The Promise of Eternal Salvation

We are eternally secure and kept by God’s power if we are truly saved

John 3:16; 5:24; 6:37-40; 10:27-30

Romans 5:9-10; 8:1, 16, 29-30, 31-39

I Cor 1:4-8

Eph 1:13-14; 4:30

Phil 1:6

2 Tim 1:12

Heb 7:25; 10:14; 13:5

I Peter 1:4-5, 23-25

I John 5:11-13

Jude 1, 24

Eternal Security

Seven Reasons Why Those Who Are Truly Born Again Can’t Ever Be Lost

1. Nothing can separate you from the love of God (Rom. 8:38-39).

2. When you are saved, you are made perfect forever (Heb. 10:14).

3. Our Lord always finishes what He begins (Phil 1:6).

4. You are predestined to be like Jesus (Rom 8:28-30).

5. You are in Christ (2 Cor. 5:17).

6. You already have eternal life (John 5:24).

7. The Lord Jesus Christ is ever interceding for you (John 17:9, 15,

    20; Heb. 7:25; 1 John 2:1).

Why Are You Saved?

Ephesians 1:3-6, "Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who hath blessed us with all spiritual blessings in heavenly places in Christ: According as he hath chosen us in him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and without blame before him in love: Having predestined us unto the adoption of children by Jesus Christ to himself, according to the good pleasure of his will, to the praise of the glory of his grace, wherein he hath made us accepted in the beloved."

Who is The Israel of God?

Galatians 6:16, “And as many as walk according to this rule, peace be on them, and mercy, and upon the Israel of God.

Some believe in replacement theology. The church is the new Israel and is now the recipient of all the promises made to Israel. They seem to reject the promises made to the Old Testament prophets and the very teaching of Jesus and the teachings in the New Testament.

(See Isa. 11:10-11; Zech. 8:1; Micah 4; Jer. 31:35-36; Acts 1:6-9; Rom. 9-11:25, 28; Rev. 20:4-6).

Israel of God means all Jewish believers in Christ who are both physical and spiritual descendants of Abraham.

(See Galatians 3:7, 18; Romans 2:28-29; 9:6-7).

While some believe that “Israel of God” is the church, the evidence does not support such a conclusion. First, the repetition of the preposition (“upon” or “to”) indicates two groups are in view. Second, all the 65 other occurrences of the term “Israel” in the New Testament refer to Jews. It would thus be strange for Paul to use “Israel” here to mean Gentile Christians. Third, Paul elsewhere referred to two kinds of Israelites - believing Jews and unbelieving Jews (cf. Romans 9:6). Lest it be thought that Paul is anti-Semitic, he demonstrated by means of this benediction his deep love and concern for true Israel, that is, Jews who had come to Christ. Fourth, the Israel of God refers to those Jews by natural births who receive the Lord Jesus as Messiah. There was neither peace nor mercy for those who walked under the law, but both are the portion of those in the new creation.

God has a plan for the church and for Israel with two distinct programs but both come to Jesus by grace through faith.

Sinners or Saints?

Q- Are saved people sinners or saints?

1. Sinners (Practice)

1 John 5:13, “These things have I written unto you that believe on the name of the Son of God; that ye may know that ye have eternal life, and that ye may believe on the name of the Son of God.”

Turn to 1 John 1:5-10

Turn to Rom. 7:15-20

Summary: We are saved sinners who still sin because of that sin that remains in our flesh. We will not be freed from the presence of sin till our glorification at the resurrection or death.

2. Saints (position)

“Sanctify” is used 31 times in the NT and means “set apart,” or the state of being set apart. It speaks of position or relationship yet it is progressive as well.

“Holy” is used 12 times of believers in the NT and refers to the state of being set apart or being separated.

“Sanctify” does not mean:

1. Sinless perfection. The believers at Corinth were referred to as being saints yet they were carnal and fleshly.

1 Corinthians 1:2, “Unto the church of God which is at Corinth, to them that are sanctified in Christ Jesus, called to be saints, with all that in every place call upon the name of Jesus Christ our Lord, both theirs and ours:

2. Finality. We are called to higher degrees of holiness (Positional and progressive holiness).

Summary:

Sainthood is not subject to progression. Every believer is a saint at the moment of salvation. He is as much a saint the moment he is saved as he will ever be in time or eternity (Acts 20:32; 1 Cor. 1:2; 6:11; Heb. 10:10, 14; Jude 1).

The whole church which is His body is called out and holy. The Spirit chose to give us the title of “saints” more than any other. We are called “brethren” 184 times, “saints” 62 times, and “Christians” but 3 times.

1 Thessalonians 5:23-24, “And the very God of peace sanctify you wholly; and I pray God your whole spirit and soul and body be preserved blameless unto the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ. (24) Faithful is he that calleth you, who also will do it.”

We are saints by position and still sinners by practice till we shed these bodies of sin.

Narrow Gate

“Enter through the narrow gate; for the gate is wide and the way is broad that leads to destruction, and there are many who enter through it. 14 For the gate is small and the way is narrow that leads to life, and there are few who find it.” (Matthew 7:13-14)

Jesus’ Sermon on the Mount has been heading toward the appeal found in these two verse. Here is His call to people to make a decision about becoming a citizen of God’s kingdom and inheriting eternal life, or remaining a citizen of this fallen world and receiving damnation.

Every person eventually comes to this crossroads in life, where he’ll need to decide on which gate to enter and which way to follow. “Enter” is in a mood that demands a definite and specific action.

Jesus pleads for people to enter the narrow gate, God’s gate, the only gate that leads to life and to heaven. Throughout the sermon Jesus had contrasted the narrowness of God’s internal standard of righteousness to the broad and external standards of Jewish tradition.

The path to that narrow way of kingdom living is through the narrow gate of the King Himself: “I am the way and the truth, and the life; no one comes to the Father but through Me” (John 14:6). We proclaim a narrow gospel because that’s the only gospel God has given and therefore the only Gospel there is. Make sure you are proclaiming to others the narrow gospel God has given us.

Entering through the narrow gate makes a few demands on the person passing through. First, he must enter alone. You can bring no one else and nothing else with you. Some have suggested that the gate is like a turnstile only one person can get through at a time, and with no baggage.

The narrow gate also demands we must go through naked. This is a gate of self-denial—you can’t carry the baggage of sin and self-will. The way of Christ is the way of the cross, and the way of the cross is self-denial: “If anyone wishes to come after Me, he must deny himself, and take up his cross and follow me. For whoever wishes to save his life will lose it; but whoever wishes to save his life his life will lose it; but whoever loses his life for My sake will find it” (Matthew 16:24-25).

The narrow gate also demands repentance. Many Jews believed that merely being a Jew, a physical descendant of Abraham, was sufficient for entrance into heaven. Many people today believe that being in a church, or even being a good human being, qualifies them.

But the way of repentance, of turning fro their own way and their own righteousness to God’s, is the only way to enter His kingdom and therefore the only way to keep from perishing.
John MacArthur

Matthew 24:36

Matthew 24:36, “But of that day and hour knoweth no man, no, not the angels of heaven, but my Father only.”

This verse is often taken out of context, misinterpreted, and applied to the wrong coming.

The context of Matt. 24 is the signs of tribulation and the second coming. Jesus tells them the birth pains that will precede His coming [vv. 4-29], with the sign of the Son of Man in heaven [v. 30]. So “That day” refers to v. 30, the second coming.

The general time period of his second coming will be known but not the precise day and hour [24:42, 44, 50; 25:13]. We can know the days but not the day.

v. 36b: “no, not the angels in heaven, but my Father only.”

God has chosen not to reveal to angels the exact day and hour of his second coming.

Not even the Son knew when Jesus spoke these words and neither anytime in his earthly ministry. Though fully God and man, Jesus voluntarily restricted the use of certain divine attributes when he became flesh.

Phil. 2:6, “Who, being in the form of God, thought it not robbery to be equal with God: (7) But made himself of no reputation, and took upon him the form of a servant, and was made in the likeness of men:” MacArthur says in his commentary…

“Made Himself of no reputation. “ This is more clearly translated "emptied Himself." This refers to the doctrine of Christ's self-emptying in His incarnation. This was a self-renunciation, not an emptying Himself of deity nor an exchange of deity for humanity Jesus did, however, renounce or set aside His privileges in several areas:

(1) heavenly glory—while on earth He gave up the glory of a face-to-face relationship with God and the continuous outward display and personal enjoyment of that glory;
(2) independent authority—during His incarnation Christ completely submitted Himself to the will of His Father;
(3) divine prerogatives—He set aside the voluntary display of His divine attributes and submitted Himself to the Spirit's direction;
(4) eternal riches—while on earth Christ was poor and owned very little; and
(5) a favorable relationship with God—He felt the Father's wrath for human sin while on the cross.

During Christ’s time on earth he did not know the precise day and time He would return to earth at his second coming. The Father alone knew.
Jesus regained full knowledge after the resurrection as implied in Scripture.

Matthew 28:18, “And Jesus came and spake unto them, saying, All power is given unto me in heaven and in earth.”

Acts 1:7, “And he said unto them, It is not for you to know the times or the seasons, which the Father hath put in his own power.”

Note that after his resurrection, Jesus did not mention his lack of knowledge of that day and hour as he did in Matt. 24:36.

A second view is that Jesus is speaking from human knowledge not divine omniscience.