Totally Secure
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I. INTRODUCTION
A. “I do not believe in the doctrine of “eternal security”, but I believe god’s people are eternally secure.” This may seem like a contradictory statement. Let me put it another way: “I do not believe in the doctrine of Eternal Security (Perseverance of the Saints/ Once Saved Always Saved) as it is taught among mainstream reformed folks, but I do believe in the eternal security of the believer.”
1. When it comes to reformed doctrine, which tends to underemphasize the response that God demands of us, we tend to overreact by underemphasizing the work of God in our original salvation and in our final salvation.
2. The thoughts of today’s lesson are meant to show that the ultimate reason why God’s faithful people will persevere, have security in our hope, and be provided for by God, is because God, in His mercy, has been gracious to us and will be gracious to us in the future if we continue to have faith and love towards Him.
II. BODY
A. WE ARE SECURE, AND OUR SECURITY IS IN THE LORD (NOT OURSELVES)
1. ;
a) God gave us new birth so that we can receive an inheritance
b) It is reserved in Heaven for you
c) We are kept by the power of God by faith in order to receive our final salvation.
2.
a) Jesus gives His sheep eternal life
b) They will never perish
c) They cannot be snatched out of His or the Father’s hand. They are together in watching over and protecting us.
3.
a) The point that Paul is giving us in this passage is that God has done so much to show His love for us while we were yet sinners, that we need to see that God will much more continue to work on our behalf in order to give His people what He has promised. We will be saved and not be recipients of His wrath.
4.
a) God, who cannot lie, keeps His promises. He doesn’t need to make an oath to prove He will do so, but He does so we can be doubly assured of our hope and have extra encouragement to trust in Him and see that our hope is sure and steadfast.
B. OUR SECURITY IS CONDITIONAL
1. This promise is to those who are in Christ Jesus
a) We enter Christ Jesus whenever we are baptized INTO Christ (; )
2. This promise is for those whose lives are characterized by a certain way of living.
a)
(1) In the Spirit and not according to the flesh
(2) God’s people are going in a certain direction; a direction that is away from sin. They are not living in sin.
(a) We by the Spirit put to death the deeds of the body (verses 13-14)
(i) Those who are led by the Spirit are working on putting self to death and becoming more holy by receiving God’s forgiveness of their sin.
(ii) What is interesting about this idea is that to be secure in Christ, the child of God must see their sin and do what is necessary to be forgiven by God. This is interesting because it is often the case that we doubt our security in Christ because we see sin in our lives. But what is important to remember is that receiving God’s mercy and help in overcoming sin necessitates that we see our sin!
(iii) I have more concern for the person who says that they do not see their sin or that they haven’t sinned for a couple weeks than I do for the Christian who sees that they sin and does something about it. I will say this again later, but if it is the case you have not confessed or repented of sin in recent memory, there may be very good reason for you to doubt your security in the Lord
(b) One of the key things in this passage that we may miss is that God does strengthen us as His people to overcome the flesh. We “by the Spirit” put to death the deeds of the flesh. It is not something we do by our own power alone. We put to death our flesh by the Spirit. God’s Spirit helps us see our sin, convicts us of our sin, and empowers us to overcome our sin.
b)
(1) We looked at part of this passage earlier to see that the Lord’s sheep are protected by Him. They cannot be snatched out of His hand. Jesus also in this passage gives us the conditions to being one of His sheep and for being protected by Him and the Father
(a) They are:
(i) Hearing Christ’s voice,
(ii) And following His voice
(b) Once again, part of hearing Christ’s voice and following His voice is seeing our need for God’s grace as His people. Jesus’ voice shows us our sin. It shows us what we need to continue to repent of and confess. If we are not taking care of our sin, we are not following the voice of Jesus. (c) Those who claim to be His sheep, but are not showing their faith by hearing Christ’s voice, and following His voice, this is what Jesus says about them:
(i) “You are not of my sheep” (v26).
c) ; -20; 6:11-12
(1) à we must pay attention to Jesus so that we don’t drift away…
(2) -20 à whose house we are, if we hold fast our confidence
(3) 6:11-12 à we through faith and patience inherit the promises if we do not become sluggish…
C. OUR SECURITY CAN BE LOST
1. So does this mean that it is impossible for God’s people to be lost once they are saved? Can we lose our protection from God? I believe the only answer that one can come to from scripture is “YES, a Christian can be saved and then can turn away from the faith, and thus lose their salvation.” Since our protection from God is conditional (as we saw in our last point), that would necessitate that the security and protection that we have from God can be lost, and because of this, our salvation can be lost or forfeited.
2. If there is one passage in scripture that shows that one who has fully received the blessings of God in Christ and then turn away from those blessings, then it is the case that a believer can become an unbeliever, and thus forfeit their salvation. There is one passage that teaches this. Honestly, there is more than one passage!
a) The context of each passage we quoted in our last point in the book of Hebrews shows that Christians (who the book is written to) can become hardened by sin, drift away from the truth, and fall away from the faith. Let’s look at two passages in Hebrews that show that our salvation can be lost:
(1)
(a) This group of people are described in a way that leaves no doubt that he is talking about those who are saved and then lose their salvation:
(i) Were enlightened
(ii) Tasted of the heavenly gift
(iii) Were partakers of the Holy Spirit
(iv) Tasted of the good word of God
(b) This group of people, if they fall away, cannot be renewed to repentance… There is no reason whatsoever to give such a warning to the Hebrews if falling away like this was not possible.
(2) (NASB)
(a) “For if we go on sinning willfully after receiving the knowledge of the truth, there no longer remains a sacrifice for sins, 27 but a terrifying expectation of judgment and THE FURY OF A FIRE WHICH WILL CONSUME THE ADVERSARIES. 28 Anyone who has set aside the Law of Moses dies without mercy on the testimony of two or three witnesses. 29 How much severer punishment do you think he will deserve who has trampled under-foot the Son of God, and has regarded as unclean the blood of the covenant by which he was sanctified, and has insulted the Spirit of grace? 30 For we know Him who said, "VENGEANCE IS MINE, I WILL REPAY." And again, "THE LORD WILL JUDGE HIS PEOPLE." 31 It is a terrifying thing to fall into the hands of the living God.” (b) The Hebrews writer says in this passage that they regarded as unclean the blood by which they WERE sanctified (29) and that those who are being spoken of here as being judged are “HIS PEOPLE.”
b) One last passage I would like to consider: .
(1) Peter is primarily talking about false teachers in this passage, but what he says about them is interesting.
(a) They “escaped the defilements of the world” (b) They had knowledge of the Lord and SAVIOR (c) They knew the way of righteousness (d) They turned away from the commandment, which would infer that they were following it.
3. Someone can become a Christian, fully experience the blessings of God meant for those who are in Christ, and then lose those blessings, showing that they are no longer secure in Christ. They allow themselves be overcome by sin and are enslaved once again.
III. CONCLUSION
A. With all of this said, let’s conclude by asking this question: Why do we doubt our security in Christ? In other words, why do we doubt that our Shepherd will provide for us and protect us?
1. Is it because we don’t believe what God says? OR that we don’t believe God will give us what He promises?
a) I don’t know if I am really a Christian, so I don’t know if I am secure in Christ.”
(1) What God says is true. If you done what He has said to do in order to be a recipient of His grace and mercy, believe Him. Believe that He has forgiven you as He has said He would.
b) The same goes with our asking for forgiveness to God as His covenant people. If we repent, confess our sins to one another, and confess and pray to God, God will keep His word and forgive us!
2. Is it the case that we are doubting because we are living in sin?
a) If you or I are living in sin that we have no confessed or repented of, then we have a very GOOD reason to doubt that we are secure in Christ! We must repent!!!! The faithful child of God who is humble enough to see sin in their life will deal with it! They will change. If you are not living a life of growth in holiness, which necessitates confession and repentance of sin, you have no assurance that you are right with God
b) If you have not confessed or repented of sin in recent memory, then there is a good chance that you are not right with God. It may be the case that you are allowing your pride to keep you from being secure in the Lord.
3. Is it the case that you are doubting your salvation because you are trying, as His child, to earn your salvation; or to earn your Father’s love?
a) YOU CAN’T DO IT!!! SO STOP TRYING!!!
b) We, as God’s children, show our love to Him by obeying Him. We do not obey Him to earn His love and protection. He promises to protect and to provide for us. Trust in the Lord. Rest your hope fully on His grace that you are receiving and will receive as He has promised. Do not trust in what you are doing to be the reason you will be saved.