Another Word On Assurance of Salvation
Can you lose your salvation?
Are you afraid this could happen to you?
When Adam and Eve sinned their spirit immediately died. However they both lived into their 900s so physical death wasn’t immediate. They started out as body, soul and spirit. They were perfect. One sin caused them to lose their spirit and permanently corrupted Adam’s flesh. Just one sin! He forever would pass down the sin virus to every human ever born; except for the One born of a virgin.
So now let’s talk about what we know. The prophet Isaiah makes it crystal clear: we are unclean and our righteous works are like filthy rags to God:
”But we are all like an unclean thing, And all our righteousnesses are like filthy rags; We all fade as a leaf, And our iniquities, like the wind, Have taken us away.“ Isaiah 64:6
As does Paul in his letter to the Romans:
”As it is written: “There is none righteous, no, not one; There is none who understands; There is none who seeks after God. They have all turned aside; They have together become unprofitable; There is none who does good, no, not one.”“ Romans 3:10-12
So we must understand that no amount of works can be done to obtain salvation. Ever!
Here is the gospel:
”Moreover, brethren, I declare to you the gospel which I preached to you, which also you received and in which you stand, by which also you are saved, if you hold fast that word which I preached to you—unless you believed in vain. For I delivered to you first of all that which I also received: that Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures, and that He was buried, and that He rose again the third day according to the Scriptures,“ I Corinthians 15:1-4
So works can’t save us and can play no role in our salvation. It is the finished work of Jesus Christ that saves. He imputes His righteousness to us the moment we place our trust in His finished work on the cross.
”So when Jesus had received the sour wine, He said, “It is finished!” And bowing His head, He gave up His spirit.“ John 19:30
So if you believe that sin can cause someone to lose their salvation then how many sins would it take to in fact kill the spirit after becoming born again? It took only one for Adam and Eve. After being born again have you sinned? Yes we sin in word, thought and deed.
So here is the reality check. Once you place your faith in Christ and His finished work for salvation you become a new creation. You go from a person with just a body and soul to a person with a body, soul and a spirit who cannot die anymore. Once this new creation is formed you can’t undo it. It is impossible. It’s like a caterpillar that turns into a butterfly. Once that happens it can never be reversed. It is the same with us. We are a new creation that can never go back to just body and soul; the born again spirit in us cannot die. It has no sin and Christ’s righteousness has been imputed to your spirit.
”The Spirit Himself bears witness with our spirit that we are children of God,“ Romans 8:16
Your flesh - body with sinful nature, is corrupted and cannot live in heaven. Your body will have to be transformed in one of the ways described by Paul:
”For the Lord Himself will descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of an archangel, and with the trumpet of God. And the dead in Christ will rise first. Then we who are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air. And thus we shall always be with the Lord.“ I Thessalonians 4:16-17
”So when this corruptible has put on incorruption, and this mortal has put on immortality, then shall be brought to pass the saying that is written: “Death is swallowed up in victory.”“ I Corinthians 15:54
Bottom line:
A butterfly can try to act like a caterpillar again by rolling around on the ground and it may be eaten or squashed by that decision but it will still be a butterfly. We may go back into the world and act like the world and yes those choices can have dire consequences, but you can never morph back into a person with just a body and soul. Your new spirit born from above, born of God is perfect and will never die, it has eternal life. Your spirit is sealed for the day of redemption by God Himself. Who can break the Seal of God?! No one! Christ really did pay for every sin, past present and future. You can NEVER lose your salvation. Period.
Now that that’s settled, live for Jesus because of His great gift of eternal life! Love Him because He first loved you! Not because you are afraid of hell, but because you are so grateful for the wonderful gift and guarantee of salvation and eternal life!
As you grow as a Christian, motivated by the greatness of the gift you received, you will mature and be blessed (but also persecuted, in one way or another). However you will not attain a perfectly sinless state on this side of heaven, but hopefully you will sin less.
”For you did not receive the spirit of bondage again to fear, but you received the Spirit of adoption by whom we cry out, “Abba, Father.”“ Romans 8:15
”For God has not given us a spirit of fear, but of power and of love and of a sound mind.“ II Timothy 1:7
Fight the good fight, because you are a child of God and no one can change that!
==============
I found some of these insights above on someone’s FB post a while ago. I loved the caterpillar /butterfly analogy. I made some changes, added some details.
Be encouraged!