The Doctrine of Salvation

What do you know, or how much do you know, or how sharp is your sword? I promised every once in a while that I would give a doctrinal type sermon. Going over the basic doctrines and the basic beliefs that we hold to be true. Why do we teach them? Why do we believe what we believe? Why do sometimes we get resistance from other modern-day Christianity groups? Sometimes we get resistance from those who are not religious. Today I'm going to discuss one that tends to get us in trouble with our families. When we join the church, or we come into the church for the first time, and our families are in what we would call traditional Christianity, this one tends to rub the wrong way. We read it, we know it, and we believe it when we're first baptized. We go through these things, and then over time we kind of get a little dull. When we get dull, and we all of a sudden get into an argument with, accidentally or a debate, let's say, with somebody of another faith, we're not as sharp as we need to be.

We can't recall the Scriptures that we proved to ourselves so many years ago. How sharp is your sword? So today I want to go through the doctrine of salvation. What is salvation? Do we disagree with the majority of Christianity on this issue? You will find out, as we go through today, we really disagree very little. Very little with the way modern Christianity today teaches salvation. But what we disagree on, even though it's a small point, has a huge impact on our relationships. To them, it is a big deal.

If we would just reason with people who consider themselves of the Christian faith, and we talk about how we're supposed to behave after baptism, they generally don't have a problem with it. But when we get into the specifics of what the Bible says, and that's what I want to go through today, then they have a huge problem with the difference that we have.

So, brethren, how sharp is our sword? Can you define what is salvation? Can you earn it? Does the United Church of God teach that we earn salvation through works? And can you lose it? Can you lose the salvation that you were given? So, let's walk through today and answer those questions in the time that we have left, and sharpen our sword just a little bit. So, if you're new and you're contemplating baptism, you might find this information new. But most of us have been here quite a long time, and have heard these things over and over again.

And yet, I remember when I was a young man, and you know I didn't handle it so well, as a young man, I tended to be a little bit too dogmatic, a little bit too ready to challenge or to take on a challenger. And we really, brethren, need to be gentle, and I'll cover that at the end.

But I remember a young man of the Baptist faith really getting in my face over this issue, and I really gave it to him. I would definitely handle it different now, recognizing that we have so many things in common and build a bridge with those things that we have in common, and then show that the differences are actually from Jesus Christ and the apostles. They're not our opinion. They're not opinion at all. They're from God Himself. And this is how we ought to believe and behave and act. So let's walk through and ask the question, first of all, what is it anyway?

Can you define it in less than fuzzy terms what salvation is? We're saved from death, essentially. All of mankind is held accountable. And God has always held mankind accountable. Every woman and every man is accountable for their own sins. Now, I just separated us from a lot of people in the modern era today, because Christianity is drifting into something called universal salvation, and not everybody believes in universal salvation, which I'm not going to cover today in great detail. I'll just mention, essentially universal salvation says since God is love and everything He does is loving, He would never condemn anybody.

And that's an absolutely false conclusion. But since He would never condemn everybody, that means He would force other people into salvation. So in the end, everybody gets saved, and some people go so far as to say even the demons get saved, even Satan himself. Because after all, God is love, and yeah, me too. God is love, and you know, love would never condemn.

And that's absolutely not true. Love would condemn at some point in time. If it was necessary, then it would actually be the loving thing to do. God is love, and everything He does is love. And if He says He condemns, buddy, He condemns. Everybody is held accountable for their own sins, and it has always been that way. Notice Numbers. We'll start here. Numbers 5 and 6. We'll start with the foundation. Numbers 5 and 6. The need for salvation is because God holds every man accountable for his or her own sins.

Numbers 5 and 6 speak to the children of Israel when a man or woman commits any sin that men commit in unfaithfulness against the Lord, and that person is guilty. And then he shall confess his sin, which he has committed, and he shall make restitution for his trespass. How? In part, no, in full. Plus, one-fifth, or twenty percent, he will give to the one who was wronged.

And there is a punitive penalty. Not only must you pay what you owe in full, you have to pay twenty percent more as a penalty, as a slap on the wrist for what you did. And it starts the principle, the concept, from the beginning that a just God requires all debts to be paid. Otherwise, it's unfair. Otherwise, he's unfair, and he's showing partiality, letting everything you do go, but condemning other people. He's a just God, and he holds every one of us accountable for everything that we do. Justice requires that you get what you deserve, and that's a godly concept.

It's a fundamental understanding of salvation. And then we read, and I know these are just basics. Bear with me. You've got to walk through the basics to get to the good stuff. Romans chapter 3 tells us that everybody is guilty, which means everybody has a debt that has to be paid. Romans chapter 3 and verse 23, you know this, for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God. That means everybody is accountable. And what are we accountable for? Well, move ahead to chapter 6 and verse 23.

For the wages of sin is death, and all accounts from the beginning of time, since this is a just God, must be paid.

So every man is accountable to pay debts. Pretty basic, pretty simple. And that gives us the need for salvation. We need help, somebody to rescue us. Because how can you pay with debt? You can pay it, no problem, but then you can't live anymore because it's death. A foreshadowing in the Old Testament gives us a great example of how we need someone else to save us. In Leviticus chapter 25 and verse 47, all of these things in the Old Testament point to Jesus Christ.

All the little, minute little details, the sacrifices, the showbread, everything, pointed to Jesus Christ. That box that was the Ark of the Covenant that Mr. Bauer talked about had a mercy seat on it. It pointed to Jesus Christ and the sacrifice of Jesus Christ.

Verse 47 of Leviticus chapter 25, suppose a foreigner or temporary resident, I'm reading from the New Living Translation. It wasn't fair to the person putting the scriptures on the screen. So, suppose a foreigner or temporary resident becomes rich while living among you.

If any of your fellow Israelites fall into poverty and are forced to sell themselves to such a foreigner or a member of his family, so in other words, your life is required, they still retain the right to be bought back, even after they have been purchased.

So, there is a principle that even after somebody owns you, you can be redeemed.

You can be bought back. So, the concept that balances out justice, and God is a very just God, is mercy. You don't deserve to be bought back. You can't buy yourself back, but somebody else can buy you back. And this principle of redemption is introduced all the way back in the book of Leviticus. They may be bought back by a brother, an uncle, or a cousin. In fact, anyone in the extended family may buy them back. So, a near kinsman, a relative, could come in and pay the price for you. And the owner of you had no choice but to give you up.

And that represents God's salvation, that death will give you up, because Jesus Christ redeemed you. He bought you back. But every man is countable, and the price was death, and that's why he had to die. And if we think that sin is no longer relevant, then we're saying that the death of Jesus Christ is no longer relevant. We actually cast out the death, a sacrifice of our Savior, Jesus Christ, by saying, because he died, sin is no longer relevant. That's circular reasoning that actually eliminates the necessity of his death.

So, at the end of Romans 6 and verse 23, we read that Romans 6, 23 says, for the wages of sin is death, but we didn't finish that Scripture. And it goes on to say, but the gift of God is eternal life. And it's a gift. So, salvation is a gift. We'll get to that in just a minute. We'll get to that in just a minute. But here is where we depart from modern day Christianity. And you might not have thought of it this way. This is our first departure from modern day Christianity. And a lot of people think that our departure from modern day Christianity is that salvation can be lost. We'll get there, but we're not there yet. There's a departure that we have from Christianity long before we believe salvation can be lost. And it starts here, that salvation is a process, not a one-time event. And I'm going to show you that from the Scriptures.

Salvation is not a one-time event, but rather a growth process that starts with a one-time event.

But that's not the only thing the Bible says about salvation. It doesn't... it's not completed with a one-time event. It is actually a process. And this rubs people the wrong way, because they don't want to hear this. This goes against our human nature, that it's a process. Oh, we want a free ticket to do whatever we want to do. And very intelligent, very scholarly type people jump off the boat right here, because they simply voluntarily close their eyes to the reality, which is salvation is a process that takes your entire life. Salvation is not a one-time event. And we don't often think about that when we're having a discussion with somebody. But this is really the place to start. Start with the foundation of what we both agree on. Pretty much everybody who considers themselves a Christian agrees that the wages of sin is death, but Jesus Christ redeemed us by paying that penalty. Okay, there we agree. Now here's where we depart. I'd like to quote from our booklet, The New Covenant, the chapter, How Does Justification Relate to Salvation?

Quote, God's salvation is accomplished in stages. Jesus Christ died to pay the penalty for our sins. When we repent, which includes commitment to obey God, and faith, we accept Christ's atoning sacrifice in faith, sorry, we accept Christ's atoning sacrifice, we are freed from the death penalty.

We are under grace and no longer under the dominion of sin and death.

End quote. So, how are we saved? Someone died in our place. But, after salvation, here's the rub, here's the problem. We all still sin. And here's where we disagree. I remember having debates with co-workers on this very issue that, you know what, you can actually sin after you've accepted the atoning sacrifice of Jesus Christ, and you still need to repent of that sin. Oh, no, you don't, Rod. This lady, kid you not, was committing adultery on her husband with a co-worker in the office, and she was justifying it because she was a Christian. And you can't sin after this is where it goes. You think, well, people don't really believe that. Well, yes, they do. And she actually justified committing adultery with a co-worker. And I'm telling her, you can't do that and call yourself a Christian. And here's the rub. The rub is that they think you can't sin after you've received salvation. Yes, absolutely you can, brethren. 1 John chapter 1 and verse 8. Let's read it right out of the Bible. 1 John chapter 1 and verse 8. John is talking to the church.

These people have already received the sacrifice of Jesus Christ. They have been baptized. And John says in 1 John chapter 1 and verse 8. If we say that we have no sin, we deceive ourselves.

And the truth is not in us. So we're introduced to the idea that salvation is an ongoing process.

This can be very precarious when we explain it to people. But in Hebrews chapter 10 and verse 10, Paul adds to this thought. And he says, New King James version, Hebrews chapter 10 and verse 10.

By that we have been past tense, sanctified through the offering of the body of Jesus Christ, once for all. Now this is one of the scriptures that they'll use when they say, Look, we have been sanctified. And that's all we need. It's not a process. We're done. Once you accept the sacrifice of Jesus Christ, you're done. Well, guess what? That's not all that Paul said in this letter. Let's read on. It seems like we've been sanctified and there's nothing more that we need to do if you stop there. And that's what they do. They stop there. But it's not so. Drop down to verse 14. Just four verses later, Hebrews 10 and verse 14. For by one offering he has perfected forever those who are being sanctified present tense. So yes, there was a one-time event for all people that we can go to and receive sanctification. But Paul himself said that we are being sanctified. In other words, it's an ongoing process. Christ died once for all. But that process of being sanctified means that Christians are not made perfect at baptism. And that's what that lady argued with me about committing adultery. It wasn't adultery after baptism because she was already perfect. Yeah. The main outcome of salvation is eternal life in God's kingdom. You don't get that way when you're first baptized. Notice Matthew chapter 24 and verse 13. You're not automatically in the kingdom of God at baptism. And this is the rub that people think it's not a process.

And it most assuredly is. Matthew 24 and verse 13. But he that shall endure to the end, that same shall be saved. Oh, you've got to go all of your life and endure to the end.

The reason I bring that up is that's Jesus Christ Himself saying that. Jesus Christ Himself never taught that all you had to do was walk up to the stage and go, I believe in Jesus. And that's all you've got to do. The rest of your life you could go out and be a drunk, be a fornicator or an adulterer, and you're good to go. You're perfect. Once you're sanctified, that's it. No, He said you have to endure something, and you have to endure it how long? All the way to the end. It's a lifelong process, which means you receive the ultimate goal at the end, not at the beginning of your Christian walk. In Mark 13 and verse 13, and yes, since this is a doctrinal sermon, I'm going to use way more scriptures than you're going to be comfortable with, but just jot them down. You can go to them later. Mark 13 and verse 13, He said, And you shall be hated of all men for My name's sake. But he that endures to the end, the same shall be saved. Now, wait a minute.

If we're baptized into Him and we're perfected, how come we have to endure all the way to the end to be saved? Because salvation is a process. Acts chapter 15 and verse 11. Acts chapter 15 and verse 11. Notice that it puts salvation for you in the future, in your future. It doesn't put it in the present time. This is the Bible. This is not our opinion. Acts chapter 15 and verse 11.

But we believe that through the grace of the Lord Jesus Christ, we're often accused of not believing in grace. And I'll get to that in just a minute, and I'll really pound it. That we really do believe in grace. I want us to sharpen our swords and be able to talk about grace comfortably and not be defensive about it at all. We're not defensive about grace.

We do not believe you can earn salvation by doing anything. We believe that doing what God requires us to do is for a very different reason than salvation. And Paul says it in Romans, and we'll get to that in just a minute. But right now, let's look at Acts chapter 15 that puts salvation in our future. Verse 11, but we believe that through the grace of the Lord Jesus Christ, we shall be saved even as they. The person who wrote that was already converted. A minister of God, Luke, the physician, the assistant to the apostle Paul, a converted man, is writing this, saying, we shall be saved, indicating again that salvation is a process.

Romans, the apostle Paul, Romans chapter 5 and verse 9, says the same exact thing. This is probably where Luke got it from, because Luke traveled with Paul. Romans chapter 5 and verse 9, much more than being now justified by his blood. Okay, you can't get more clear than that.

If you are justified by his blood, you have been baptized. You have received the laying on of hands. You have God's Holy Spirit. Now, modern day Christianity says, I'm now perfect. Paul says the opposite. Read the next statement. We shall be saved from the wrath through him.

Verse 10, For if when we were enemies, we were reconciled to God by the death of his son, much more being reconciled, we shall be saved, future tense, by his life. It's not enough to just acknowledge the death of Jesus Christ, but he also has to live in us. We are saved by his life.

Remember that? You used to know that when you were baptized, but we go through life and it just gets really busy. We have kids, and they grow up and become teenagers, and eventually they become parents of their own, and we become grandparents. This kind of gets dull, and we need to sharpen it back up. Salvation is a process, not a one-time event. Almost all Christians would agree that we're saved by Christ's death, and we agree there. That's where we build the bridge. But where people don't tend to go along with what the Bible says is that salvation is attained at the end, and it is a process. And the apostles said that we shall be saved, not that we are currently saved.

There are lots of familiar scriptures, but we simply don't have time to go through them all in this sermon. So, baptism and the receiving of God's Holy Spirit is essentially a down payment. Like when you're buying a house, you put down a down payment. It doesn't mean you own the house. It means you're going to own the house in the future, and at the end of all of the payments in your mortgage, the house is yours. And in a similar way, God gives us the Holy Spirit.

We don't instantly become spirit beings. That would be totally cool. I would be floating above the stage right now. Right? But we don't. It's just a down payment. Ephesians chapter 1, verse 13 and 14. I'm going to read this from the Old King James. Modern translations, whether intentional or unintentional, I'm not judging. It doesn't matter what they intended. But there's definitely a prejudice that occurred in the modern translations of this Scripture. And if you go back to the Old King James, when they were a little bit more careful in how they worded it, it's actually more accurate. Ephesians chapter 1, verse 13. In whom ye also trusted. After that ye heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation. In whom, after that, ye believed. Ye were sealed by the Holy Spirit of promise. So you receive the Holy Spirit and you're sealed. And you're done, right? No.

Verse 14. Which is the earnest of our inheritance. You know what an earnest is? It's a down payment.

It's not the whole price. It's just the down payment. It's the strength in us from God and from Jesus Christ to help us develop and grow in character. That's what it is. It's the earnest, the down payment of our inheritance. Until what? Until the redemption of the purchased possession, until the praise of His glory. And when is that redemption? We've already read it from Jesus Christ's own words. At the end. God doesn't receive us as a completed son or daughter until the end. We're changed. Notice 1 Thessalonians chapter 4 and verse 15. We'll go back to New King James. 1 Thessalonians chapter 4 and verse 15. For this reason we say unto you.

We're doing a lot of time here.

Badly, of course. Okay. 1 Corinthians 4 and verse 15. For this we say unto you, by the word of the Lord, that we who are alive and remain until the coming of the Lord will by no means precede those who are asleep. In other words, the dead in Christ. Verse 16. For the Lord Himself will descend from heaven with a shout, with a voice of an archangel, and with the trumpet of God. And the dead in Christ will rise first. When? At His return. That is when we receive the salvation of God. That's how Luke and Paul said, who shall be saved. Okay? 1 Corinthians 15 and 52 echo that. 1 Corinthians 15 and verse 52, in a moment, in the twinkling of the eye, when? At the last trumpet. For the trumpet will sound, and the dead will be raised incorruptible. You don't receive that until the end. And therefore, the conclusion that we draw is salvation is a process. And that's the first place to start in your explanation to somebody. That salvation isn't an instant thing. When you're baptized, or most people aren't even baptized anymore, they just come up to the front of the stage and confess that Jesus is their Lord. Sincerely enough, that's not the issue. You're not perfected then. You aren't perfected until after you've been baptized, receive the Holy Spirit, and at the end you are raised incorruptible. Okay, let's not beat a dead horse. Can you earn salvation? Next topic. Do we teach salvation by works? Well, when I get into the next topic of can you lose salvation, people tend to think we do. And so I want to explain the difference that we do not believe that you can earn salvation. No, we believe in grace very much so. We're not afraid to use the word grace. Grace is unmerited pardon. It's something you're given, a gift, that you don't deserve, that you didn't earn. What you earned was a wage, and the wage of sin is death. But remember, the gift of God is eternal life, because you didn't earn eternal life, brethren.

So mercy had to be given. It's a gift. We have always taught that as long as I've been in the church more than 45 years. We have taught grace. This is where we actually agree with modern Christianity. Romans 6, verse 14. We do not shy away from these scriptures. We embrace them, and we love them, and we are appreciative to God for them. Romans 6, verse 14. For sin shall not have dominion over you, for you are not under the law, but under grace.

We're not afraid of that scripture. We love that scripture. You know why? Because we know what Paul was talking about in context under the law, because we read the whole book of Romans, not just that verse. Paul is talking about the penalty that the law brings. There's only one conclusion that you can have for keeping the law, and that's death. Why? Because the law was wrong? No, because the flesh is weak, and all have sinned and fallen short of the glory of God.

So, by grace, nothing that we earned, nothing that we did, we have received a gift from God, the sacrifice of Jesus Christ. He laid down his life, didn't have to do that, wanted to do that.

Why? For you and me, that we might be saved. There's nothing we could do to earn it.

Absolute grace, and we believe in it, and we embrace it. And if you read on the internet about the United Church of God and those who are against us, this is where they hit us. They say we believe in salvation because we've earned it. We worked it. We did it ourselves. We do not believe that. We simply believe that God requires something after he gives us that free gift. And we believe that because he said it. And he said it not once, not twice, not even a dozen times, but over and over and over again. It's so clear, it's more clear than the big schnoz on my face, that there's something we have to do after we receive the grace of God. And that something that we do doesn't earn us salvation. It does something else, which is really cool. And you need to know this.

And you need to be able to turn to the Scripture that says it and read it to somebody, not in anger or in any kind of a challenge, but lovingly and peacefully. Read it to them and give them the hope that lies within you.

Ephesians 2 and verse 8, another Scripture that we absolutely embrace and are thankful for. Ephesians chapter 2 and verse 8, for by grace, for by nothing that you or I did to earn, grace, you have been saved through faith. And that not of yourselves, it's the gift of God. It's a gift, and we're thankful for it. Truly thankful for it. And we know that we were poor, and we were like King David, who had his head down when he said, What is man, that you are mindful of him? And we feel that way. But we part ways, because modern Christianity, and prior to modern Christianity, it was also in Gnosticism. This goes back all the way to the Garden of Eden. This is the big lie that Satan told in the garden.

That's the lie that you will live forever, that the soul is immortal. Now, I'm not going to cover the immortal soul doctrine today. We're going to stick with salvation, but it's very related, very, very closely related. Can you lose salvation? This is the big disagreement, and this is where we get criticized as though we believe it's salvation by works. Because we believe there's something that you have to do in your Christian walk after you accept the grace of God.

And modern Christianity will tell you that there is nothing that you have to do, but you tell them about that lady who was committing adultery and said, But I'm still perfect. And they will argue, No, you can't do that. The Holy Spirit will lead you away from doing it. But I'll tell you, when you get into the situation, I watched a debate. I love these debates between creationists and atheists, or neo-Darwinists. They get into these debates, and they both make these dogmatic points, and nobody convinces anybody of anything. But one time, one of the atheists was really eloquent, a very well-spoken man. And he was very convincing. And he had what I thought was the best argument for the opposition that I've ever heard, because of this feeling that once you're saved, you're always saved. Because he said, When I was a boy, I accepted the sacrifice of Jesus Christ. So he said, Don't worry, I'm covered. Even though now I'm an atheist, and I don't even believe in God, and I don't even believe in Jesus Christ. If it happens to be true, I'm still saved.

And nobody in the audience had an answer for him. Nobody on this stage had an answer for him. They couldn't defeat that, because of their own doctrine of once saved, always saved.

It's not what the Bible says, but he whooped up on him that day. He absolutely, usually those things are a draw. Not that day. That day he took Christians and bent them over his knee and spanked their little bottoms. Can you lose salvation? This is a grossly misunderstood doctrine. And here's where it begins most of the time. Scriptures like this. There are a bunch of them. But John 10 and verse 27. And I got 10 minutes to pull this off. It's just not going to happen. John 10 and verse 27. My sheep hear my voice, I know them, and they follow me.

And I give 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. You see? You see? Once saved, always saved. Once you're in God's hand, you'll never get out. And they believe that you can't walk away either. But it doesn't say that.

It says no external force can take you out. But it doesn't say that God takes away your right to choose.

God gave that right to choose back in the Old Testament, when Israel was getting ready to go into the Promised Land. And Moses told them, I set before you today life and blessings, death and cursing. Therefore, choose life. And Christians take that away. That once you're saved, you no longer have a choice. So they can do anything they want to do and get away with it. Oh, no, no, no. They'll argue. That's not what we teach. But that is what happens in practice. And it is wrong.

Hebrews 13, verse 5, tells us that it's wrong. Let your conversations be without covenantsness, and let the content with such things as you have. For He has said, I will never leave you nor forsake you. Once saved, always saved. That's not what it means. It means He will never leave us. What does it not say that we would never leave Him, or we would never have the ability to leave Him? It doesn't say that, because we do have to voluntarily stay with Him and choose to grow all of our life. Remember, Jesus said, He who endures to the end, the same shall be saved. Endure what? How did the apostles who wrote these books interpret this issue themselves?

Did they say that your salvation is 100% secure, no matter how you behave after you're baptized?

Notice I said the word behave, and that's the rub, because behave means actions, and actions means works. And that's how we're interpreted as believing in salvation by works. Because I just said we have to behave a certain way, or God will not give us salvation in the end. So it really sounds like we're cutting close to the edge there, salvation by works. And we really are not. We really do believe that we could not have earned it, that Jesus Christ had to die. We simply believe that He requires something of us after we receive His salvation. It can seem confusing, I know, but the apostles make it crystal clear. So we're going to boogie, get your pens ready. We're going to go quickly through some scriptures, where the apostles tell us that we are not guaranteed salvation even after we accept the sacrifice of Jesus Christ. Buckle up. Here we go.

1 Corinthians 15, verse 2. 1 Corinthians 15, verse 2. By which you also are saved, you've received the gift of the Holy Spirit. If you hold fast, if the biggest two-letter word in the English language, if you hold fast to the word which is preached to you, unless you believed in vain. It's possible to accept Jesus Christ and believe in vain, which means only a temporary benefit. Hebrews 3, verse 14. We're required to hold on to the end. Action, participation on our part after we've received grace is required. Hebrews 3, verse 14. For we have become partakers of Christ if we hold the beginning of our confidence steadfast to the end. If we hold to the end. That's a big word, if. Hebrews 10, verse 36. What are we supposed to be doing by holding fast?

Is there something we actually have to do, or do we just have to hold on? Hebrews, same book we just read. Just move down the page a little bit. Chapter 10, verse 36. For you have need of endurance, so after you have done the will of God, you may receive the promise. We don't receive the promise.

What's the promise? It's eternal life. Until after we have done the will of God.

If we don't do the will of God, we don't receive the promise. And that is not salvation by works. That's God telling you, son or daughter, I'm going to give you a free gift and a job to do.

Modern-day Christianity wants to leave that last part out.

Second John, the book of Second John, chapter 1, and verse 8. Can you lose your reward? Can it be lost? No external force can take us out of the hand of God. But can you lose it? Second John, chapter 1, verse 8. Look to yourselves that we do not lose the things we work for. What things?

Maybe he's not talking about salvation. Keep reading. But that we may receive a full reward. What is our reward? It is salvation.

John is saying you can lose it. You can lose it. You can trash it and throw it away.

I don't even have time to read all the scriptures about this. It's about overcoming, not earning. It's about growing. In Jesus' own words, in Revelation, chapter 2, and verse 26, he said, and he who overcomes, not he who comes to the stage and says, I believe in Jesus. Your baptism is a beginning, but salvation is a process.

In Jesus' own words, in Revelation, chapter 2, and verse 26, he who overcomes and keeps my works until the end, to him I will give power over the nations. Brethren, when we receive the grace of God, we have a job to do, and we do not need to shy away of saying that. Because shying away from saying that hurts the person we're talking to, because we're not called for personal salvation only. We are called as firstfruits, and there are many, many more who are to come after. And we're supposed to stand up for what is true and reflect the light.

And God requires action after salvation, not to earn salvation for growth.

Is it possible to receive God's Holy Spirit and then fall away? You've heard this, but remember, Hebrews chapter 6, verses 4 through 6, Hebrews 6 verse 4, for it is impossible for those who are once enlightened.

That's those of us who've received God's Spirit. We said, my life is yours.

Listen to this, it's impossible for those who were once enlightened and have tasted the heavenly gift and have become partakers of the Holy Spirit and have tasted the good word of God and the powers of the ages to come. If they fall away, wait a minute, what about the whole hand thing? And you can't get taken out of the hand of God.

You can't be, but you can fall away yourself. So, it's impossible if they fall away to renew them again to repentance, since they will crucify again for themselves the Son of God and put him to an open shame. In other words, Jesus Christ didn't die twice, and there's no such thing as a second chance that once you've received the Holy Spirit, you go all the way to the end. And if you walk away, if you say what that atheist said on that stage, you're saying goodbye to God for eternity. Period and end of story.

Hebrews chapter 10. That could not be more clear. Hebrews chapter 10.

Oh. For if we sin, verse 26, I'm sorry, Hebrews 10 and verse 26 and 27. For if we sin willfully, and I'll describe that in just a minute, after we have received the knowledge of the truth, there is no longer remains a sacrifice for sin.

Do you remember this? Or if you've never heard it before, do you get what was just said?

After you've received salvation, if you say to God, I no longer will walk with you.

That's what he's saying. There is no longer a sacrifice for you. The grace of God no longer applies. Wow! Verse 27. But a certain fearful expectation of judgment and fiery indignation which will devour the adversaries. Now, that can be a very, very sobering and even frightening scripture.

That once you are in Christ, if you go out of Christ, you cannot come back in. You are out.

And a lot of us have doubts, because we sinned and we knew we were doing it.

And we go, oh, did I just sin willfully? Am I out? And the answer is no. If you're willing to repent, you're not out. The definition of that word, willfully, and this comes from Thayer's Greek dictionary, voluntarily, willingly of one's own accord. And we think, oh, no! I've done that!

That's not likely. It means that it's not done from ignorance or weakness. Oh, yeah, you can see you're doing it, but you're weak, and you do it anyway. That's not an unpardonable sin.

Don't worry about it. Repent. Get down on your knees and ask God for forgiveness, and know He will forgive you. It's talking about people that say, I don't want you any more, God. I am walking away from you. He doesn't take your right to choose away from you after salvation. There is still sin, as we read earlier, after you've received salvation. If we say we have sinned, we're liars, and the truth is not in us. But if we walk away from God, we don't ever walk back in. So can you lose your salvation? Yes, you can. You can choose to walk out of the hand of God.

He won't let you go by any external force. Not Satan, not this world, not a trial, not cancer, not financial ruin. Nothing can take you out of the hand of God. But you can walk away.

You have to take all of the scriptures and put them together.

So I just want to encourage us that, even though those scriptures are sobering, that God is not quick to throw us away, not by a long shot. He's going to finish what He started in you. Just stay with Him. Your job is to submit and grow. His job is to give you that growth.

Philippians chapter 1 and verse 6. Philippians 1 and verse 6, being confident of this very thing, that He who has begun a good work in you will complete it until the day of Jesus Christ. Again, pointing to salvation at the end of this process.

Salvation is a process that begins with the grace of God, and then proceeds with your obedience, your works, and what do your works produce? Salvation? No, that's the gift of God.

So what do your works produce?

I'm going to skip a lot of this, and we're just going to jump to the end. Nothing can separate us from God, but grace does not give us a license to sin. We have a job to do after salvation, and it is a process. And if we say we never sin after salvation, we don't even know the truth. Don't even call yourself a Christian. That's what John was saying. But the Apostle Paul in the book of Romans, in chapter 6, tells us what our works are for. They're not for earning salvation.

That's crystal clear. But they are required before God will give us salvation, and they're required from God. It's not the United Church of God making it up. So what does obedience produce? If obedience to God's will, to His Word, to His law doesn't produce salvation, it's got to produce something that God requires. So what is it? Romans 6, verse 15.

What then shall we sin because we're not under law but under grace? Certainly not!

We're supposed to walk a different way. Verse 16. Do you not know to whom you present yourselves as slaves to obey? Obedience is required. Why? You are the one slaves whom you obey, whether of sin leading to death or of obedience leading to salvation. No, leading to righteousness, the character of God. The purpose of obedience after salvation is growth in righteousness, growing to become like Jesus Christ, and He requires it. Period and end of story.

You can't earn salvation. You can walk away from it. Salvation is a process. It's a free gift, but obedience that we talk about, brethren, is not works that lead to salvation. It's works that lead to righteousness, and it's the righteousness that God invented Himself. He thought it up. We didn't think it up. It's His character, and it's His requirement, and we are not bashful or shy to say that a Christian is required to obey God after he receives salvation, and he can lose that salvation if he does not. And that is not salvation by works. That is obedience to righteousness.

And that is defined by the Scriptures of God, not by the traditions of man or any human corporation.

We have all sinned. We have all earned death. And God holds every single one of us accountable, and He has from the very beginning. He's a just God, but He's also a merciful God. And He sent Jesus Christ to live a perfect life, to die a terrible death, that we might have salvation, something that comes from God that He freely gives. And a gift that God gives, He expects us He requires us to keep. And that's the point. We have to keep it in order to attain it at the end.