This is our third study in the wonderful scriptural subject of how a genuine believer in Jesus Christ as Savior is saved and secure forever. And so let me invite you to open your Bibles with me to the book of Romans, Romans chapter We're not going to review the first fourteen biblical reasons or proofs that scripturally support the eternal security of the believer in Christ, but permit me to take a moment to briefly frame up the question we are answering from the scriptures for anyone who is new here this morning. The question is simply really this, can a genuine believer in Christ ever be lost again? Or saying it another way, can anyone who is truly saved ever commit a sin? Or sin to such a degree that he or she could lose their salvation and be condemned forever? You see, this is the issue of eternal security. And right along those same lines, as one may ponder this question, is a parallel question, namely, can anyone know with absolute certainty an assurance that they'll be saved in one, five, or ten years from now or forever? And you see, apart from an understanding of the Gospel, and apart from arriving at the correct conclusion in light of the Gospel, which is eternal security, no one could know for sure one year from now that they're going to be saved, or five years, or ten years from now. They could not know that because between now and then, they could lose it, forfeit it, give it away, let it slip through their fingers or whatever anyone thinks about that matter who thinks that somehow you can lose your salvation. And so we've been looking at all these verses. And frankly, when we're done today with all 30 proofs Lord willing, there's more verses we still could have gone to. as this is a subject that is touched upon over and over again in the Scriptures. But for our purposes, the fifteenth reason why your salvation is eternal and secure if you've trusted in Christ alone, is because salvation is a gift from God and is irrevocable. And I had you turn to Romans chapter 6, for let me call your attention to the very last verse of this chapter. Romans chapter 6 verse 23, for the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord. Notice, the wages of sin is death, is death. Now, we're all sinners. And with sin comes a penalty, a wage, something we earn or deserve, and it's namely death. And death in the Bible carries the idea of separation. And so there is physical death in which someone's soul or spirit is separated from their body. There is spiritual death in which we are born separated from God like this slide portrays. We're separated. And then there is eternal death in which when a person dies physically who has remained spiritually dead, they are separated from God forever. And you see, dear friends, there's no amount of work that we can do. to break down that barrier. And should we die without Christ, we will spend eternity without Him, separated from God forever and ever and ever. And that is why God sent His Son, His only Son, Jesus Christ. to die for us, to break through that barrier and provide for us a means by which we could enter into the presence of a holy God on the basis of grace because of who God is and what Christ has done. And what did he do? He died for our sins and then he rose from the grave to give us salvation as a gift. And according to Romans 6, 23, for the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is what? It is eternal life. And eternal life, by its very definition, lasts forever. And therefore, it cannot be lost. And how is this provided? In Christ Jesus our Lord. Jesus Christ paid a debt that He did not owe so that we could receive the gift of salvation that we did not deserve. But once one puts their faith in Christ, and once they receive the gift of eternal life, Is that gift revocable or not? And I say that because often times when people are involved in financial transactions like a trust today, they ask the question, is the trust revocable or is it irrevocable? You see irrevocable means not able to be revoked, repealed or annulled. It is unalterable, that which is certain, binding or assured. So let's ask the same question, is God's gift of eternal life to you revocable or is it irrevocable? Well, right here in Romans chapter 11, as you turn there, Romans 11, we see the answer to our question. For though Paul is talking about God's gifts and callings to Israel, that he called them as a special people, and he has promised them a future which will be fulfilled after the tribulation period to come. But by way of principle, we see in verse 29, the statement, for the gifts and calling of God are what? Irrevocable. The gifts and calling of God are irrevocable. And by the way, one of the things that Paul prays for in this passage is that all Israel would be saved. And you see, once you are saved, that gift is irrevocable. It is not able to be revoked, repealed, annulled. It is unalterable. It's that which is certain, binding, or assured. For as a believer, you are not on probation. This salvation is not performance oriented. It's based on the finished work of Christ. It comes to us as a gift and it's received through faith in Him. And if God has given you the gift of salvation or eternal life and it is irrevocable, how could you ever lose your salvation? Frankly, you could not. Which leads us to reason number sixteen. If you've trusted in Christ alone, your salvation is eternal and secure because you are accepted, redeemed, and forgiven by God's amazing grace. You are accepted, redeemed, and forgiven by God's grace. And to see this, turn with me now to the book of Ephesians, Ephesians chapter 1. Ephesians chapter 1. As Paul is writing to believers and has expressed to them in verse 3 how they've been blessed with all spiritual blessings in heavenly places in Christ, he begins to state some of those blessings. And we pick it up in verse 6, that all of this is to the praise of the glory of His grace. Please note that. By which He, God, made us believers, accepted How were we accepted? In the Beloved. Verse 7, in Him, in Christ. And in our position in Him, we have redemption through His blood. We have the forgiveness of sins according to the riches of His grace. Notice, if you've been saved, you are accepted, you are redeemed, you are forgiven. Does that sound like someone who could lose their salvation? Or is that something that sounds like signed, sealed, and delivered? Now, why are you accepted? Because you are in the Beloved. Again, we've likened the illustration before to you as an hopeless, helpless, hell-bound sinner separated from Christ. And when you put your faith in Him and Him alone who died for you and rose again, God puts you into union with Christ. Your position now is in Christ. And just as God accepts His Son, God now accepts you. Not because of something you've done or are doing or will do for Him, but because of something He has done for you. This is the way of grace. Furthermore, it says that you've been redeemed. How have you been redeemed? Through His blood. Not through some church ritual, not through some amount of works that you somehow have compiled on the positive side of the ledger, trying to get your good works to away your sins. No, you've been redeemed through His blood, through His death on the cross. And on what basis are you forgiven? According to the riches of His grace. Grace. What a wonderful word. What a wonderful concept. Not because of trying to measure up to the law of God. You see, grace again deals with God's riches at Christ's expense. And because it's grace, God's blessings come to us always in gift form. Now, does this sound like a description of someone who could lose or forfeit his salvation? Never. You are accepted in the Beloved for a while? No. You are redeemed as long as you can hang in there? No. You are forgiven until you screw up bad enough I can't stand it anymore? No. No. Dear believer, you are accepted, you are redeemed by his blood, you are forgiven according to the riches of his grace. You see, it's by grace, it's not by law, for as we think of the law for For by the law is the knowledge of sin. God gave His holy law in order to show us how holy He is and how sinful we are. So as we're in a house of mirrors, we keep seeing guilty, guilty, guilty, guilty, guilty! Everywhere I look, I can see I sin! I sin far more than I realize. And you see, the law demanded 100% obedience 100% of the time. And James 2.10 says, if you offend the law on one point, you are guilty of breaking the entire law. And thus, the purpose of the law was to show us our need and to drive us to Christ so that we would flee to Him as our city of refuge and put our faith in Him and what He's done for us and be saved on the merits of His work and not ours. And the laws fulfill this objective when in seeing your need of Christ, you put your trust in him and what he's done for you so that you are saved by grace. And the moment you put your faith in Christ, you're not only saved by grace, you're not only blessed with all spiritual blessings, you're not only accepted in the beloved, you're not only redeemed by his blood, you're not only forgiven of all your sins, but you are sealed. with the Holy Spirit of promise. And that's our seventeenth reason why your salvation is eternal and secure. Because you are sealed with the Holy Spirit unto the day of redemption. Thus, Paul, later in the same chapter, beginning in verse 13, tells us these words. In Him, Jesus Christ, you also what? You trust Him. Didn't say you prayed, didn't say you asked, didn't say you repented of your sins. No, you trusted in Christ. How did that come about? After you heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation, in whom Christ also, having believed, you were sealed with the Holy Spirit, a promise. We see in verse 13 a sequence of events here. First, they heard the gospel. And faith comes by hearing, and hearing by the Word of God. And that is why God wants to use you as a believer, or me as a believer, to proclaim the Gospel to others, so they would know how to be saved. They heard the Gospel. Secondly, they believed in Christ. They put their trust in Him, and Him alone, and nothing else. And as a result, they were sealed with the Holy Spirit. But the idea of a seal is that it's a mark of ownership and sets forth a finished transaction. And thus, the Holy Spirit's indwelling of a believer marks them out as belonging to the God in contrast to the unsaved world around them. It's kind of like a branding iron, if I could use that illustration. When you have these cattle that belong to you, you brand them, they're mine. And God has branded us. He's mine. She's mine. Because she's been saved. Because He's trusted in me and my work on the cross. They're mine. They're sealed until the day of redemption. And verse 14 goes on now to tell us a little more about that seal. Who, the Holy Spirit, is the guarantee of our inheritance until the redemption of the purchased possession to the praise of His glory." In other words, that Holy Spirit acts as a guarantee that just as you have been redeemed, one day your body will be redeemed. It's speaking again of future glorification, which we saw in Romans 8.30, is a guaranteed future reality for every believer who has been justified by faith in Christ alone. In fact, that Greek word translated guarantee carries the idea of an engagement ring. Now, I recognize in our culture when you're engaged, it doesn't guarantee you'll get married, though it looks favorable. It looks favorable. Now, we know that some people have broken engagements. We understand that. But God doesn't break engagements. And when she gives you the Holy Spirit, it is the engagement ring that guarantees one day you'll be at the marriage supper of the Lamb. It's His guarantee. And you see, if you could somehow lose your salvation in the meantime, you wouldn't be there. It wouldn't be guaranteed, so why give you the guarantee? Furthermore, as we turn to Ephesians chapter 4, We pick up another piece of information about the sealing of the Spirit. In Ephesians chapter 4 and verse 30, it says, And do not grieve the Holy Spirit of God. Let me pause for a minute. When you tell believers to not grieve the Spirit, that one assumes they have the Spirit, and number two, it assumes that they could grieve the Spirit. And as believers, we do grieve the Spirit. We grieve Him through sin in our lives. and a failure to yield to the Lord, and a failure to admit when we sin. It grieves Him. But notice what it goes on to say, and do not grieve the Holy Spirit of God by whom you were sealed from the very moment you put your faith in Christ with what in mind? For the day of redemption. The day in which you will be glorified. That means that while You can grieve the Holy Spirit through sin. You can never grieve Him away. And this is not by which you have been sealed until you slip up, until you sin big sins, until you apostatize, until you fill in the blank. No, never. You are sealed for the day of redemption. Again. If you could somehow lose your salvation and the Holy Spirit has sealed you, the Holy Spirit would have to go to hell with you and the Holy Spirit is not going there in a favorable sense. Which again, underscores our salvation as being eternal and secure. Which leads us to reason number 18. Your salvation is eternal and secure because your salvation is not obtained or maintained by your holy life or work. It's not obtained or maintained by your holy life or works. Now think about it for a moment. If you could lose your salvation, you'd have to do something to keep it. In order to do something to keep it, you would have to live in some way, to some degree, a holy life of faithfulness, or at least faith, in the Lord. And yet, what does Ephesians 2 Verse 8 and 9 tell us, For by grace you have been saved through faith, and that not of yourselves, it is the gift of God, not of works, lest anyone should boast. Now notice how this breaks down. For by grace you have been saved through faith. Now notice, this is something that is a past reality to them, and it was through faith in Jesus Christ that they had been saved by the grace of God. Now, developing that further, it says, and that is not of yourself. That salvation was not a result of anything you did. Instead, it is the gift of God. Something He did and something He offered to you. And that is why verse 9 then says, it's not of works, lest anyone should boast. And again, the kind of works that people depend on in order to go to heaven is not their open, flagrant sins. No, it's their good, religious, self-righteous works. And it's not of works. And I say that because some people front load the gospel in order to be saved. They say you have to get baptized or confirmed or do good works or repent of your sins or ask Jesus in your heart or something. But then there's others who back load the gospel and say, no, it's just to faith. But if you're really saved, you're going to be fruitful and godly and so forth and so forth and so forth and so forth. So therefore, you're always looking at your walk and your works to know, am I saved or not? The good news of the gospel has nothing to do with us. It has everything to do with Jesus Christ and what he did for us upon that cross. And you see, this is the difference between religion and Christianity. As religion says, Christ did his part, maybe up to 90 percent. You have to do your 10 percent. That's salvation by works. God says Christ did it all. It is finished. And therefore, there's nothing left for you to do but simply put your faith in Him who did it all. This is salvation by grace. You see, so where do good works fit in? Well, verse 10 gives us the answer. For we, we who have been saved by grace through faith in Christ apart from our works, are His workmanship, His project now, created in Christ Jesus for a purpose, for good works, which God prepared beforehand, that we should walk in them." Now, please notice that we should walk in them. In other words, good works are to be the result of salvation. They're not the means of obtaining it or maintaining it. And notice again the word should. Not will, not would, but should. In other words, the Spirit of God is made of residence within our lives. in order to produce in us a quality of life that is honoring to the Lord, that includes good works, that should be the result of our salvation. But the fact of the matter is, not all believers progress equally. Not all believers are walking with the Lord at any given point in time. There is such a thing as carnality. There is such a thing as divine discipline. There is such a thing as retrogression in our lives and so forth. And that is why we don't look to our works in order to know we're saved. We look to Christ and what Christ has done for us. And the unfailing promises of God. That's what we look to. And that is why reason number 19, that your salvation is eternal and secure, is because your salvation is a permanent reality. A permanent reality. And to see this, let me develop a little more in your thinking, a little technicality here, but it's worth it, being technical, about Ephesians 2 and verse 8. For by grace you have been saved through faith, and that not of yourself, it is the gift of God, not of works, lest anyone should boast. Now, if a writer of the New Testament wanted to communicate the idea of permanency in the Greek language, how would he do that? Well, he could use terms like oo, no, may, no, which we saw in John 10, 28. I give to them eternal life. We could use the word eternal. And they shall never perish, oo, may. And then he added eis tan eona, forever. So he could use oo, may. He could use eis tan eona. He could use words for eternal or forever. He could just use logical argument as I have done several times in this study. But he could also use Greek grammar like what we have in verse 8. You see, in verse 8 we have what's called in Greek grammar a perfect paraphrastic construction of the Greek word sozo. Now this is not easy to translate. It's kind of like there is so much rolled up into this phrase, it's hard to spit it all out. Now let me attempt to do so, so you get an idea. The phrase, you are, is the word ayni. It's a present active indicative, which means you are and continue to be saved and that's a fact. Now, that's not only there, but just add a plus sign. Because there's two verbs here in the Greek and they're put next to each other to doubly reinforce this. And here we see the word sozo, a form of it, and it's a perfect passive participle. Now, the perfect tense means this. At a point in time in the past, you've been saved with the results continuing in the present that you remain saved. And then let's slap on top of that a present tense verb, you are. This is a way of showing permanency. For by grace you are and you have been saved with the results continuing in the present that you still are saved. This is a permanent salvation by God's grace. You see, dear friends, we are saved by grace. We are saved through faith in Christ and it is a permanent salvation. Those who deny eternal security inevitably demand that you live a holy life or have good works or remain faithful in order to stay safe or give proof that you are one of God's elect. And this is not biblical, it is not grace, for our salvation is not of works, lest anyone should boast. In fact, do you realize, believers, as far as God is concerned, that you are already a citizen of heaven? And you see, that's proof number 20 that we see in the Scriptures of eternal security. Your salvation is eternal and secure because God sees your citizenship already as being in heaven. And to see this, go with me to another book to the right, Philippians chapter 3. Philippians 3. In contrast to those who mine earthly things, who set their mind on earthly things, verse 20, for our citizenship is where? It's in heaven, from which we also eagerly wait for the Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ, to come back from heaven. who will transform our lowly body, that it may be conformed to His glorious body, according to the working by which He is able, even to subdue all things to Himself." Now, that word citizenship in verse 20 is a very important word. It had great significance in Philippi, for the residents of Philippi were actually citizens of Rome As they were constituted a Roman colony, though they did not live in Rome, they lived in the region of Macedonia, which is northern Greece. So he says, listen, though you live in northern Greece, you are a citizen of Rome. Now, let's take that a step further. Though you still live on planet Earth, as far as I'm concerned, God says, you are a citizen of heaven. Our citizenship is where? Oh, it's way beyond the United States of America. It is in heaven. And because our citizenship is in heaven, we are looking for our Savior to come back and take us home to be with Him. And one day, either by death or by rapture, we're going to go home and what a welcome we'll have because we're a citizen of heaven. We're not wondering day after day, am I still hanging in there? How's my spiritual batting average today? I wonder if I lost my citizenship along the way. No, we are a citizen of heaven and an ambassador now on earth. Because earth is no longer our home. We're here on foreign turf and one day we are going home. And if God already sees you as a citizen of heaven, if you could lose your salvation, you would have to lose your citizenship. Why would God call you a citizen of heaven? And then later come along and say, oh, by the way, I changed my mind. No, dear friends. Your salvation is eternal and secure. And not only are you a citizen of heaven, but according to Colossians chapter three and verse three, your life is hidden with Christ in God. Your life is hidden with Christ in God. By the way, can we get a little more air in here? It's a little warm. Colossians chapter three, go there next with. Now he's writing to a group of believers who lived in the city of Colossae, and the book of Colossians is all about the supremacy and the sufficiency of Jesus Christ. And he's exhorting believers here to live in light of their position in Christ. So we read in verse one, if then you were raised with Christ, and we were, seek those things which are above, where Christ is sitting at the right hand of God. Set your mind on things above. Not on things on the earth. Why should I do that? Let me give you three reasons. Number one, you die. Number two, your life is hidden with Christ in God. Number three, when or whenever Christ, who is our life, appears, then you also will appear with Him in glory. Now notice, because of your position and identification in Christ, God sees that you die. So what do you mean I died? I'm still physically alive. No, you died. with Christ the moment you are saved. God puts you in union with Christ in His death, burial, and resurrection. You died. Your history in Adam has ceased. You are now in Christ. And as a result, you've been co-crucified with Christ so that you have died or been separated from the sin nature, the world, and Satan. You now belong to the Lord. And though the sin nature, the world, and Satan can still be a great problem in our We're no longer legally in bondage to them any longer. Secondly, your life is hidden. As I think of that word hidden, the word hidden is in the perfect tense in the Greek. Again, you were hidden in the past when you were saved with the result that you remain hidden to this very day. That's eternal security again. Now, it's also in the passive voice. Now, the difference between the active and passive is very simple. In the active voice, you do the action of the verb. In the passive voice, you receive the action of the verb that someone else does. And notice, this is in the passive voice, which means you did not hide yourself, that God hid you. It's something God did for you. And by the way, it's in the indicative mood, it's a fact that you have been hidden. It's not in the subjunctive mood, which is a desired objective that may not come to pass. No, this is in the indicative mood. Write it down as a fact. Now, where is your life hidden as a believer? Two places are mentioned. Verse 3, for you died and your life is hidden where? With Christ in God. With Christ in God. Now, this is double eternal security. This is like going to a bank and taking out a safety deposit box, which is a place of security that is guarded, that is protected, and you hide something there. And then they turn around and they take that safety deposit box and then they stick it in a bank vault. Your life is hidden with Christ, the safety deposit box, In God, the bank vault. Now that's double eternal security. This is very similar to what our Lord said in John 8, verse 28 and 29, where I give to them eternal life, they shall never perish, neither shall anyone snatch them out of My hand. My Father who is greater than all, and no one is able to snatch them out of My Father's hand, for I and My Father are one. You're in the hand of Christ and the hand of God. It's the same idea here. Now notice, it doesn't say, you have died and your life is hidden with Christ in God, as long as you have no conditions at it. Promise guaranteed. And then on top of it, verse 4 says, when Christ who is our life appears, then you also may appear, might appear, hope to appear, no, will appear. With Him in glory. And that's reason number 22. Your salvation is eternal and secure because when Christ, who is our life, appears, then you also will appear with Him in glory. And will appear, again, sets forth something guaranteed. You say, well, does this apply to everyone that's saved? Yes. Everyone who is part of that Colossian church that had placed their faith in Christ is included in this verse. For when Christ, who is our life, appears, and He's going to appear again, He's coming again, then you, and the word you is plural, all believers without exception, the spiritual ones and the carnal ones, the progressing ones and the backsliding ones, this is still true of you, all of you, then you also will appear Again, future tense. In the future when Christ appears, you will appear, passive voice. God makes this happen. It's not by your own power. And again, in the indicative mood, this is a guaranteed fact, not a maybe. You will appear and you're going to appear with Him. You know why you're going to appear with Him? Because you've been redeemed. You've been accepted in the Beloved. You're in Christ. You're hidden in and identified with Him. You will appear with Him in glory. A state of glory with Christ. Glorified with Him. Now, does this sound conditional, questionable, iffy and uncertain? No. How could you say it any stronger? This is emphatic. This is dogmatic. This is absolute. But Paul, what if these Christians backslide, sin, fall or fail the Lord? What of their future then? When Christ with our life appears, then you also will appear with Him in glory, period. This is God's ironclad promise. And that's eternal security. And that is why as we go to 2 Timothy chapter 2, And we think of those ironclad promises of God. We see another one here in 2 Timothy chapter 2. As Paul is exhorting Timothy to be faithful to the Lord, to endure hardship as a good soldier. Because God has provided the grace necessary for this to happen in his life. We pick it up in verse 8. Remember that Jesus Christ of the seed of David was raised from the dead according to my gospel in which I suffer trouble as an evildoer. That's how he was viewed by others. And he was just a troublemaker, evildoer. Even to the point of chains, he had been thrown into prison when he's writing this epistle. But guess what? The Word of God's not changed. Therefore, I endure all this suffering, all this persecution, all things for the sake of the elect, those who are going to get saved, whom God knows are going to get saved, that they also may obtain the salvation which is in Christ Jesus. And with that salvation is going to come what? Eternal glory. In fact, this is a faithful saying. For if we died with Him, we shall also live with Him. Now, we see here that your salvation is eternally secure because you died with Christ and therefore you are promised that you shall also live with Him. Now, let's again look at the words here closely. This is a faithful saying for if. Now, this is a first class condition. If, and it's assumed to be true. You see, there were four class conditions of the word if in the Greek. If it is assumed to be true, that's number one. If and I assume it's not true, that's number two. If it might be true and might not be true, that's number three. And if and I wish it were true, that's number four. Very rare, very rare. Now you say, well, how do you determine that? By the grammar. The grammar will tell you every time which one it is. It's not something subjective. It is clearly objective based upon the word and the tense and so forth, or the mood that follows in the verb. It's very clearly set forth. Now, here it's a first class condition. In fact, all four if phrases in verses 11-13 are first class. They assume a reality to be true. Now, what is said here, for if we, Paul is writing to Timothy, and this would include all believers, for if we died, Aristence completed action in the past, we died when you were saved. Active voice, you chose to trust in Christ alone for this to happen. And it's in the indicative mood, it's a fact of reality. You died with Him. Again, here's our identification with Christ. What is therefore God's guaranteed promise? Here it is. We, as believers, shall also live with Him. Future tense, indicative mood. If we die, it's guaranteed in the future we're going to live with Jesus Christ. End of discussion. You see, this is the first pillar of eternal security in the passage. There's going to be a pillar in verse 11, there's going to be a pillar in verse 13, and then there's going to be two options, how to live your life from the moment you were saved to the moment you go home to be with the Lord, in between. There's what's called a kielastic organization of the phrases here. And you say, well, what about verse 12? If we endure, we shall also reign with Him. If we deny Him, He also will deny us. Aha! There it is. Some will say, see? If you deny the Lord, you turn your back on Him. He'll deny you salvation. But this is where, again, If one is careful to the context and the content, we'll arrive at the right conclusion. For you see, Paul's whole point in verse 13 is going to be, your salvation is eternal and secure. Because though you may be unfaithful to Christ, yet He will always be faithful to you. And that is why in verse 12, we have two options as a believer. The first one is mentioned at the first half of the verse. If, again first class condition assumes, for the sake of argument, this will be true, we as believers endure. Endure what in the context? Hardship and suffering for Christ. What is God's guaranteed promise? That we as believers shall also reign with Him. We shall also reign with Him. Now notice, shall reign, even in the English, portrays something in the future. And you see, what he's talking about is reigning in the future kingdom as a reward for enduring and persevering under suffering. In other words, you may lose now by way of material things, friendship, approval of the world, if you live for Christ and take into the net for Him, but I can tell you, it will be worth it all in the future. In the future, you're going to get a reward, you're going to get a crown, and you're going to have a special opportunity and privilege to reign with Christ in the Kingdom. And though all believers will be part of the reigning team, there will be differences of position. within that scope of reigning. And we see here, if we are willing to suffer, then we're going to reign with Christ as a reward for being willing to be faithful to Him. But remember, salvation is not a reward. We're talking here about a reward. Now, here's option number two as a believer. The second half of verse 12. We as believers deny Him, and we'll assume that some believers do, first class condition. Instead of enduring when faced with suffering, we say, no, this isn't worth it. I'm begging it. I'm cashing it in. By the way, did Paul know of any believers like that? Well, in chapter 4, he's going to say, for demons hath forsaken me, having loved this present world. He didn't endure. And if we deny Him, What is this promise? He, Christ, also will deny us. But what is it exactly He will deny us in the future? He'll deny us a reward associated with reigning with Christ. That is the context. You see, you can't lose your salvation, but you could lose your reward because you weren't willing to live for Jesus Christ and to serve Him under suffering in this present age. And by the way, there are many things as a believer that we're called on to suffer. You say, oh, but what if I lose that reward? What if I'm not faithful to the Lord? What if in times of suffering and trial, I do cave in? Well, here's the wonderful promise of verse 13. If, first class condition again, assumes a reality. If we as believers are faithless. If we fail to remain believing or faithful in the Christian life, even under suffering. Here's the promise. He, Christ, remains faithful. Present tense. He keeps on choosing to remain faithful to you, though you are unbelieving or unfaithful to Him. And that's a fact. I guarantee, promise. He remains faithful. Why? He cannot deny Himself. He can't deny His person. He can't deny His provisions. He can't deny His promises. He can't deny the fact that He died for your sins and rose again and gave you eternal life. He can't deny that His promise, you will never perish. He can't deny that He has sealed you with the Holy Spirit of promise. He can't deny Himself. Thank God it's not our faith, but His faithfulness that saves us and keeps us saved. And that is why, as you noticed today, we're not preaching ourselves. We're not preaching, you've got to do this. We're not preaching our church. No, it's just like 2 Corinthians says, for we do not preach ourselves. We're preaching Jesus Christ as Lord and ourselves as your servants for Jesus' sake. We're talking to you today about Jesus Christ and what He has done and what He has provided and what He has promised, because that's what our salvation depends upon. In fact, as we think of His work on the cross and the blessings that flow from that, go with me next to Hebrews 10. Hebrews 10. For in the book of Hebrews, The writer of Hebrews is contrasting life under the law and life under grace, life in the Old Testament, life in the New Testament, and how Christ is better than anything that Judaism had to offer, including providing a better sacrifice for us than those Old Testament sacrifices. Thus, in Hebrews 10 and verse 10, we read, We have been sanctified through the offering of the body of Jesus Christ once for all. And every priest stands, ministering daily and offering repeatedly the same sacrifices which can never take away sins. But this man, Jesus Christ, after he had offered how many sacrifices? One sacrifice. For what? For sins. How many sins? Forever. Sat down. at the right hand of God, from that time waiting till His enemies are made at His footstool. For by one offering He has perfected forever those who are being sanctified." You see, your salvation is eternal and secure because you are perfected forever because of Christ's finished work. You see, notice the contrast between the Old Testament sacrifices and the sacrifice of Christ. You know, in the Old Testament, there were many priests because they kept dying off. Our high priest, the Lord Jesus Christ, is one because he lives forever. In the Old Testament, the priests were always standing. There weren't chairs in the tabernacle and temple to sit down because their work was never done. Always another sacrifice needed. But no longer, and that's why Christ is seated today at the right hand of the Father. Thus, in the Old Testament, there were repeated sacrifices versus Christ's one sacrifice. Those sacrifices in the Old could never take away sin. His took care of sins forever. What a difference. You know, being raised Roman Catholic, I observed this every Mass. How the priest was always standing, always offering another sacrifice. How the work was never done. Always another sacrifice. The bloodless sacrifice of the Mass. And when I was saved, I understood for the first time that I didn't need another Mass. I didn't need another sacrifice. That Jesus Christ got the job done. And I didn't need a human priest either. For there is one God and one mediator between God and man and that's Jesus Christ. And He got the job done. And that's why I can remember when you're going to a funeral in the past, and if you listen closely at funerals, and I do, I happen to pay attention. First of all, normally at the beginning of a funeral, the Roman Catholics, this is true in Lutherans usually, is they will say, when such and such a person was baptized, they became a child of God. Right there I want to have a megaphone. No! But I don't. I pay respect. One does not become a child of God through water baptism. You become a child of God through faith and trust. And then as you listen closely, you know, one moment the person's in heaven. The next time, oh God, please accept our dearly departed loved one. I'm thinking they died five days ago. Either they're in heaven or they're not. Kind of late to ask. Plus, unnecessary. I mean, even at my own mother's funeral, that priest had her in heaven and back five times or so. I wanted to go up to him after and say, now, where is she? Now, I knew where she was. But, you know, one moment she was in heaven, next second we were having prayers for her. Next moment in heaven, you know, then purgatory. You know, next one, masses for the dead. Where is she? Now, by the grace of God, my mother was saved three years after I was, and that's why. I knew where she was going when she died. In fact, two days before she died, she says, Dennis, I just saw the doctor. He says I have less than a week to live. Just think, in less than a week I'll be with Jesus. That's the assurance that God gives. That He has saved us and He keeps us saved. We are, according to verse 14, perfected Forever through that one sacrifice. Perfected in the perfect tense. Forever. You want to add more to the picture? And that's why regarding this, my pastor, Leonard Radke, wrote, and I quote, to deny eternal security is to deny the finished work of Christ upon the cross for the sins of the world and to reduce the sacrifice of Christ to the level of Old Testament sacrifices which could never take away sin. Thus, putting the person in the hopeless position of always seeking to atone for his sin by his own religious works. One must see that the sin question has been forever taken care of once and for all, and that God is no longer holding man's sins against him, which is what God and his love did for man. One must see that is no longer the sin question, but the son question. If sin then is no longer a condemning factor with the lost, how can sin be a condemning factor with the saved? The sinning believer loses God's blessing, not salvation. That's exactly what we're reading about. And that's why, dear friends, why would God declare believers in Christ to be perfected forever in their standing before him if at some time later they could lose, forfeit or give away their salvation? Remember what Christ cried out on the cross? It is finished. Now, if that wasn't enough, In light of the persecution and the hassle and the pressure that these believers were experiencing, we turn to Hebrews 13. Some had lost friends, some had lost families, some had lost their goods. Some were looking at losing more if they would remain faithful to the Lord. And what does He tell them in verse 5? Let your conduct be without covetousness. Be content with such things as you have, for He Himself has said, I will never leave you nor forsake you. So we may boldly say, the Lord is my Helper. I will not fear what man can do to me. The 26th reason why your salvation is eternal and secure is because Christ has promised to never leave you and to never forsake you. Now, you know, last week I showed you in John 10 the use of u, no, and me, no. Now, this is really amazing in Hebrews 13, 5. God has said, I will never. Now, that's u, me again. I will never leave you. Now, if that wasn't enough, we have in the next phrase a triple negative. U, no. Me means no. And then he adds u again, no. In other words, never, never forsake you. Under no conditions, under no circumstances ever will the Lord leave you nor forsake you. And that is why one translation says, keep your lives free from the love of money and be content with what you have. Because what is it you have? Because God has said, never will I leave you, never will I forsake you. And though as believers we go astray, you know what? The Lord stays with us. Though we wander from Him, He doesn't wander from us. Though we may forsake Him, He doesn't forsake us. And He keeps us saved and He keeps us secure. For we are kept, reason number 27, by the power of God. We are kept by the power of God. Go with me to 1 Peter 1. 1 Peter chapter 1. Now, similar to Hebrews, 1 Peter is written to believers who are being persecuted and hassled. They were displaced. They had lost earthly inheritances. But God wants to remind them they haven't lost what's really important. We pick it up in verse 3. Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who according to His abundant mercy has begotten us again. to a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead. Now, that phrase, begottenness again, means we have been born again. How? By His abundant mercy. We've been born again. Now, when someone is born into a family, and God here is described as the Father, oftentimes a child will be given an inheritance. It's something future, but it's something they possess right now. They will enter into it later. In the same way, when we were born again, God is our Father and He has given us an inheritance. And this inheritance is described in verse 4 as being incorruptible, no deterioration, and undefiled, no impurity, unlike our bodies, that does not fade away, no termination. Now, does that sound like something that you're going to lose? Now, if that wasn't enough, he says, and this inheritance is reserved The word can also be translated preserved. And it's in the perfect tense again. When you were born again in the past, until this very day, it is reserved. Where is this inheritance? It's reserved in heaven, the safest place in the universe. And it's reserved for you, those who have been born again. And thus this inheritance is described in ways that cause us to believe that it could never be lost, forfeited, or given up. Furthermore, in verse 5 we read, who are kept, we as the inheritors are kept, continually being kept, present tense. How? By the power of God, not your faithfulness and holiness. And how did you enter into all this? Through faith. That's how you were born again, that's how you became a child, and therefore you got the inheritance. And by the way, that phrase, through faith, is the same phrase that's used in Ephesians 2.8. For by grace you have been saved. How? Through faith. And therefore, Jude, verse 1 says, Jude, a bondservant of Jesus Christ and brother of James, to those who are called, sanctified by God the Father, and preserved in Jesus Christ. You are preserved. In fact, not only are you preserved, but reason number 28 is that all your sins are forgiven forever. And that is why you cannot lose your salvation. All your sins are forgiven forever. In fact, Psalm 103 verse 12 says, As far as the east is from the west, so far has He removed our transgressions from us. How far is that? A long way. You see, in one sense, while God the Father poured out our sins upon Christ, it was our sins that nailed Him to the cross. And yet, because of His finished work and His payment for our sin, when we put our faith in Him, He releases us from the guilt. He forgives us. He washes us from our sins in His own blood. When you trust in Christ alone as Savior, how many of your sins are forgiven? Colossians 2 verse 13 tells us, having forgiven you, how many? All trespasses. Past, present and future. All. God has cast all your sins into the depths of the sea and their sins and iniquities. God says, I will remember no more. You say, but what about when the believer falls? Does a believer? Can a believer fall? But that's reason number 29. Your salvation is eternal and secure because though you may fall, you shall not be utterly cast down, for the Lord upholds you with His hand. The Lord upholds you with His hand. You see, we've seen in John 10, 28-30, the analogy already that we are in the hand of Christ and we're in the hand of the Father and therefore we can never be lost. But playing off that motif, in Psalm 37, verses 23 and 24, we read this, The steps of a good man are ordered by the Lord, and he delights in His way. Though he fall, he shall not be utterly cast down, for the Lord upholds him with His hand. Can a believer fall into carnality? Without question. Can a believer fall from following the Lord? Yes. Can a believer fall by way of his testimony? Yes. But when he falls, he always falls in the hand of God, never out of the hand of God. And dear friends, this is eternal security. You say, well, when he falls and if he stays that way and lives in carnality and waits his life for Christ, then what? Well, that's reason number 30, our last one. Your salvation is eternal and secure. Because though you may lose your reward in heaven for failing to faithfully serve Jesus Christ, God guarantees that you shall still be saved in the future. You shall still be saved in the future. And let's go to one last passage, 1 Corinthians chapter 3. 1 Corinthians chapter 3. Paul here uses the analogy of the building of a building. Now, every building needs a foundation, just like every person needs something to build their life on. And we read in verse 11, for no other foundation can anyone lay than that which is laid, which is Jesus Christ. And so we see here, the foundation every believer has to build his life and ministry upon is the foundation of Jesus Christ. If you're saved, you have that foundation. The question is, what kind of materials will you utilize in building on this foundation? You say, well, what are my choices? Verse 12. Now, if anyone builds on this foundation with gold, silver, Precious stones, wood, hay, or straw. You see, you have a choice of two kinds of materials. That which are permanent, gold, silver, precious stones, or that which is perishable, wood, hay, and straw. Now, if you had a choice to build on the foundation, a good foundation with gold, silver, and precious stones, or wood, hay, and straw, which one should you choose? Well, obviously the former, not the latter. You say, what is gold, silver, and precious stone? It's living a life, having a ministry that is built upon the foundation of Christ, that is lived out through the power of the Holy Spirit, for the glory of God, according to divine wisdom or viewpoint. You say, well, what is wood, hay and straw? That's anything done for the glory of self, to the strength of self, according to human wisdom. And that is what God could not reward. Thus, one day the Lord at the behemoth seat of Christ will evaluate the believer's work and what is the conclusion, or what is the issue, verse 13. Each believer's work will become clear for the day of Christ, will be cleared because it will be revealed by fire, and the fire will test each one's work of what sort or quality it is. You see, some people think because they're busy, and they have a lot of quote works, that that's going to mean great reward. Not necessarily. It's not the amount of the work, it's the quality of the work that ultimately is evaluated. But what are the results of the divine evaluation? Well, we get the positive one first. If anyone's work, which he has built on that foundation of Jesus Christ, endures, the divine evaluation with fire, here it will be the result, he will receive a reward. Not a gift from God, but a reward from God for being faithful to the Lord by building on the foundation with gold, silver and precious stones. We're back to that reward concept again that we saw in 2 Timothy 2. But there's a negative possibility, verse 15 continues, Anyone's work is burned. When it's divinely evaluated by the Lord, he will suffer loss. Loss of what? Of the reward he could have received, but didn't because he built on the foundation with wood, hay and straw. Either when the judgment seat of Christ we can hear, well done, or we can see loss and shame. Loss of reward. And yet, though we may lose our reward in heaven, what will we not lose? Verse 15, but he himself will be saved. He himself will be saved. That is a future passive indicative. It is a guaranteed promise that though your life may go up in smoke as a believer, you're still going to be saved. Yet so as, through the fire, with the smell of smoke on your clothes, as it were, you will still be saved. Why? Because salvation was a gift God provided. And even though the fire of God's judgment in determining reward or lack of reward burns up your life, the foundation of Jesus Christ that you have remains certain and secure. Dear friends, this is eternal security. And by the way, there are a lot more verses than this. You say, OK, I've read enough. I want to eat sometime this afternoon. So how does all of this apply to you as a believer? Let me just ask you, are you rejoicing today in the Lord and the assurance of your eternal salvation? You know, I've known these verses, I've taught this many times, and yet going over them again, it's so encouraging to my heart. Are you grateful for what the Lord has done? Are you persuaded that this is true? And as a result, are you motivated by the love of God and the security of your salvation to live for Him who died for you? But it could be that you're here today and you aren't a believer in Christ. You're just a helpless, hopeless, hell-bound sinner, which all of us were before we came to Christ. You see, it's really going to come down to this. If you trust your works, you'll never get to heaven. If you have faith in Christ plus your works, you're not going to make it to heaven. Your faith has to be in Jesus Christ alone. And if your faith is in Christ alone, He gives you at the point of faith in Him alone eternal life and you will never perish so you can know before you die without a doubt where you're going when you die. And the Lord says to you, Behold, now is the accepted time. Behold now. This is the day of salvation. Would you quit making excuses? If you hear His voice, don't harden your heart. If you've never been saved, today's the day. It can be settled now by putting your trust in Christ alone. For the Bible says, Whosoever will, let him take of the water of life freely, and you are the whosoever. It can be taken today if you put your trust in Christ and his work alone. Let's pray. Father, thank you again for the finished work of Christ and the unfailing promises of your word. We thank you so much for Jesus Christ. Thank you for what he's done. Thank you for all these divine guarantees. so that we can know beyond the shadow of a doubt that we have eternal life and we will never perish, that our life is hidden with Christ in God, that when He appears, we will appear with Him as well, that we have perfected forever. Oh, but on the other hand, we've just read that over and above the gift of salvation, you want to give us a reward. and may out of gratitude for your grace, we learn to abide in Christ and live our lives in a way that's honoring to Him, filled with good works wrought at the Spirit so that our life would count for Him and impact others as ambassadors on earth. And should anyone be here who is not yet saved, I pray that today would be the day it would be settled and settled forever.