What would you say about this? (Written in 2018)

Last August (2017), I vacated a rental house in Muranga as I headed down Pwani for another "Tour of Service". April, this year, I made a comeback and got another rental house in a different location of Muranga town but owned by the same former landlord. A wonderful couple. Yesterday morning, as I was walking past the old place, a former neighbor saw me and invited me for a cuppa tea and told me "Nyumba yako iko vacant!" Spotting the landlady from the balcony, I asked her about it and told her I want it back. She responds, "Mimi sina problem, pigia rafiki yako just in case someone has booked it" So after a chat with "rafiki yangu", same day, niko ndani-jana tu. A nice serene cool place, where, if you remember, I even had a monkey watching me keenly through the window as I worked on the computer keypad and a bird once decided to come in and sit watching me silently. One more thing. I had left behind a ka-small curtain, those that cover the glass part of the door. Apparently, the two subsequent tenants (I am told they have been two during my absence) decided it was good enough serving them. They also left it intact. So I have been reunited with my ka-curtain. The humor angle cannot be lacking in the life of Yours Truly.. Today, Sunday, I was to preach in Thika but my fren, in the morning, I could not locate the "gunia or carton" containing my shoes, (Na ni mingi kama zike za Imelda Marcos 👞👞), neither the iron box and most of my apparels were looking like they made part of my pillow last night or the cow decided to try chewing them. But all is well that ends well. Made it to Gospel Assembly Church Thika (albeit slightly late and dressed in strange gear for a preacher-man) and shared a message "Ministry: What is it and how does it affect you?" God is good and everything give thanks.

Before we answer this question, the term “Christian” must be examined.

A “Christian” is NOT a person:

Who has a Christian name

Who goes to church regularly

Who has said a prayer

Walked down an aisle in a church wedding

Been raised in a Christian family.

Who opens every conversation with a ‘praise God’

While each of these things can be a part of the Christian experience/life, they are not what “makes” a Christian.

A CHRISTIAN IS MUCH MUCH MORE!

A Christian is a person, who has:

By faith, received, believed and fully trusted in Jesus Christ as the only Savior:

John 3:16;

Acts 16:31;

Ephesians 2:8-9

So, with this definition in mind, can a Christian lose salvation?

Perhaps the best way to answer this crucially important question is to:

Examine what the Bible says OCCURS at salvation

……….AND THEN STUDY WHAT LOSING SALVATION WOULD THEREFORE ENTAIL/MEAN/IMPLY.

ONCE SAVED/BORN AGAIN, A CHRISTIAN IS A NEW CREATION.

“Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; the old has gone, the new has come!” (2 Corinthians 5:17).

This verse speaks of a person becoming an entirely new creature as a result of being “in Christ.”

For a Christian to lose salvation, the new creation would have to be;

     Canceled

     Reversed.

A CHRISTIAN IS REDEEMED.

(1 Peter 1:18-19).

     “For you know that it was not with perishable things such as silver or gold that you were redeemed from the empty way of life handed down to you from your forefathers, but with the precious blood of Christ, a lamb without blemish or defect”

The word “redeemed” refers to:

A purchase being made

A COSTLY price being paid.

THEREFORE!

For a Christian to lose salvation: God Himself would have to revoke His purchase that He paid for with the precious blood of Christ.

A CHRISTIAN IS JUSTIFIED.

(Romans 5:1).

     “Therefore, since we have been justified through faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ”

TO “JUSTIFY” means to:

“Declare righteous.”

All those who receive Jesus as Savior are “declared righteous” by God.

FOR A CHRISTIAN TO LOSE SALVATION:

God would have to go back on His Word and “un-declare” what He had previously declared.

A CHRISTIAN IS PROMISED ETERNAL LIFE.

(John3:16)

     “For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life”.

Eternal life is a promise of eternity (forever) in heaven with God.

God promises, “Believe and you will have eternal life.”

FOR A CHRISTIAN TO LOSE SALVATION:

The promise of eternal life would have to be taken away.

If a Christian is promised to live forever, how then can God break this promise by taking away eternal life?

A CHRISTIAN IS GUARANTEED GLORIFICATION.

(Romans 8:30)

“And those he predestined, he also called; those he called, he also justified; those he justified, he also glorified”.

As we read in Romans 5:1, justification is declared at the moment of faith.

According to Romans 8:30, glorification is guaranteed for all those whom God justifies.

Glorification (guaranteed) refers to a Christian receiving a perfect resurrection body in heaven.

IF A CHRISTIAN CAN LOSE SALVATION, THEN ROMANS 8:30 IS IN ERROR Because God could not guarantee glorification for all those whom He predestines, calls, and justifies AND THESE REVOKE THAT VERY SAME ACT.

• These few verses (there are numerous in the Bible) make it abundantly clear that a Christian cannot lose salvation.  
• Most, if not all, of what the Bible says happens to us when we receive Jesus Christ as Savior would be invalidated if salvation could be lost.
• Salvation cannot be reversed.
• A Christian cannot be un-newly created.
• Redemption cannot be undone.
• Eternal life cannot be lost and still be considered eternal.
• Guaranteed glorification cannot be ‘un-guaranted”

IF A CHRISTIAN CAN LOSE SALVATION, GOD WOULD HAVE TO GO BACK ON HIS WORD AND CHANGE HIS MIND—TWO THINGS THAT SCRIPTURE TELLS US GOD NEVER DOES.

NOW!

FREQUENT OBJECTIONS THAT WE MAY MEET

1) What about those who are Christians and continually live an immoral lifestyle?

2) What about those who are Christians but later reject the faith and deny Christ?

3) What about the “backslidden”?

The problem with these three objections is the phrase:  “WHO ARE TRUE CHRISTIANS?”

(1 John 3:6). The Bible declares that a true Christian will not live a continually immoral lifestyle

(1 John2:19) The Bible declares that anyone who departs the faith is demonstrating that he never truly was a Christian.

THEREFORE, NONE OF THESE OBJECTIONS ARE VALID.

Christians do not continually live immoral lifestyles

Nor do they reject the faith and deny Christ.

     Such actions are proof that they were never redeemed.  NO, A CHRISTIAN CANNOT LOSE SALVATION.

Nothing can separate a Christian from God’s love (Romans 8:38-39).

Nothing can remove a Christian from God’s hand (John 10:28-29).

God is both willing and able to guarantee and maintain the salvation He has given us.

Jude tells us in 24-25, “To Him who is able to keep you from falling and to present you before his glorious presence without fault and with great joy—to the only God our Savior be glory, majesty, power and authority, through Jesus Christ our Lord, before all ages, now and forevermore! Amen.”

Be blessed as you work on you work on your salvation!

Today's Turning Point with David Jeremiah

Seeing Only One Side

How long, O LORD? Will You forget me forever? How long will You hide Your face from me?
Psalm 13:1

Recommended Reading John 12:27-28

Directors of dramatic films often use a camera sequence that heightens the tension in a scene. Two enemies will be within feet of each other -- on opposite sides of a wall or on parallel streets in a city without knowing it. An aerial shot or split screen gives us, the viewers, the advantage of seeing both parties. But the actors are portraying extreme tension, not knowing where the other person is. 

That tension is what we feel sometimes when we can only see our side of the split screen without seeing God's side. We're in a situation of some sort -- trouble or danger is approaching -- and we cry out to God for His help and intervention. And either we don't hear immediately from God or we get an answer that is not what we wanted or expected. The problem is, we can only see our part of the drama. God is above it all and sees what we cannot. Consider the time the Israelites were delayed in reaching the Promised Land (Exodus 13:17-18), or the time the answer to Daniel's prayer was delayed for three weeks (Daniel 10:1-14) -- both delays were for good reasons.

If you are asking God for something and the answer is slow in coming, remember that you are seeing only one part of the equation. 

Hope is the foundation of patience. 
John Calvin