Verse by Verse on Can You Lose Your Salvation?

we want to talk about what does it mean if we don't remain what is this idea of being cut off and thrown into the fire does that mean we can lose our salvation imagine going to a store tomorrow and trying to buy your favorite treat with a $20 bill with only one side you think the cash register would take that from you to pick the people that the register lady no she'd say you not getting anything with this you need to have a double-sided two-sided for it to be real it has to have both sides this is such a problem for most of us we have a one-sided God people say my God is a God of mercy my God is a God of love yes he is but he's also a god of Wrath and a God of judgment and a God who hates evil and he hates sin there's a two-sided God okay welcome to day number three of the 31 day John 7:17 challenge we're just getting started just getting warmed up just want to warn you in advance today's video is going to be a standalone on one teaching teaching number seven and the reason is is it's a long one we cannot cover this teaching without having the question can I lose my salvation come up I'm going to do the best I can to explain to you what I really believe the Bible says I'm going to show it to you and then I'm going to provide for you a document at the bottom of this video you can download a link and that will provide for you all of the scriptures that I took the time to research and compiled on answering this question can a person lose their salvation it's something critical that we need to know and I tell you there are really good teachers on both sides of the fence so before you already decide you've made your mind up about this even if you've been in church 30 years I want you to know there is a huge divide on this question there are great teachers great men of God on both sides of this that I personally follow and listen to and have benefited from that are directly opposed to each other on this subject so I'm going to tell you that I spent hundreds of hours studying this subject I've put some scriptures together for you but and we're going to get into this will cover the additional teachings eight and nine tomorrow let's go ahead and get into this scripture scripture and dive in and see what we can find number seven John 15:5 through seven remain in Christ through obedience to his words and you will bear fruit and not be cut off I am the vine you are the branches if a man remains in me and I and him he will bear much fruit apart from me you can do nothing if anyone does not remain in me he is like a branch that is thrown away and withers such branches are picked up thrown into the fire and burned if you remain in me and my words remain in you ask whatever you wish and it will be given you okay let's go on the treasure hunt and see if we can answer these questions I am the vine you are the branches this is the key to understanding the Christian life right here this is one of the most important passages of scripture as it relates to solving the big challenge of how do I live this Christian life successfully so many people burn themselves out and exhaust themselves trying to live more righteously or produce more fruit or do more good deeds they exhaust themselves and they cannot live the Christian life the truth is you cannot live the Christian life apart from the Spirit of Jesus Christ it sounds almost ethereal when I say that it almost sounds like wow that makes sense but what does that sound like practically I want to try to help you understand what does that mean when somebody says you can't live the Christian life on your own let's take a look at the passage and see if we can answer this okay so I'm the vine you're the branches if a man remains in me and I in him no notice the words if if if three ifs conditions we need to pay attention to if this then this all right if a man remains in me and I and him this is our main responsibility as a Christian is to remain in Jesus Christ not to get busy apart from him trying to do good works and do all these things and become a better supermini Jesus no we are supposed to be and him so what does that mean we're going to get to their watch he this person who remains in him will bear much fruit apart from me you can do nothing if anyone does not remain in me again Jesus is making it very clear it's possible for you and I to be Christians and not remaining him how is that possible what does that mean he is like a branch that is thrown away and withers such branches are picked up thrown into the fire and burned what does that mean well John says that Jesus Christ was coming with a widow Eng Fork in his hand prepared to separate wheat from chaff and to throw the chaff in the unquenchable fire what's that fire we don't like it but it's the fire of hell this is that Hellfire and damnation preach and they get so many people in trouble but it's the truth I beg you to just hear the truth just because we want to put our head in the sand doesn't mean that the truth decides to run away or it's no longer the truth because we're not going to look at it it's the truth and it will cost us if we don't look at it ok so he says if you remain in the question we need to ask is how well we learned that answer yesterday where Jesus says if you obey my commands you will remain in my love so again it's all coming back to Jesus's words remaining in you then he says ask whatever you wish and it will be given you so now Jesus is tying obedience to his words also to having prayers answered ok so how do we literally remain in Jesus Christ if this is our main responsibility how do we do it what's it look like practically here it is we have faith we believe that what he says is true God has enabled us by His grace to believe that Jesus is Lord we don't just believe in am intellectually it'd be like saying hey I believe my boss is existing but I'm not getting a paycheck I can't figure it out well it's because we're not doing what he says to do nobody would expect to just believe in their boss and get a paycheck no you have to believe also in his words so we have to believe in his words believe Jesus is Lord through faith number two we have to surrender our will to his what is it any thing anybody any goals any dreams and he desires any hangups we need to surrender not my will be done but your will be done in order to remain in Jesus Christ we also need to obey his words that's what Jesus is teaching us here and number four we'll get into this later total childlike dependence we depend upon God for everything lord please help me to get this video done today please speak through me Holy Spirit I do not show up in front of this camera without depending upon God I don't walk into a Starbucks without saying Lord please bring somebody across my path today I don't walk up on the mountain saying Lord I know you've called me up here today I've got this no Lord by this power of your spirit give me discernment Lord to know what this person's going through so that I can speak the words they need to hear to be blessed of you today depending upon God you know that I need finances God please bless me with book sales God please bless me with more fruit I'm praying and depending upon God that's how we remain in Jesus Christ now if I did all those things and I failed to forgive somebody I'm not remaining in Jesus Christ if I don't if I resist an evil person and I treat somebody back the way they treated me then I'm not remaining in Jesus Christ you see how quick it is we can be in or out now here's what we want to talk about we want to talk about what does it mean if we don't remain what is this idea of being cut off and thrown into the fire does that mean we can lose our salvation let me address this with you I want to show you a couple of scriptures and then I'm going to give you what I believe the Bible's clearest explanation is on answering this question let's take a look at these scriptures these are just a couple I want to show you now I have about 80 of these scriptures that I have collected and put into a document for you but if a righteous man turns from his righteousness and commits sin and does the same detestable things the wicked man does will he live none of the righteous things he's done will be remembered because of the unfaithfulness he is guilty of and because of the sins he has committed he will die so right here God is saying to us this is God speaking in the Book of Ezekiel saying to us that if we turn from the path of righteousness we we'll die some say well this is Old Testament I'm going to show you why it's not in just a few minutes but here's the key point if you and I come to Christ however you came to Christ whether it was a moment a decision at a church or over a period of time you began to believe in Jesus Christ and began to obey his words and read the Bible if you come to Jesus Christ and you get forgiven of all of your past sins because you recognize that's why you came to and begin with because you're doomed and condemned to hell just like I was and just like every person born on this planet is without the saving grace and the work of him shedding his blood on that cross I came to him for forgiveness you come to him forgiveness if I turn around and go roll in the mud am I to count myself as saved it might account myself as somebody who God will look at and say I'm going to welcome you into heaven or am I not turning away from righteousness and going right back to wickedness let's keep watching in Romans 11 21 this is where Paul is talking about how Jews were cut off and Gentiles were grafted in and he says if some of the branches have been broken off and you though a wild olive shoot have been grafted in among the others and now share in the nourishing SAP the Holy Spirit from the olive root do not boast over those branches meaning the Jews if you do consider this you do not support the root but the root supports you you will say then branches were broken off so that I could be grafted in granted but they were broken off because of unbelief and you stand by faith do not be arrogant but be afraid when's the last time you heard that preached for if God did not spare the natural branches he will not spare you either now watch this imagine going to a store tomorrow and trying to buy your favorite treat with a twenty dollar bill with only one side you think the cash register would take that from you the pit the people the register lady no she'd say you not getting anything with this you need to have a double-sided two-sided for it to be real it has to have both sides this is such a problem for most of us we have a one-sided God people say my God is a God of mercy my God is a God of love you yes he is but he's also a god of Wrath and a God of judgment and a God who hates evil and he hates sin there's a two-sided God consider therefore the kindness and sternness of God sternness to those who fell but kindness to you provided that you continue in his kindness otherwise you also will be cut off well what passage of Scripture did we just look at that any branch that does not remain in him is like a branch that withers such branches are picked up and thrown into the fire and burned I want you to begin asking yourself this question have you been taught that you cannot ever lose your salvation and that because you prayed some prayer in a church or raised your hand and came to an altar call that you're in scot-free and nothing can ever affect your ability to get into heaven my friend that is something that the bible does not teach keep watching first John 2:24 see that what you have heard from the beginning remains in you who does this sound like Jesus if it does you also will remain in the Son and in the father what's the reciprocal if what you heard from the beginning does not remain in you you will not remain in the Son and in the father okay take a look at this passage in 2nd Peter 2:20 if they have escaped the corruption that's us of the world by knowing our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ and are again entangled in it and overcome they are worse off at the end than they were at the beginning it would have been better for them to not have known the way of righteousness these are people who've been quote saved then to have known it and then to turn their backs on the sacred command that was passed on to them of them the Proverbs are true a dog returns to its vomit and a sound that is washed goes back to her wallowing in the mud ok this scripture clearly points out that there are people who knew Jesus Christ and they knew the way of righteousness and they turn from it a non-believer cannot know Christ and cannot know the way of righteousness so the question is can a person lose their salvation well in my own personal study I discovered there's about three major positions on this question there's the position of no you absolutely cannot under any circumstances if you've been sealed by the Holy Spirit lose your salvation there are good teachers who teach this there are really good teachers as well that teach you absolutely can lose your salvation then there's a third position that says that if you fall away you are never truly saved to begin with now I want to pause for a second to tell you that I believe the biggest question that needs to be asked and the greatest area of concern is for Christians to find out 2nd Corinthians 13:5 to examine themselves to find out whether or not they are truly in the faith if the Spirit of Christ is really in them you will know if the Spirit of Christ is way beyond just having some an emotional experience or being able to cry when there's a good worship song going on that has nothing to do really with the Spirit of Christ being in you I tell people all the time don't think because you can go to church and hear a good song and cry that the spirits moving because I can take that whole worship band off put Celine Dion right there and make you cry the same exact way there is more to it than this emotion stuff ok yes emotions are part of it but there's a lot more to it than that you've got to know are you truly saved if you're stuck in sin if you're still rolling in the mud the reality is you probably do not have the Spirit of Christ in you but here is where I want you to know I stumbled I began to conclude I'd love to think that a person cannot lose their salvation but I began to see all of these warnings about not falling away and I began to go why would there be 80 warnings about falling away and holding to the hope that you had to begin with and holding to the confidence you had an enduring to the end and not walking away and not being deceived why would there be all these warnings in the Bible if it weren't possible for us to do so I want you to look at a couple of other scriptures here look at this 2nd John 1:8 watch out you do not lose what you have worked for but that you may be rewarded fully anyone who runs ahead and does not continue the teachings of Christ does not have God now let me just ask you a common-sense question if you do not have God or Jesus Christ do you think you're going to be saved I don't think so let's take a look at this you know one who does not have God whoever continues in the teaching has both the father and the son if anyone comes to you and does not bring this teaching do not take him into your house or welcome him anyone who welcomes him shares in his wicked work that's why I'm bringing you this teaching so that you can welcome the interior home just kidding let's take a look at another one look at this first Corinthians chapter 9 verse 27 Paul says no I beat my body and make it my slave so that after I have preached to others i myself will not be disqualified for the prize now if Paul thought he could be disqualified the prize of salvation the hope of glory is Jesus Christ coming back resurrecting us from the dead if Paul thought he could lose his and even at one point says my brother's don't be confused I do not claim to have already taken hold of it if he could lose it and if he hasn't possessed it yet what does that say about us let's go on first Timothy 1:18 Timothy my son I give you this instruction in keeping with the prophecies once made about you so that by following them you may fight the good fight if there's a fight that indicates we could lose holding on to the faith and a good conscience some have rejected these and so have ship wrecked their faith what does that imply let's take a look at another one first Timothy 6:20 and 21 timothy guard what has been entrusted to your care turn away from godless chatter and the opposing ideas of what is falsely called knowledge which some have professed and in so doing have wandered from the faith jesus christ said blessed is the man who does not fall away if you fall away you will not be saved nobody should expect that Billy Graham's original ministry partner is in heaven he walked away he became apostate he claimed to be believer of Jesus Christ and turned and walked away I know nobody wants to hear this I know it's not popular but this is what the Bible teaches let's take a look at a couple others look at this Hebrews chapter 2 we must pay more careful attention therefore to what we have heard so that we do not drift away for if the message spoken by Angels was binding and every violation and disobedience received it's just punishment how shall we escape if we ignore such a great salvation this satin by the way he's not talking about non-believers he's talking to believers he's writing this to the trick to the believers in the book of Hebrews how shall we escape if we ignore such a great salvation warning us not to drift away all right another one Hebrews 10:26 if we deliberately keep on sinning after we have received the knowledge of the truth no sacrifice for sins is left but only a fearful expectation of judgment and a raging fire that will consume the enemies of God anyone who rejected the law of Moses died without mercy on the testimony of two or three witnesses how much more severely do you think a man deserves to be punished who has trampled the Son of God underfoot who has treated as an unholy thing the blood of the Covenant that sanctified him that's a person who's been saved and who has insulted the spirit of grace for we know Him who said it is mine to avenge I will repay and again the Lord will judge his people it is a dreadful thing to fall into the hands of the Living God my friend the evidence is overwhelming if you read in the Bible and you believe what you read instead of simply reading the parts that you believe there's a huge difference I have to ask you this question why are there so many warnings I've only just shown you maybe eight I'm about to show you if you'll download the document over 80 scriptures 78 to 80 best I remember that I found that are filled with warnings about you and I remaining in the and not fallen away so the question that we need to ask ourself is what would it mean if we fell away if it were possible to fall away what would it mean for us to fall away I would love to believe that because Jesus Christ has placed his spirit inside of me that I have been sealed and that I can never fall away watch this Jesus says nobody can take us out of his hands but he never said that we can't remove ourselves he never said that we couldn't be removed by our own neglect and lack of diligence or being distracted or not staying disciplined in our approach if Jesus Christ flew us to the top of Mount salvation and said I've given you the ability to get here you couldn't have got here on your own there's nothing you can do to earn this he gave it to us for free but then he says all you have to do I've packed your bag you have to stay here until I come back if you choose to climb down you choose to climb down Jesus has never put in shackles on anybody's feet that I'm aware of and said well now that I've got you I'm going to absolutely just make you a spiritual robot and you can never know there's still a devil who's threatening us there still are temptations that come at us every day there's still a world telling us life is like this there's still all the worries and the cares of this world the deceitfulness of wealth that's pulling at us every day the fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom all who follow his precepts have good understanding Psalm 111 10 my friend I don't see any fear of the Lord before the eyes of very many Christians and so I might ask myself if you could never lose salvation what would be the point of fearing the Lord why would Jesus have said do not fear the one who can kill the body and after that do nothing to the soul he says fear the one who after the body is dead can throw both body and soul into hell why would Paul say to work out our salvation with fear and trembling why would he say since we know what it is to fear the Lord we try to persuade men why would he say don't be arrogant but be afraid what's there to be afraid of if you just come to Jesus and an altar call or gives intellectual assent and you're signed sealed delivered go on about your business you just no reason to fear the reason to fear is because it's not as certain as people think you you now again I want to be clear I don't walk around every day worried I'm going to lose my salvation I don't walk around every day afraid of God I walk around every day with a reverential fear I have a deep love relationship with him but I'm not so arrogant as to think that I couldn't somehow fall by choosing to God has never made a spiritual robot that I'm aware of that just because he puts his spirit inside of you mean think about this Jesus didn't force his way into your heart by his spirit why would he force his way to stay there if you wanted him out why would he say sorry you don't have any choice in the matter I've taken up residence now watch if he's in you and you've experienced the fruit of the Spirit you want him to stay in you you want him to continue to take up residence but that doesn't mean that he couldn't leave I don't see any scriptural evidence that he couldn't leave if you grieved him or quenched him long enough well Mike I don't know about that well think about a couple of scriptures Jesus taught Jesus says you are the salt of the earth okay he says but if salt loses its saltiness how can it be made salty again it's no longer good for anything except to be what thrown out and trampled by men he's saying to the disciples you're the salt of the earth but if you lose your saltiness you'll be thrown out what about in the parable mark 2:22 the parable of the wineskins no one pours new wine into old wineskins that is Jesus Christ and His Spirit into the old wineskins of old religion or old ways he says if you do the wine will burst thus Quinns the skins the wine will run out and the skins will be ruined that's Jesus Christ the Spirit of Christ running out and being ruined what about the trees that don't produce fruit and they're cut off there's just way too much evidence that says somehow or another it's somewhat mysterious but somehow or another you and I have to participate in this we can't just chi-ching get the stamp and we're done and move on with our life we have to be diligent that's why the Bible says be very careful warnings in your also you'll see all these scriptures all these warnings about be very careful to pay attention to all that you've heard hold on to everything hold on to your faith fight the good fight he who overcomes will not be put to shame only hold on to what you have so that no one will take this how could somebody take something from you why would Jesus say to the church to overcomes I will surely not blot his name out of the book of life why would Jesus Christ say that he would do something that's not possible to do unless it were possible to do I'm going to end this now I thank you for your patience I hope you're not frustrated I hope this gives you something to think about my friend I'm already certain in what I know and I'm gonna stand before God and believe and be held accountable to everything I have and I'm going to continue to learn as much as I can but you need to know you and I have got to be the ones that stand before God and know and give an account for why we believe what we believe all right I'm not going to beat this up anymore I'll leave it with this I pray that you'll spend some time and go through these teachings and decide for yourself what does the Bible say that your and I position is to be in this salvation there is something to working out our salvation with fear and trembling not working for it but working it out again I love the idea of Jesus Christ gives us a free pass we didn't earn it we had received it by faith he comes and says pay free eternal life on the top of the mountain you can't get there by yourself but I'm gonna put you there on the top and all you have to do is stay there until I come back are you in if you choose to come back down you chose to walk away Jesus gave you a free lift ticket to the top of Mount salvation but you do have a part to play you've got to stay there empowered by His grace go read the scriptures I pray that the Lord Jesus Christ blesses you continues to open your eyes and that His grace is with you as you study this if you have any questions send me an email and always remember you shall know a tree by its fruit when you're looking at people teaching the Word of God when you're trying to decide or you're sharing this with your friends and somebody's sharing with something with you that doesn't seem to fit with what you understand look at the fruit does that person possess the fruit of the Spirit love joy peace patience kindness goodness faithfulness gentleness self-control is God using them to change other people's lives and do you see good deeds in their life that would indicate the spirit of crisis in them never ever take advice from somebody who doesn't exhibit the Spirit of Christ keep that in mind and I will see you on the very next video

Channel: Michael Chriswell

Views: 407,335

Keywords: losing salvation, falling away, fall from grace, false disciples, truth about salvation

Id: M1VIL4cCN0c

Length: 29min 21sec (1761 seconds)

Published: Tue Nov 18 2014