DO YOU NEED TO BE SAVED? HOW TO BE SAVED? WHEN TO BE SAVED? CAN YOU LOSE YOUR SALVATION?

 

Many people have a lot of questions about salvation, I do hope to take these doubts away by answering any question people might have about this subject. It is one of the most controversial subjects, as how can we be saved and also from what… many people who are not a Christian have no idea how to answer this, to them it’s all a myth, the Bible is written by men to control the people, at least that is their argument. If we look at the Bible closely we find that it’s more than just a book with stories in it. To people who know God it is the Word of God and His laws are in it. If you believe, there are certain rules to obey, the commandments to start with. But are they all for us or is that only for the people who lived under the old testament law? I do hope all questions you might have will be answered…

The first question we have of course is why we have to be saved… well, that is a relative simple question. When God Created all that He had made at the end of the 6th day we see that it was all good, as we can see in Genesis 1:31 “And God saw every thing that he had made, and, behold, it was very good. And the evening and the morning were the sixth day.”

This all changed when Eve ate from the tree of good and evil, she fell for the lies that satan told her, he was in the form of a snake, snakes are poisonous… meaning in this context that everything that he would tell is poison to the mind, and if you fall for it, it will have an effect on you. Eve knew God and why would she fall for a lie from satan? It is also the thing with satan… it’s all about power. If we look at what satan told to the angels who followed his rebellion against God we see where the problem lies.. We see this in Isaiah 14:12-14 “12 How art thou fallen from heaven, O Lucifer, son of the morning! how art thou cut down to the ground, which didst weaken the nations!

13 For thou hast said in thine heart, I will ascend into heaven, I will exalt my throne above the stars of God: I will sit also upon the mount of the congregation, in the sides of the north:

14 I will ascend above the heights of the clouds; I will be like the most High.”

Because of the rebellion against God, satan was cast out of Heaven. He told Eve also a lie and she fell for the lie that she heard, and also another thing started here… We see these days that people blame God for everything that goes wrong in their lives, well, we can trace this back to Adam… as we read in Genesis 3:12 “12 And the man said, The woman whom thou gavest to be with me, she gave me of the tree, and I did eat.”

So from that moment onward there was trouble in paradise, from that moment we had instead of God’s perfect Creation, a fallen world. Instead of the life God had intended for man, it became cursed, we see this in Genesis 3:13-17:

13 And the Lord God said unto the woman, What is this that thou hast done? And the woman said, The serpent beguiled me, and I did eat.

14 And the Lord God said unto the serpent, Because thou hast done this, thou art cursed above all cattle, and above every beast of the field; upon thy belly shalt thou go, and dust shalt thou eat all the days of thy life:

15 And I will put enmity between thee and the woman, and between thy seed and her seed; it shall bruise thy head, and thou shalt bruise his heel.

16 Unto the woman he said, I will greatly multiply thy sorrow and thy conception; in sorrow thou shalt bring forth children; and thy desire shall be to thy husband, and he shall rule over thee.

17 And unto Adam he said, Because thou hast hearkened unto the voice of thy wife, and hast eaten of the tree, of which I commanded thee, saying, Thou shalt not eat of it: cursed is the ground for thy sake; in sorrow shalt thou eat of it all the days of thy life;

What we see established here is also the modern structure of a family, the head of the family is the man, as he was not tempted by satan, but the woman was apparently the easiest to be tempted, that is why satan would go for her, so God set this rule that the man was to rule over his wife. In the modern world we see this is not accepted anymore, as we see more and more woman rising up to power (and go against God, as we should know that satan is the god of this world). It is called feminism. Woman want to be the same as man, and in that way, they are challenging God with this. This is again rebellion against God, and we see the results in this world. As more and more marriages fall apart, we see more and more sexual immorality and children being the victim of this. God said what He did for a reason, but He also gave us our own free will, those who don’t like the rules, they are allowed to go their own way, up to a limit, as God will judge them for their behavior at the moment they will stand before Him, as we all have to face judgement…. Unless……

Yes, there is a way out! The good news is that we can be saved from judgement, and this is why we must be saved, and we now know what we must be saved from… God’s judgement!

God gave His ONLY begotten son for us, that is how much He loves us! If you have children, you would do anything for them, and then you can see what God did. He gave His son as a sacrifice when He died on the Cross of Calvary as a ONE TIME sacrifice for all the people in the world and their sins! There is just one thing we would have to do: accept Jesus Christ as our Lord and Savior and turn away from sin!

The moment we do that we are what in the Bible is called being Born again! This is the 2nd birth, and it means we are cleansed from all sins and unrighteousness, we are a new Creation! We see this in 2 Corinthians 5:17

Therefore if any man be in Christ, he is a new creature: old things are passed away; behold, all things are become new.

We are from that moment a Child of God! And there is no condemnation or judgement on those who have put their faith and hope in Jesus Christ, the only begotten Son of God! We see this in Romans 8:1

There is therefore now no condemnation to them which are in Christ Jesus, who walk not after the flesh, but after the Spirit.

This means our outlook on life has changed also, instead of doing our own will, we want to do the will of our Father who is in Heaven. And once we are saved… we will always be saved… right? Well, that is one of the thoughts many have over this text… in John 10:27-30 we read the following

27 My sheep hear my voice, and I know them, and they follow me:

28 And I give unto them eternal life; and they shall never perish, neither shall any man pluck them out of my hand.

29 My Father, which gave them me, is greater than all; and no man is able to pluck them out of my Father's hand.

30 I and my Father are one.

Does this mean that after you give your life to Christ you can just do whatever you want? This is the view of many people who have said the so called sinners prayer, and if you would interpret the text like that, it is just what you like to hear.. or not? And it would give you a way to sin freely and to live the life you want…. But like in this world…. If something looks to good to be true… it usually is… I am sorry to say that it is not a way that God gives us to sin or to live the life you always wanted, without even thinking of others or God for that matter! For many this will come as a shock and they will do anything to justify their “choice” that they have made to become a Christian (small c here) and be saved out of hell… Let me explain and then try to make the decision for yourself if you are indeed saved for life!

First we go to John 14:15-21

15 If ye love me, keep my commandments.

16 And I will pray the Father, and he shall give you another Comforter, that he may abide with you for ever;

17 Even the Spirit of truth; whom the world cannot receive, because it seeth him not, neither knoweth him: but ye know him; for he dwelleth with you, and shall be in you.

18 I will not leave you comfortless: I will come to you.

19 Yet a little while, and the world seeth me no more; but ye see me: because I live, ye shall live also.

20 At that day ye shall know that I am in my Father, and ye in me, and I in you.

21 He that hath my commandments, and keepeth them, he it is that loveth me: and he that loveth me shall be loved of my Father, and I will love him, and will manifest myself to him.

Here we see clearly that if you love God then you will keep His commandments… if not… you of course will fall back to the ways of the world and see here also that you will get the Holy Spirit, He will connect you to others in the Body of Christ. That is also called the Bride of Christ.

The real problem for those who think: once saved always saved is in Matthew 7:21-29. Here we see who will and who will not go to Heaven….

21 Not every one that saith unto me, Lord, Lord, shall enter into the kingdom of heaven; but he that doeth the will of my Father which is in heaven.

22 Many will say to me in that day, Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in thy name? and in thy name have cast out devils? and in thy name done many wonderful works?

23 And then will I profess unto them, I never knew you: depart from me, ye that work iniquity.

24 Therefore whosoever heareth these sayings of mine, and doeth them, I will liken him unto a wise man, which built his house upon a rock:

25 And the rain descended, and the floods came, and the winds blew, and beat upon that house; and it fell not: for it was founded upon a rock.

26 And every one that heareth these sayings of mine, and doeth them not, shall be likened unto a foolish man, which built his house upon the sand:

27 And the rain descended, and the floods came, and the winds blew, and beat upon that house; and it fell: and great was the fall of it.

28 And it came to pass, when Jesus had ended these sayings, the people were astonished at his doctrine:

29 For he taught them as one having authority, and not as the scribes.

Here it clearly says: NOT every one that saith unto me, Lord Lord! Will go to Heaven, but he that doeth the will of my Father which is in Heaven! So if you do your own will, and think you are saved because you have said that sinners prayer… you will be the one who will hear the worst thing you can ever hear…. Get away from me! Ye that worketh iniquity. This is a very big disappointment if you have believed all your life that you can just live any kind of life you want, sin every sin you can ever hope to do and get away with it because you once were so sincere that you said the sinners prayer…

Being Born again is not  a one time occasion, it is a commitment for a lifetime. And for those who really were commited to God but did fall away, John 1 has a statement that also explains a lot:

1 John 2:19

19 They went out from us, but they were not of us; for if they had been of us, they would no doubt have continued with us: but they went out, that they might be made manifest that they were not all of us.

In Hebrews 6:4-29 we see the ultimate proof that we can not be saved any other way, than by the Grace of God and the acceptance of the sacrifice that Jesus did on our behalf.

4 For it is impossible for those who were once enlightened, and have tasted of the heavenly gift, and were made partakers of the Holy Ghost,

5 And have tasted the good word of God, and the powers of the world to come,

6 If they shall fall away, to renew them again unto repentance; seeing they crucify to themselves the Son of God afresh, and put him to an open shame.

7 For the earth which drinketh in the rain that cometh oft upon it, and bringeth forth herbs meet for them by whom it is dressed, receiveth blessing from God:

8 But that which beareth thorns and briers is rejected, and is nigh unto cursing; whose end is to be burned.

9 But, beloved, we are persuaded better things of you, and things that accompany salvation, though we thus speak.

10 For God is not unrighteous to forget your work and labour of love, which ye have shewed toward his name, in that ye have ministered to the saints, and do minister.

11 And we desire that every one of you do shew the same diligence to the full assurance of hope unto the end:

12 That ye be not slothful, but followers of them who through faith and patience inherit the promises.

13 For when God made promise to Abraham, because he could swear by no greater, he sware by himself,

14 Saying, Surely blessing I will bless thee, and multiplying I will multiply thee.

15 And so, after he had patiently endured, he obtained the promise.

16 For men verily swear by the greater: and an oath for confirmation is to them an end of all strife.

17 Wherein God, willing more abundantly to shew unto the heirs of promise the immutability of his counsel, confirmed it by an oath:

18 That by two immutable things, in which it was impossible for God to lie, we might have a strong consolation, who have fled for refuge to lay hold upon the hope set before us:

19 Which hope we have as an anchor of the soul, both sure and stedfast, and which entereth into that within the veil;

20 Whither the forerunner is for us entered, even Jesus, made an high priest for ever after the order of Melchisedec.

Those wo have tasted of the Word of God and of the powers to come, those who were partakers in the Kingdom thru the Holy Spirit… who have fallen away, and that means have gone back to the ways of the world, looking for another way to be saved than the one God has provided for us… there is no longer atonement for their sins, as there is no other way. We see in the world today that they claim there are many ways to God and into Heaven… well, to be honest, all ways lead to God… as we all have to appear before Him to be judged, so yes, all ways lead to God, but only one way will lead to Heaven… and that is the way that God has provided for us.

If you still believe that once you are saved, you are always saved, you are free to believe that, that is the free will that God has given all of us, as He does not want to force Himself upon us, but He wants us to accept Him out of our own free will, and that we obey Him thru our own free will…

People nowadays believer rather in evolution than Creation… it is the way of men explaining away God and making themselves wiser than they really are… at least they think they are… In Romans 1:22 we see how God thinks about those who think they are wiser than Him…

Professing themselves to be wise, they became fools,

And so they have to revise usually all the things they come up with as they don’t hold up to scientific scrutiny. On more than one occasion the Bible has turned out to be right… they found proof of a fire were Sodom and Gomorra were…. Of course they say it was an asteroid, but who did send the asteroid and that it perfectly hit those 2 city’s were they were living as many of the western world is living now. Only Lot was saved out of that part, as he was the only righteous person there (and his family). They were told not to look back as they would be turned into a pillar of salt…. Around those city’s there are pillars of salt, one of them Lot’s wife… as this is to say if you do not obey the Word of God, you will be judged!

Then we also should not forget the people who say they are good and do not need a savior, well, the Bible is very clear about that subject, in Romand 3:23 we read the following:

For all have sinned, and come short of the glory of God.

And those who claim to have no sin, well… in 1 John 1:8 it could not be more clear:

If we say that we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us.

We know that the enemy is really working overtime to make sure everybody thinks of him or herself as a good person and that, as long as they do more good than bad, they are sure to be accepted by God as they have not been so bad as others, yet we are not judged in comparison to others, but we are judged by what God has as a standard and that is not our friends or the worst of the worst of the humans that ever lived, as compared to some people in history, sure most people are not that bad… but the standard we are going to be judged by is the standard God has for Himself… His Word! And as we have seen earlier in Romans and 1 John, we all have sinned and if we say we have no sin, the truth is not in us, in them there is then no light but darkness.

God’s Word is the absolute truth, nothing can change that. God has made us and everything we see around us and also He established His law. We do our best to explain away what God has done, but nothing holds up to scientific scrutiny, the theory sounds good, but it is not repeatable, not predictable and therefore it is not scientific. The theory of evolution is depending upon millions and millions of years…. Otherwise they have a problem with their theory. When they have found bones of dinosaurs that had tissue that still had blood in it, and tissue that was not decayed they did not question their theory of millions of years but rather try to explain how it was possible, never questioning if it is really millions of years, or as the bible tells it: thousands of years! That is why when they discover something that is not explainable with the current understanding of science, they create new theory’s that would maybe in theory work, but practically it does not make any sense at all.

The only way we can be saved is by the Grace of God and by accepting His Son as our Lord and Savior. It is that simple, as we are born in sin, so we can not be sinless, but if we accept the sacrifice of Jesus on the Cross, God sees us as His Children.

Then remains the question of when do we need to be saved? Well, right now, We see this in 2 Corinthians 6:2

For he saith, I have heard thee in a time accepted, and in the day of salvation have I succoured thee: behold, now is the accepted time; behold, now is the day of salvation.

Time is short, and people who say that they wait until they are at their deathbed and then will say a prayer that will bring them salvation…. Well, you do now know the day or hour when you will die or when Jesus will come back. And who says you are going to die of old age? It can be an accident that you did not see coming, a sickness that you did not notice…. Is doing what you want so important that you think eternity will wait for you to make that decision? Today is the day of our salvation, do not delay. Jesus is coming back soon…

 

I do hope that this explains everything you needed and wanted to know about salvation and eternal life.