead. I don't know about you, but to me that sounds bad. I certainly don't want to have that report before God. In fact the scripture clearly tell us that being dead while we're alive is synonymous with damnation, not salvation (I Tim. 5:5,6,11,12). The next thing Jesus informs this man of is that his works had not been found to be perfect, and if he didn't repent that Jesus would come upon him as a thief in an hour that he wouldn't know. Well, Jesus commanded us to "be perfect, even as our Father in heaven is perfect," and the scriptures plainly declare that it will be the 'perfect' who inherit the earth (Mat. 5:48; Prov. 2:21). The Bible also shows us that the day of the Lord coming upon people unawares is also something that accompanies damnation, not salvation (Mat. 24:46-51; I Thess. 5:2,3).

The next thing Jesus has to say is that there were only "a few" among the congregation in Sardis who had "not defiled their garments," and that only they would be found 'worthy' to "walk with [him] in white." So what happens to those who were found unworthy? Maybe this: "But let a man examine himself, and so let him eat of that bread, and drink of that cup. For he that eateth and drinketh unworthily, eateth and drinketh damnation to himself, not discerning the Lord's body" (I Cor. 11:28,29). Once again we see that damnation awaits those who do not keep themselves pure after they are born again. Finally Jesus makes the climactic statement that those who overcome sin and the world will "be clothed in white raiment," and that he will "not blot out their name out of the book of life," and that he "will confess [their names] before his Father, and before his angels." That's some really good news for the saints who overcome, but what about the ones who don't? It's evident that they will NOT be clothed in white raiment, which we are told is "the righteousness of the saints;" and that must mean that those who DON'T overcome will not be found righteous or worthy, like Jesus said. And if Jesus was not going to blot out from the book of life the names of those who overcome, then what happens to the saints who were not found righteous and worthy, whose names obviously DO get blotted out? Probably this: "And whosoever was not found written in the book of life was cast into the lake of fire" (Rev. 20:15). Lastly we are faced with this evident and fear-worthy truth: If Jesus is going to confess the names of those whom he finds righteous and worthy, before his Father and the angels, what does that say for the saints whom he does NOT find worthy? Once again, probably something like this: "Whosoever therefore shall confess me before men, him will I confess also before my Father which is in heaven. But whosoever shall deny me before men, him will I also deny before my Father which is in heaven" (Mat. 10:32,33). So in these things we see that the greatly lacking element of the fear of God in modern Christianity desperately needs to be reclaimed and renewed to this soft, indulgent generation which by and large claims to be 'saved' with no risk of being lost, regardless of the moral and spiritual quality of their lives. The scripture plainly tells us that "the fear of the Lord is to hate evil," and anyone can see through our text passage that there is a very good reason that we need to hate evil and fear God (Prov. 8:13). Amen.