SPEAKER_00 0:00

Eternal life Strong's gives for the word eternal equals without end, never to cease, everlasting, sometimes translated everlasting or forever. It is the gift of God Ephesians two eight. Again, God's gift, not man's, not the priests, pastors, missionaries, or the churches, and because it is God's gift, you will have to go to Him to receive it. You cannot pay for it, it is a gift, and even called a free gift fifteen, sixteen, eighteen. It cannot be earned, but only by faith in Christ can you receive this free gift, for by grace are ye saved through faith, and that not of yourselves, it is the gift of God, not of works, lest any man should boast. Ephesians two eight to nine. Because salvation, eternal life, is a free gift, anyone can have it, and this way only God who gives it can be praised for it. If we earned it, then we could brag about how good we are, or that we deserved it, which would be the sin of pride, not of works, lest any man should boast. A Christian's body will die and be raised again at the resurrection, but his soul and spirit are saved at the moment he trusts Christ, and he will never perish twenty eight. We are not on probation, waiting to receive eternal life after we die, but the saved have everlasting life, John three sixteen, which is received at the moment we trust Christ. Verily, verily, I say unto you, he that heareth my word, and believeth on him that sent me hath everlasting life, and shall not come into condemnation, but is passed from death unto life twenty four. The saved already have eternal life, not will have everlasting life, but hath not will pass, but is passed from death unto life. Many such verses as this say that the man or woman who trusts Christ is saved, past tense. And he said to the woman, Thy faith hath saved thee, go in peace Luke seven fifty, for by grace are ye saved through faith. Ephesians two eight. See also John three sixteen, Corinthians one eighteen, second Timothy one nine, Titus three five. But how to apply? But he that shall endure unto the end, the same shall be saved. Matthew twenty four thirteen. This sounds like a work salvation, and has been used to teach that unless you keep yourself saved until the end of your life, you will lose your salvation. But this word end in the above verse does not refer to the end of your life, but to the end of the world. This chapter was talking about the great tribulation in Matthew twenty four twenty one, and primarily to the Jews, as the church would be raptured then. Verse fifteen talked about the temple of the Jews, and verses sixteen, then let them which be in Judea flee, verses twenty, not any other part of the world. But pray ye, that your flight be not in the winter, neither on the Sabbath day. But the Sabbath is for the Jews, Sunday is for Christians, but we are not mentioned, because we will be raptured before the tribulation. This started with a question by the apostles. And as he sat upon the Mount of Olives, the disciples came unto him privately, saying, Tell us, when shall these things be, and what shall be the sign of thy coming and of the end of the world? Matthew twenty four three. Christ then gives the signs of the end time verses four to twelve, and then Christ said in the next verse thirteen, but he that shall endure unto the end the same shall be saved. Again, the end here refers to the end of this present world which the apostles had asked about. The next verse fourteen says, And this gospel of the kingdom shall be preached in all the world for a witness unto all nations, and then shall the end come. Not the end of their lives, but the end of the world. The church age will have ended before the tribulation starts, and though only a few will be left alive then, those who shall endure unto the end, the same shall be saved. And this fits with Zechariah thirteen six to nine, when Christ shall appear at the end of this present age, and one shall say unto him, What are these wounds in thine hands? Then he shall answer, those with which I was wounded in the house of my friends. And it shall come to pass that in all the land, saith the Lord, two parts therein shall be cut off and die, but the third shall be left therein. And I will bring the third part through the fire, and will refine them as silver is refined, and will try them as gold is tried, they shall call on my name, and I will hear them, I will say it is my people, and they shall say The Lord is my God. As Christ said, But he that shall endure unto the end, the same shall be saved. Christ wants the saved to know they have salvation. And this is the record that God hath given to us eternal life, and this life is in his Son, he that hath the Son hath life, and he that hath not the Son of God hath not life. These things have I written unto you that believe on the name of the Son of God, that ye may know that ye have eternal life, and that ye may believe on the name of the Son of God. It is too late after one dies to find out if he or she is saved. Examine yourselves, whether ye be in the faith, prove your own selves, know ye not your own selves how that Jesus Christ is in you, except ye be reprobates. See also Second Peter one ten, see salvation. Can one lose his salvation? I heard a wise man say, It depends on how you were saved. If a person is saved by being good, then when he sins he will become unworthy and lose it, but if he is saved by grace, something we do not deserve, then he is still saved. For by grace are ye saved through faith, and that not of yourselves, it is the gift of God. Ephesians two eight. Fortunately, we do not keep our salvation, because most of us cannot even keep from breaking the speed limit. Who are kept by the power of God through faith unto salvation? What sins would one have to commit in order to lose his salvation adultery or murder? King David committed both Samuel eleven, and did not lose his salvation. We do not believe as some say, that a person can get saved and then go out and sin, and nothing will happen to him. We believe that God corrects those who sin, for whom the Lord loveth he chasteneth. The worst day in King David's life was the day he fell in sin, for there were many consequences. Salvation is forever, as the name implies in eternal life. Christ said, And I give unto them eternal life, and they shall never perish, neither shall any man pluck them out of my hand. My Father, which gave them me, is greater than all, and no man is able to pluck them out of my Father's hand. I and my Father are one ten twenty eight thirty. The teaching that one has eternal life once he is saved, does not cause a person to go out and sin, but causes Christians to thank God, because we are all sinners and cannot save ourselves. I have a question. Do you believe a parachute works? I have another question, have you ever gone skydiving? Even though most everyone believes a parachute works, only a few have ever trusted a parachute. For a moment, let the parachute represent Jesus Christ, and the plain represent our religion and good works. In your daily walk, please be good, but good works will never pay for our sins or buy our way to heaven. To trust the parachute, you have to let go of the plain, and to trust Jesus Christ, you have to let go of your baptism, church, and good works. All good things and you should do them all, but only God's Son can save your soul. When people say, Hey, I believe in God, and if I'm good, I will go to heaven, they're not trusting Jesus Christ to save them, but being good. Let go of the plane. As long as one sees salvation as something he can lose, he still believes it depends on him and therefore must be worked for. In effect, they are saying God did his part, and I am doing my part. In actuality, they believe God saved them for one second, and then for the rest of their lives, the next thirty, fifty, or sixty plus years, they must be good to keep it. It is still boasting, still pride, still sin, and still they have put faith in themselves for salvation. But salvation is not of yourselves. It is the gift of God, not of works, lest any man should boast. Ephesians two eight to nine. People sometimes wonder about those who stopped living for the Lord, but the Bible says 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. See also Hebrews twelve eight. Judas Iscariot did not lose his salvation, he never had it, John sixty four to seventy one. But of the saved, Christ says, and I give unto them eternal life, and they shall never perish twenty eight. And on the day of judgment, Christ will say to the lost, I never knew you, depart from me. Those who are saved shall never perish, and those who go to hell were never saved. What about Christ is become of no effect unto you, whosoever of you are justified by the law, ye are fallen from grace. The same word fallen in this verse is translated hath taken none effect in Romans 9 6. And it is clear from the verse that no sin was committed, but that the person was trying to be justified by the law, not trusting Jesus Christ for his salvation. There are other verses that people have stumbled over, but the main one is found in Hebrews six forty six, 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, and have tasted the good word of God and the powers of the world to come, if they shall fall away, to renew them again unto repentance. This passage was written to those who wanted to keep going over the basic teachings of salvation. And that is why in verse one of this chapter the apostle Paul said, Therefore, leaving the principles of the doctrine of Christ. These were good principles, but there was no need to keep going over them now that they were already saved. Instead, he wanted them to grow, let us go on unto perfection. And he told them, not laying again the foundation of repentance, faith, baptisms, laying on of hands, resurrection of the dead, eternal judgment. Were not these good and important teachings? Yes, and Paul said that if God would permit, he would even go over it yet again. But why keep explaining how to be saved once you are saved? It was a hypothetical situation, and is why Paul said even if they could lose their salvation, they could not get it back, so why keep going over it? It needs to be stated here that all those who believe you can lose their salvation also teach that you can get it back, but the verse says it would be impossible to do this. And no one in the Bible was saved twice, and no one in the Bible lost his salvation, it was eternal life. Those who believe they are on probation can never be sure they are still saved, as they will worry over the last sin they committed, that perhaps God got tired of forgiving them. And those who have eternal life are not doing good works to get or keep salvation, but they do them because they are saved out of a thankful heart to God who saved them. Isaiah forty nine fifteen. Can a woman forget her sucking child that she should not have compassion on the son of her womb? Yea, they may forget, yet will I not forget thee. Did you mother ever forget you? God said it was possible, but God also said, Yet will I not forget thee? Christ said, When he started with a one hundred sheep and one goes astray, he goes looking for him and brings him back. Christ ends up with a one hundred sheep. There were many times that I did not listen to my dad, but he never opened the door and threw me out, saying, You no longer belong to me. Are we to believe that our heavenly Father loves us less than our earthly Father? All that the Father giveth me shall come to me, and him that cometh to me I will in no wise cast out, for I came down from heaven, not to do mine own will, but the will of him that sent me, and this is the Father's will which hath sent me, that of all which he hath given me I should lose nothing, but should raise it up again at the last day. John six thirty seven to thirty nine. See also Second Timothy one twelve, Psalm thirty seven twenty eight, Romans six twenty three, eight twenty nine to thirty, thirty five to thirty nine, eleven twenty nine, Hebrews ten four, thirteen five, John ten twenty nine, fifteen, sixteen, Ephesians one thirteen to fourteen.