Salvation and Scripture

"Moreover, brethren, I would not that ye should be ignorant, how that all our fathers were under the cloud, and all passed through the sea... But with many of them God was not well pleased: for they were overthrown in the wilderness. Now these things were our examples, to the intent we should not lust after evil things, as they also lusted... Neither let us commit fornication, as some of them committed, and fell in one day three and twenty thousand... Neither murmur ye, as some of them also murmured, and were destroyed of the destroyer. Now all these things happened unto them for examples: and they are written for our admonition, upon whom the ends of the world are come. Wherefore let him that thinketh he standeth take heed lest he fall" (From I Cor. 10). I'm just not sure how anyone can read the Bible honestly and believe that ANYONE has some kind of secure salvation regardless of how they live their lives. But let's look at some more passages and see if what I'm saying holds water: "Behold therefore the goodness and severity of God: on them which fell, severity; but toward thee, goodness, if thou continue in his goodness: otherwise thou also shalt be cut off" That looks pretty cut and dried to me, especially seeing that the apostle was writing to believers who were already in Christ. But let's not stop there: "Now the Spirit speaketh expressly, that in the latter times some shall depart from the faith, giving heed to seducing spirits, and doctrines of devils; Speaking lies in hypocrisy; having their conscience seared with a hot iron" (I Tim. 4:1,2). One would have to be IN the faith in order to 'depart' from it, so these are certainly not the traits of someone who "will be accounted worthy to obtain that world." (Lk. 20:35). Peter also was in full agreement with these things: "For if after they have escaped the pollutions of the world through the knowledge of the Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ, they are again entangled therein, and overcome, the latter end is worse with them than the beginning" (II Pet. 2:20). Then we also have this to consider: "If we suffer, we shall also reign with him: if we deny him, he also will deny us" (II Tim. 2:12). Note the word 'we' in this verse, meaning the apostle was speaking of himself and the fellow believers he was writing to. Surely we don't believe that Jesus denying us at the judgment is something that accompanies salvation.

Let's go ahead and see what Jesus said about him denying people at the judgment: "Not every one that saith unto me, Lord, Lord, shall enter into the kingdom of heaven; but he that doeth the will of my Father which is in heaven. Many will say to me in that day, Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in thy name? and in thy name have cast out devils? and in thy name done many wonderful works? And then will I profess unto them, I never knew you: depart from me, ye that work iniquity" (Mat. 7:21-23). Yeah, that's about where bones begin to shake if you ask me. It's certain that nobody is prophesying or casting out demons, or doing miracles unless they are in covenant with God by faith in Jesus. So again, those mentioned here by Jesus were believers who 'fell away.' That brings us to another telling passage of scripture: "For it is impossible for those who were once enlightened, and have tasted of the heavenly gift, and were made partakers of the Holy Ghost, And have tasted the good word of God, and the powers of the world to come, If they shall fall away, to renew them again unto repentance; seeing they crucify to themselves the Son of God afresh, and put him to an open shame" (Heb. 6:4-6). Do those verses really need commentary? I didn't think so. We find the same fearful admonition in a little different words later in the same book: "He that despised Moses' law died without mercy under two or three witnesses: Of how much sorer punishment, suppose ye, shall he be thought worthy, who hath trodden under foot the Son of God, and hath counted the blood of the covenant, wherewith he was sanctified, an unholy thing, and hath done despite unto the Spirit of grace?" (Heb. 10:28,29) Next we have the sobering admonition of Jude, who was in stark agreement with Jesus and the other apostles on this matter of obtaining salvation: "Beloved, when I gave all diligence to write unto you of the common salvation, it was needful for me to write unto you, and exhort you that ye should earnestly contend for the faith which was once delivered unto the saints... I will therefore put you in remembrance, though ye once knew this, how that the Lord, having saved the people out of the land of Egypt, afterward destroyed them that believed not. And the angels which kept not their first estate, but left their own habitation, he hath reserved in everlasting chains under darkness unto the judgment of the great day" (Jude 1:3,5,6).

The connotation in the passage from Jude is evident, that Jude was admonishing the believers he was writing to that they should understand that just being born again and being in Christ is not the whole deal; but rather it is 'abiding' in Christ till the end that gets us where we're wanting to go (Mat. 24:12,13). For confirmation of this point let's hear from Jesus who said exactly what I have just said about the passage in Jude, and about all of these other passages as well: "I am the vine, ye are the branches: He that abideth in me, and I in him, the same bringeth forth much fruit: for without me ye can do nothing. 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" (Jn. 15:5,6). We're not a branch of the Vine unless we are 'in Christ' who IS the Vine. So again we see that we can be lost from Christ and the hope of salvation if we leave this world with sin in our lives. The good news is that it is absolutely God's will for us to be saved, even as it is God's will for us to abide in Christ. Also we can always be forgiven of any sin if we will only acknowledge it, confess it, and ask for forgiveness for it (I Jn. 1:9). No sin or sins is bigger than the price that Jesus paid at the cross of Calvary for ALL sins and sinners. Neither have we 'crossed the line' or 'gone too far' unless we no longer believe that Jesus died for our sins, rose from the dead, and sits at the right hand of God to make intercession for us. Only by completely shutting out the belief of those things after we have previously believed on Christ and received God's Spirit, can we be in the position where "there remaineth no more sacrifice for sins" (Heb. 10:26). As it is written: "For God hath not appointed us to wrath, but to obtain salvation by our Lord Jesus Christ" (I Thess. 5:9). Nonetheless it is needful, especially in the common 'Christian' environment of today, to understand that there was a very good reason for the exhortation of the apostle Paul when he said the following words to fellow believers in Christ; "Wherefore, my beloved, as ye have always obeyed, not as in my presence only, but now much more in my absence, work out your own salvation with fear and trembling" (Philip. 2:12). Amen.