The Truth About Losing Your Salvation | Andrew Farley

so I titled this message the truth about losing your salvation and of course the truth is you can't lose it and nevertheless there are a couple of passages that really scare people when it comes to our salvation can we lose it so this morning as we look at the truth about losing it or not losing it we're going to be looking at Hebrews chapter 6 and also Hebrews chapter 10 and my goal is to kind of give us a bird's-eye view of both passages and to really get into what the author was trying to say and as we journey through these couple of scripture passages we're going to be confronted with two big butts have you ever been confronted with two big butts I mean that's something that can be alarming the word butt bu T it means a 180 change in direction it means wow everything that I just heard has a caveat everything that I've just been told is now going to be turned around on me and there'll be a second message and so what I mean by that is that Hebrews six has a big butt and Hebrews 10 has a big butt and when we see what this butt is all about well then you're going to realize whoa it all makes sense to me now let me give you a little preview of coming attractions we've got a warning in Hebrews 6 and then we've got up but you believers have a different situation we've got a warning in Hebrews 10 but then it says but you believers have a different situation so that's what I mean by a big but the word be UT staring us right in the face saying hold on even though there's this radical warning for those who would reject the gospel yet there is a different piece of news for us who are in Christ so that's what we're going to see this morning we begin in Hebrews chapter 6 and it says this therefore leaving the elementary teaching about the Christ let us press to maturity not laying again a foundation of repentance from dead works and of faith toward God so first of all you can see this author this apostle he wants to get beyond the basics he wants the audience that he is writing to to move along now and yet the author of Hebrews is addressing a mixed group I mean you better believe that not every Jew was a believer not every Hebrew understood the truth of the gospel and so we had this mixed group some saved some lost some sort of on their way to being saved teetering on the fence flirting with Jesus thinking about Moses not sure how to reconcile the two some of them right on the brink right on the cusp of salvation and so this writer this book of Hebrews is designed to warn us at the beginning this writer is saying look let's leave behind the basics let's press on to maturity and do we really have to go back to that part about the temple and the works of the temple being dead and the animal sacrifices being useless I mean haven't you already heard that the whole point is you turn away from the works of the temple and you put your faith in the finished work of Jesus is this a newsflash to you we've been over this we've been over and over it so please can't we leave these elementary basic teachings and move on but the plain and simple fact is is that the answer is no for some of them they need to revisit the basics they need to go back and look at what they believe about these temple works and these animal sacrifices so that they can realize wait a minute there's something better there's something greater because of the cross of Jesus Christ now he goes on and he says about instructions about washings and laying on of hands and the resurrection of the Dead and eternal life eternal judgment this we will do if God permits now what is the author of Hebrews mean by this well you know the priests would carry out certain washings you know about the ceremonial washings under the law these two would occur in the temple but these are now dead they're now dead works and so the laying on of hands many people think this is about all the instruction about how you should lay hands on people as Christians like it's the 101 guide to imparting some sort of power or zapping people or something but actually what was being referred to here is the high priest under the law in the temple would lay his hands on that scapegoat and he would transfer the sins of Israel onto that animal and that animal would go out representing a shadow a picture of Christ taking away our sins one day and of course now he has done that so everything that the author is describing here are the dead works of the temple that's what he's referring to and so he's saying do we really have to go over the washings and the scapegoat and the high priest actions and is there a resurrection the Pharisees and the Sadducees you know they argued over that and the age-old joke is that the Sadducees they didn't believe in a resurrection that's why they were sad you see and so huh you like it I knew you'd love it but that's how you differentiate between the Pharisees and the Sadducees they didn't believe in a resurrection so they would debate these things and the writer here saying duh of course there's a resurrection Jesus Christ rose from the dead he gives to us eternal life so that we resurrect from the dead spiritually and we live forever never dying so all of these concepts are so very basic leave behind those sacrifices leave behind those washings recognize the resurrection as real recognize there's an eternal judgment and what we believe matters and this we will do we will graduate we will move on we will progress if God permits meaning please come with me people come with me and so he's writing his fellow Jews and he's saying I wish we could carry you beyond the basics of what faith in Christ looks like some of you have moved on but others haven't you're still debating the very identity of Jesus you're still debating whether you should marry and mix the works of the temple with the work of Jesus and you can't mix those those two don't marry for in the case of those who've once been enlightened and have tasted of the heavenly gift and have been made partakers or sharers in the Holy Spirit all right what does this verse refer to it's talking about being the light bulb goes off enlightenment oh Jesus is Messiah the one we've been waiting for is Jesus the light bulb goes off tasting these heavenly gifts what does that mean well the apostles are sitting there right in Jerusalem this letter is written to Hebrew people to Israelites to people residing in Israel and they have literally witnessed the very best there is I mean they have witnessed Peter James and John doing miracles right there in Jerusalem the best teaching on the planet the power of God demonstrated you Hebrews have been among this you've seen this you've witnessed this you have shared in all that the Holy Spirit is doing now this doesn't mean that every single reader of the book of Hebrews is saved we know that for sure because there are many warnings against unbelief right today if you hear his voice don't harden your heart today is the day of salvation so this phrase here doesn't mean that every single reader is a saved person but what it does mean is you guys heard Peter you heard James you heard John you saw the miracles you saw people raised from the dead healed in Jesus name you have been acquainted with the message of the cross and the resurrection and yet watch this they've only been enlightened they've only tasted not swallowed they've only tasted and they've tasted the good word of God and the powers of the age to come what are those powers well we just talked about them right that God has power over death that God has power over disease that God was able to raise people from the dead and heal people they saw these powers they saw God's power to save people they saw people speaking in foreign languages perhaps they saw all kinds of things they've tasted the good word of God and the powers of the age to come and yet look and then have said can you say that with me yeah and then have fallen away no thanks right I liken it to aisle 7 in the grocery store right you get the toothpick right they give you the toothpick the lady or man they're there with the little tray you know what I'm talking about the little toothpick with the little appetizer on it you take the toothpick you slide that into your mouth you taste test it there for a moment and you decide and not so good not for me I don't want it maybe another day and you move from aisle 7 to aisle 8 don't you you pass along hoping that there's something better maybe there's another guy on on aisle 8 maybe there's a bigger slice of meat on aisle 9 maybe there's a better cheese on aisle 10 and so you keep shopping hoping waiting for more and so verse 6 comes at us this way it says and then after being enlightened and tasting then have fallen away look it's impossible to renew them again to repentance on aisle 8 there is no repentance on aisle 10 since they again crucify to themselves the Son of God and put him to open shame in other words you heard the bed message there is there is no other message outside of Jesus if you hear and get enlightened and even taste of the goodness of this gospel and then say I'll look for something else what were they looking for well on aisle eight there were animal sacrifices on nine there were priestly washings and ceremonies on ten the dead works of the temple you get the idea these were Hebrews who were being pulled in two directions do I look at the work of Jesus and call it enough or do I fall away fall away from what fall away from grace toward what toward law I know what we've done with this phrase fallen from grace we somehow in 2017 in the United States of America have turned fallen from grace into sinning a bunch like doing a bunch of bad stuff well I was saved but I send 19 times and now I'm out that's not what falling away from grace is in the actual biblical context falling away from grace is going oh I've had the appetizer I've tasted grace but I'm going to fall away to the dead works of the temple I'm going to choose law instead and so when they've fallen away they go back to the temple and guess what there's no hope there guess what there's no sacrifice there none middle matter none that'll work and so it's like it's like they look at the sacrifice of Jesus Christ and they see him sprawled out there on aisle 7 and they just step right over him and continue on their way and that puts Jesus Christ to open another translation says public shame I mean after all there you are in the grocery store with everybody watching and you've been acquainted with Jesus and you publicly say I'm moving on to aisle eight to see what else is out there now in context 2,000 years ago they were acquainted with Jesus they went to the little home church or whatever a group of 30 a group of 70 gathered in the backyard or in the living room of this house and there was the looming temple in all of its glory down the street and it looks so official and it looks so professional and it looks so big and so funded that surely it was the right religion now and here I am over at this little home church dabbling in this message about some carpenter called Jesus this god man supposedly and so they were pulled in both directions and when they decided to go to the home church and then say I'll go back to the temple that was putting Jesus to public and open disgrace or shame because I'm saying the Son of God is not enough now how do we know that what we've said so far is to be a good healthy interpretation of what we've read well as we look at verse 7 you're going to notice an analogy here there is ground that drinks in the rain the ground that drinks the rain in which often falls on it and brings forth vegetation useful to those for whose sake it is tilled receives a blessing from God but wait a minute there's another kind of ground but if it yields thorns and thistles verse 8 it is worthless and close to being cursed and it ends up being burned all right so do you see there's two kinds of ground there's the kind of ground that does what drinks in the rain what's the rain the rain is the message of the gospel people were either drinking it in or not drinking it in they were tasting it but not drinking it in they were getting the appetizer but not allowing the truth of the gospel to soak in to the very root of their being and so there was no fruit born there was nothing that came of them there was no salvation that was burst within them there was no new birth because they simply repelled the rain failing to drink it in now backing up again you look at verse 7 you see the description of a Christian ground that drinks in the rain vegetation that is useful he who began a good work in me will carry me on to completion and yet verse eight again there are people who end up rejecting the truth that sets us free all right now we get to the big but you were waiting for it weren't you in anticipation there you were seated ready and here it is the big butt right here verse nine but beloved who does that refer to Christians who were beloved but beloved we are convinced of better things concerning you and things that accompany salvation though we are speaking in this way you realize what he's just said hey guys I know that some of the stuff that I just wrote down that you've just read might have scared some of you there's probably potential misunderstandings here some of you who have a tendency toward guilt and fear you were reading into the text oh that's me oh my goodness what am I going to do no more salvation but but but but but wait a minute beloved let me just clear this up even though I was speaking in that way there were better things concerning you things that go with your salvation amen and so the author of Hebrews does not want to leave any doubt about this there is ground that drinks in the rain and that's us there's ground that repels the rain and that is an unbeliever who has rejected the gospel and if you were the ground that has already absorbed that truth of the gospel then the truth remains in you forever and he is able to carry you on to completion all right so what do we see from Hebrews six so far there's one big butt and that is some are enlightened and taste the Word of God but never drink in the Gospel message but for us believers there are better things that go with our salvation all right well Hebrews 10 going to find a very similar story and yet it's worth talking about it's the second big but here we go for if we go on sinning willfully after receiving the knowledge of the truth there's no no longer remains a sacrifice for sins now it's really interesting this word sinning because in the book of Galatians sin has a particular meaning in the book of Ephesians sin has a particular meaning if you were to go through all the letters written to Gentiles the word sin refers to a very specific thing I mean lying cheating stealing fornication adultery all of these sort of nasty open deeds of the flesh because that's what Gentiles were into remember and that's most of us right our ancestors our forefathers you talk about sinning outwardly we really knew how to do it okay it wasn't just some sort of hidden sin over in the corner I mean like the Greeks and the barbarians and the people that we came from I mean the sinning was out there in your face just think of the book of Corinthians 1st and 2nd Corinthians and all the stuff that Paul was correcting there so sin meant lying and cheating and stealing and fornication and adultery in all those letters that's the sort of sins they were engaged in but and here it is in the book of Hebrews from chapter 1 all the way up to chapter 10 do you realize there is only one kind of sin mentioned there is only one particular sin mentioned in the entirety of the first 10 chapters of Hebrews and here it is the sin of unbelief in the gospel the sin of rejecting the gospel and so in that context the author is saying if we go on rejecting if we go on unbelieving if we go on with an unbelieving heart after receiving what the knowledge of the truth but we haven't accepted it yet got the knowledge of the truth because we heard the guy in the house church talking about Jesus we received the knowledge of the truth but we really haven't opened the door of our lives yet and so if we go on rejecting going and after receiving the knowledge of the truth then there is no sacrifice left why why is there no sacrifice left because I just finished rejecting the one and only sacrifice there is no other sacrifice a bull won't do it a goat won't do it I can't go back to the temple and have any hope so keep this in mind number one it is willful number two it is unbelief number three it is rejecting the Gospel message itself and so this isn't about you know we get emails all the time with questions about theology and they're like you know people say well you know if I sinned can I lose my salvation well I mean if you lost your salvation every time you send how many would have lost it by this morning I mean just waking up and having your day to day some of us would have made maybe we would have lost it several times lose it get it back lose it get it back somebody cuts you off in traffic you're arguing with your spouse on the way to church or give it time maybe it'll be on the way home but I mean you'd be losing your salvation left right and center as you blow up and overreact and say the wrong thing and do the wrong thing and treat a person wrongly you'd be gaining and losing and gaining and losing your salvation all day so it's obvious Jesus took our sins away we're forgiven we don't lose salvation because of our sins Jesus took him away and he remembers them no more that's the finished work of Christ but then people say but but you talk about a different but but but but but what if and here's the clincher they come in like it's a gotcha moment what if the sin is willful well I mean every sin is willful admit uh what do you say God sorry about that my will wasn't involved I have no clue what happened there I mean every time you sin you choose right every sin is willful so is this saying that every willful lie that every willful thought of sin that every willful temptation that you give into but you lost it that is not at all what it's saying again the context for 10 chapters is one sin the sin of unbelief look at chapters 3 & 4 an evil unbelieving heart today if you hear his voice don't don't give in to the evil unbelieving heart today is the day of salvation enter God's rest don't reject instead accept the gospel and so we see that the whole point is look if you've heard the truth and even have a knowledge of the truth but you don't go with it and instead you say no way I'm headed back to Judaism then there's no hope there is there but a terrifying expectation of judgment and the fury of a fire which will consume who the adversaries not the children of God another translation says the enemies of God enemies adversaries these are the people that are being warned if I say Jesus is not enough Jesus won't work for me then I am making myself an adversary I am making myself an enemy of God now again look at this context it's pretty obvious these are rejecters of the gospel anyone who has set aside the law of Moses dies without mercy on the testimony of two or three witnesses you see his logic he's about to hit them with the clincher and here it is dude I mean don't you remember what happened to you guys to your grandfather and your great-grandfather and your great-great don't you remember in the Old Testament what happened to you when you said and to Moses when you said no way to the Old Covenant don't you remember what happened when you rejected the law now how much severe punishment do you think you deserve if you trample the son of God and regard as unclean the blood of the Covenant by which he was sanctified and insulted the spirit of grace now does this apply to believers I think that it generally the whole chapter is referring to unbelievers enemies adversaries of God but I will say there's one little challenging phrasing here and you see it the blood of the Covenant by which he was sanctified do you see that the blood of the Covenant by which he was sanctified now what I think is going on here is that he's saying hey have you ever met a Christian who doesn't understand how totally forgiven they are have you ever met a Christian who is still suffering from guilt hello I've been one have you been one and so look at the word deserve here who is he asking this question of he's actually asking the reader get this now it's a rhetorical question asking the reader how much they think they should deserve now it doesn't mean they're going to get it but it's saying do you realize that if you are regarding the blood of Jesus as unclean think about what you deserve man don't regard the blood of Jesus as unclean you know how we would do that we would do that by running around saying yeah I'm forgiven for my past sins but I mean not for my future ones because God's blood uses his blood is not that good not that powerful not that meaningful I'm forgiven for all the sins that I remembered to take care of I confessed them all I apologized I changed my attitude I did better but I'm not forgiven for the other ones really so the blood of Jesus is not that powerful you see what he's saying is do remember what happened when they rejected Moses how much more do we deserve any of us that are disrespecting the blood of Jesus doesn't mean we're going to get what we deserve grace says what grace says you don't get what you deserve you get way better so there's a warning to unbelievers and then I would say there's a warning in general to humans hey bottom line respect Jesus bottom line the blood of Jesus is worthy of our honor and if you're safe then how about celebrating your safety bragging on the blood of Jesus instead of denigrating it bragging on the blood of Jesus instead of selling it short stop insulting the spirit and by the way he is the spirit of what of grace grace is not some trendy new movement or some little message or some special focus the Holy Spirit here is called the spirit of grace the Holy Spirit has a message of grace carries a message of grace convicts us of God's grace the Holy Spirit bears witness with our spirit about just how safe we really are but we know vengeance is mine he says I will repay and again the Lord will judge his people Old Testament quote who is his people in the Old Testament Jews whose this written to Jews oh so you're telling me it's terrifying to fall into the hands of the Living God it sure is gosh I remember Moses and Aaron and all the high priests and remember that thud when that head hit the floor and the Holy of Holies because the priests didn't respect Yahweh the way he should have and we had a rope tied to his leg and we would just haul him out and then yell next now who wants to be next not me not then not if not not in that context and so you're telling me that this Yahweh who our forefathers worshipped is now found in a new covenant in the name of Jesus and I'm supposed to transition yeah you better transition because it's terrifying to miss it it's terrifying to miss the gospel the Lord is going to judge Israel for rejecting the Messiah and so it's crucial and critical that all of us believe in him but I told you there's a second butt and here it is verse 39 as this chapter concludes but we who is the we we apostles we believers we the church we are not of those who shrink back to destruction but of those who have faith to what the preserving of the soul in other words I again guys I just got done talking about vengeance and enemies of God and adversaries and fiery judgment but remember we we're not people who are going to shrink back we overcome because the overcomer lives in us we overcome because he carries us on to completion we overcome because he is able hebrews says he is able to save us completely because he always lives to intercede for us we are not of those who shrink back but of those who have faith why to each man has been apportioned a measure of faith we are saved but we are also infused with a faith that is unshakeable and unbreakable and imperishable undying seed the Bible calls it you have an imperishable seed of salvation within you and from that well there's that vegetation being brought forth alright what did we see today if we go on unbelieving after receiving the knowledge of the truth guess what there ain't no other sacrifice out there you keep looking aisle 8 aisle 9 aisle 10 it's not there but we believers are not of those who shrink back we are preserved forever what do we see in Hebrews 6 yeah there's some who are enlightened oh yeah they've got knowledge and they've tasted the Word of God not swallowed it they took the taste tester they didn't drink in the rain so they never really drank in the guy full message but the second but but for us believers there are better things that go with our salvation amen application do you realize how safe you really are your father keeps you nothing separates you he'll never leave you and no one can snatch you out of his hand let's pray together father we celebrate our security we thank you for Jesus Christ we honor the blood of Jesus we recognize there was no bull there was no goat there was no animal there was no lamb that would suffice except the Lamb of God we thank you Father for taking away our sins once for all we agree with you ceremony won't do it religion won't do it performance won't do it we agree with you that we are forgiven people once for all we agree with you your Jesus Christ your son is enough we agree with you we confess that we're forgiven that we've been made righteous by one offering by one resurrection Wow father we put our confidence in Jesus and in nothing else and His name we pray amen

Channel: The Grace Message with Dr. Andrew Farley

Views: 41,475

Rating: 4.8168316 out of 5

Keywords: forgiveness, freedom, identity in Christ, Christ, Jesus, Grace, Bible teacher, Bible ministry, Andrew Farley, Andrew Farley Ministries, new life in Christ

Id: eMgf0vtGznA

Length: 32min 16sec (1936 seconds)

Published: Mon Mar 13 2017