Nebuchadnezzar and His Conversion

Daniel chapter 4 reminds us that God is sovereign in salvation. In this sermon Voddie Baucham does a great job of showing us just exactly what that means and why this is an important message for the modern church to hear. I encourage you to take the time to listen.

What Is Salvation?

Here is a brief audio clip from Tim Conway (the pastor, not the comedian) where he answers the question, What is Salvation? He gives a very good answer and this is well worth the 12 minutes it takes to listen.

The Marks Of A True Christian

The other day I wrote a post entitled Is There Any Such Thing As A Carnal Christian? and as I was going through my "stack of stuff" this morning I found this quote from J.C. Ryle that I had intended to post a few weeks ago. This goes right along with that post and shows us once again, the marks of a true Christian.

"There is a dead faith as well as a living one. There is a faith of devils as well as a faith of God's elect. There is a faith which is vain and useless, as well as a faith which justifies and saves. How shall a man know whether he has true saving faith? The thing may be found out! The Ethiopian may be known by the color of his skin; and the leopard may be known by his spots. True faith may always be known by certain marks. These marks are laid down unmistakably in Scripture. Reader, let me endeavor to set these marks plainly before you. Look at them carefully—and test your own soul by what I am going to say.

He who truly believes in Christ—has a NEW HEART. It is written, "If any man is in Christ, he is a new creature—old things are passed away; behold, all things have become new." (2 Cor. 5:17.) A believer has no longer the same nature with which he was born. He is changed, renewed, and transformed after the image of his Lord and Savior. He who minds first, the things of the flesh—has no saving faith. True faith, and spiritual regeneration, are inseparable companions. An unconverted person—is not a genuine believer!

He who truly believes in Christ—is a HOLY person in heart and life. It is written that God "purifies the heart by faith," and that Christians are "sanctified by faith." "Whoever has this hope in him, purifies himself." (Acts 15:9; 26:18; 1 John 3:3.). A believer loves what God loves—and hates what God hates. His heart's desire is to walk in the way of God's commandments, and to abstain from all manner of evil. His wish is to follow after the things which are just, and pure, and honest, and lovely—and to cleanse himself from all filthiness of flesh and spirit. He falls far short of his aim, in many things. He finds his daily life, a constant fight with indwelling corruption. But he fights on—and resolutely refuses to serve sin. Where there is no holiness, we may be sure there is no saving faith! An unholy man is not a genuine believer!

He who truly believes in Christ—works godly WORKS. It is written, that "faith works by love" (Gal. 5:6). True belief will never make a man idle, or allow him to sit still, contented with his own religion. It will stir him to do acts of love, kindness, and charity, according as he sees opportunity. It will constrain him to walk in the steps of his Master, who "went about doing good." In one way or another, it will make him work. The works that he does may attract no notice from the world. They may seem trifling and insignificant to many people. But they are not forgotten by Him who notices a cup of cold water given for His sake. Where there is no working love—there is no faith. A lazy, selfish professing Christian—has no right to regard himself as a genuine believer!

He who truly believes in Christ—overcomes the WORLD. It is written, that "whoever is born of God, overcomes the world—and this is the victory which overcomes the world—even our faith" (1 John 5:4). A true believer is not ruled by the world's standard of right or wrong, of truth or error. He is independent of the world's opinion. He cares little for the world's praise. He is not moved by the world's censure. He does not seek for the world's pleasures. He is not ambitious of the world's rewards. He looks at things unseen—he sees an invisible Savior, a coming judgment, and a crown of glory which never fades away. The sight of these objects, makes him think comparatively little of this present world. Where the world reigns in the heart—there is no genuine faith. A man who is habitually conformed to the world—is not a genuine believer!

He who truly believes in Christ—has the witness of the Holy Spirit. He has hopes, joys, fears, sorrows, consolations, expectations, of which he knew nothing before he believed. He has internal evidences which the world cannot understand. Where there are no inward pious feelings—there is no faith. A man who knows nothing of an inward, spiritual, experimental religion—is not a genuine believer!

He who truly believes in Christ—has a special regard to the person of CHRIST Himself. It is written, "Unto you who believe—Christ is precious" (1 Peter 2:7). That text deserves especial notice. It does not say "Christianity" is precious, or the "Gospel" is precious, or "salvation" is precious—but Christ Himself! A true believer's religion, does not consist in mere intellectual assent to a certain set of propositions and doctrines. It is not a mere cold belief of a certain set of truths and facts concerning Christ. It consists in union, communion, and fellowship with an actual living Person, even Jesus the Son of God. It is a life of . . .

• faith in Jesus,
• confidence in Jesus,
• leaning on Jesus,
• drawing out of the fullness of Jesus,
• speaking to Jesus,
• working for Jesus,
• loving Jesus, and
• looking for Jesus to come again.

Such life may sound like enthusiasm to many. But where there is true faith, Christ will always be known and realized, as an actual living personal Friend! He who knows nothing of Christ as his own Priest, Physician, Redeemer, Advocate, Friend, Teacher, and Shepherd—knows nothing yet of genuine believing!

Where these marks of which I have been speaking, are utterly lacking, I dare not tell a man that he is a true believer. He may be called a Christian, and attend a Christian church. But if he knows nothing of these marks—I dare not pronounce him a believer. He is yet dead in trespasses and sins. Except he awakes to newness of life, he will perish everlastingly.

Show me a man who has these marks—and I feel a strong confidence about the state of his soul. He may be poor and needy in this world—but he is rich in the sight of God. He may be despised and sneered at by man—but he is honorable in the sight of the King of kings. He is traveling towards heaven! He has a mansion ready for him in the Father's house. He is cared for by Christ, while on earth. He will be owned by Christ before assembled worlds, in the life which is to come!"

J.C. Ryle (1816-1900)

So how do you measure up? If you find that you have fallen short in any of these areas repent and turn back to God. He is gracious and merciful and He will save all who call out to Him in repentance and faith.

Is There Any Such Thing As A Carnal Christian?

And I, brethren, could not speak to you as to spiritual people but as to carnal, as to babes in Christ. I fed you with milk and not with solid food; for until now you were not able to receive it, and even now you are still not able; for you are still carnal. For where there are envy, strife, and divisions among you, are you not carnal and behaving like mere men? For when one says, “I am of Paul,” and another, “I am of Apollos,” are you not carnal?

1 Corinthians 3:1-4 (NKJV)

These verses, quoted here from the New King James Version, have led to quite a misconception of the Christian faith over the past few decades - that is the idea of what is commonly referred to as the Carnal Christian. A Carnal Christian is one who, although they say that they have had a "saving" encounter with Jesus Christ still continue in a lifestyle of sin. The proponents of this teaching claim that a person can "accept Jesus into their heart" and continue to live any way that the want and that their salvation will remain intact (i.e. they will still go to heaven when they die), and those who teach this use the above verses for their justification in this teaching. They say that Paul addressing the Corinthian church as being carnal proves that you can be a Christian and still live in a lifestyle of sin. But is that what is being taught here?

Paul is writing to this church to correct some problems that they were experiencing within their congregation, and he is merely telling them here that they are not growing like they should be because they are not submitting to the direction of the Holy Spirit and are therefore still babes in Christ. Does this mean that they we not saved? No, but is doesn't necessarily mean they were either. Paul is just telling them that because of the profession of faith that they made, and the amount of time that had passed, that they should be more mature in their walk than they currently are, and he calls them out for their lack of maturity. The question that we must first answer here is this, were the people that Paul was writing to in this letter really saved? I don't think that we can answer that question with any certainty, but I will point out that in his second letter to this same church he said:

Examine yourselves, to see whether you are in the faith. Test yourselves. Or do you not realize this about yourselves, that Jesus Christ is in you?—unless indeed you fail to meet the test!

2 Corinthians 5:13

Paul did not assume that these people were Christians; he urged them to test themselves to see if they were truly in the faith. And what did he say? Jesus Christ is in you - unless you fail the test! This means that there are those who believe that they are a follower of Jesus Christ who are deluded and who, if tested, will not pass and so prove that their salvation is not real. Jesus Himself warned us of this very thing in the Sermon on the Mount, where He said:

“Not everyone who says to me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter the kingdom of heaven, but the one who does the will of my Father who is in heaven. On that day many will say to me, ‘Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in your name, and cast out demons in your name, and do many mighty works in your name?’ And then will I declare to them, ‘I never knew you; depart from me, you workers of lawlessness.’"

Matthew 7:21-23

Jesus said that the person who will not get into heaven is the person who, even though they claim to know Him, continues in a lifestyle of sin. I believe that what Jesus is saying here is that no person who is truly saved will not continue to live in unrepentant sin. But neither does the Bible teach that a truly Born-Again person will ever achieve sinless perfection on this side of Heaven; however, there are those today who teach that to repent of your sins means that you will never fall again, and this is just not true (see 1 John 1:1-10).

So what then do we make of this doctrine of the Carnal Christian that is so popular today, can a person be a Christian and still continue to live in sin? The answer is no! In Ezekiel 36 God gives us a picture of what happens when a person is truly Born Again, He says:

I will sprinkle clean water on you, and you shall be clean from all your uncleannesses, and from all your idols I will cleanse you. And I will give you a new heart, and a new spirit I will put within you. And I will remove the heart of stone from your flesh and give you a heart of flesh. And I will put my Spirit within you, and cause you to walk in my statutes and be careful to obey my rules. You shall dwell in the land that I gave to your fathers, and you shall be my people, and I will be your God.

Ezekiel 36:25-28

There are a couple of very important things that we must see in this passage if we are ever to understand our salvation. First of all notice how many times God says that He will do something, He says:

1. I will sprinkle clean water on you, and you shall be clean from all your uncleanness
2. I will cleanse you from all your idols
3. I will give you a new heart
4. I will put a new spirit within you
5. I will remove your heart of stone and give you a heart of flesh
6. I will put My Spirit within you
7. I will cause you to walk in my statutes and to carefully obey my rules
8. I will be your God

Then in verse 32 He reminds us that He is not doing this for our sake, we are told to be ashamed and confounded for our ways. So why then does God do this? If you look back to verses 22 & 23 He tells us that it is for the sake of His holy name and to vindicate His holiness.

So my question to you then is this, how can you continue to live in a lifestyle of sin if God has given you a new heart, written His law on it, and placed his Holy Spirit within you? I would contend that you cannot. But again, let me make it clear that this does not mean that a Christian is perfect and that they never sin (again, see 1 John 1:1-10). It does, however, mean that when the Holy Spirit makes you aware of a sin in your life that you stop right there and you repent of it immediately.

A Christian then is one who lives not in a lifestyle of continuing sin but in a lifestyle of continuing repentance, and if this is not true in your life you need to do as Paul suggested in 2 Corinthians 13 and examine yourself, because the evidence is not in your favor.

The Importance of Self Examination

I love the writings of the Puritans. Every time I read any of them I come under the conviction of the Holy Spirit and I see all of the areas of my life that I have fallen short of what God requires of us all. There is just something about they way that they wrote that shows me what is truly in my heart and leads me to repentance. I thank God for the power that they had in the words that they put to paper, I thank God that He has seen fit to preserve them for us today, and I pray that He will use the words that I write to touch people the way that the writings of men like Thomas Watson, Thomas Vincent, Octavius Winslow, and many others have touched me.

Here is another very convicting excerpt from Puritan writer Matthew Mead. This short excerpt, taken from "The Almost Christian" shows us the importance of making sure that we are truly in the faith.

A man may preach like an apostle, pray like an angel—and yet may have the heart of a devil!

Many have gone to hell, laden with spiritual gifts. No doubt Judas had great gifts, for he was a preacher of the gospel. What a grand profession Judas had! He followed Christ, left all for Christ, he preached the gospel of Christ, he cast out devils in the name of Christ, he ate and drank at the table of Christ—and yet Judas was but a hypocrite!

The Scriptures speak of some who have "a form of godliness, yet deny the power thereof." That is, they do not live in the practice of those graces, which they pretend to profess. He who pretends to godliness by a specious profession—and yet does not practice godliness by a holy life, he has a mere form of godliness—but denies the power.

Grotius compares such to the ostrich, which has great wings—but yet does not fly. Just so—many have the wings of a fair profession—but yet do notuse them to mount upward in spiritual affections,and a heavenly life. As many go to heaven with the fear of hell in their hearts—so many go to hell with the name of Christ in their mouths!

Matthew Mead (1661)

The apostle Paul also wrote of the importance of examination; in his second letter to the Corinthians he wrote:

Test yourselves to see if you are in the faith; examine yourselves! Or do you not recognize this about yourselves, that Jesus Christ is in you—unless indeed you fail the test?

2 Corinthians 13:5 (NASB)

From this verse we can see that it is possible to think that we are in the faith and discover that we are not; it is possible to fail the test. Take some time today and examine yourself in light of God's Word. Ask Him to show you anywhere you fall short, repent of what He shows you, and then praise Him for the salvation that He provides. That is what I will be doing today.

The Puritans (Part 7) - The Wrath To Come

Yesterday I finished up the post on 1 John 2:2 and this morning I opened my email to find this from Grace Gems. If you have any question about what it was that Jesus saved us from, or why it is that we need a Savior, just read this.

"Jesus, who delivers us from the wrath to come!" 1 Thessalonians 1:10

By "the wrath to come" we are to understand the infinite wrath of the sin-avenging God—in comparison with which, the wrath of all other creatures in the world is mild, and not in the least to be regarded.

This wrath which is to come, will be most bitter—beyond any gall or wormwood to the taste. This wrath will be most pure—without any allay or mixture of any comfortable ingredients. This wrath will be most plentiful—the treasury of which will be opened in hell, and all the damned will be filled with it abundantly. This wrath will be most weighty—beyond any mountain of lead, to sink sinners down into the bottomless pit. This wrath will be most fierce—and so powerful that all the powers of men and devils shall not be able to make the least resistance. This wrath will be intolerable—and yet must be borne; it will be implacable—so as never to be appeased; and it will be eternal—so as never to be ended!

This wrath will include the punishment of loss—will consist of the loss of the crown, glory, and happiness of heaven, where the righteous shall be admitted to the immediate vision and full fruition of God the chief good, which will fill them with soul-ravishing, inconceivable, and eternal joy. But from this, all the wicked will be eternally shut out, and wholly denied any share in the least of that happiness which, when they come to understand the worth and excellency of it—will above all things be most vexing to them!

This wrath will include the punishment of sense—will consist in the horrible pains and tortures which shall in extreme measure be inflicted upon every part of the bodies of all the wicked, by the most dreadful and unquenchable fire into which they shall be thrown; and the horrible anguish which, through the immediate impressions of God's wrath, shall be inflicted upon every faculty of their souls in hell, where they shall have no ease or release forever! Matthew 25:41, "Depart from Me, you who are cursed, into everlasting fire, prepared for the devil and his angels!" Revelation 14:10-11, "They shall drink of the wine of the wrath of God, which is poured out without mixture into the cup of His indignation, and shall be tormented with fire and brimstone in the presence of the holy angels and in the presence of the Lamb. And the smoke of their torment ascends up forever and ever, and they have no rest day or night."

The wicked are vessels fitted by sin for destruction, and prepared for wrath; and therefore they shall be filled with it! God has treasured up wrath for the wicked—as they have treasured up sin! God will give them that which they have so much deserved, and which He has prepared for them. However sinners may vainly hope to flee or hide themselves from the stroke of God's vengeance, yet God's right hand will find all those who hate Him; and He will make them as a fiery oven in the time of His anger, swallow them up in His wrath, and devour them with the fire of His indignation! (Psalm 21:8-9).

The souls of the wicked, as soon as they are loosened by death from the ruinous habitation of their bodies, presently appear before God, are condemned to hell, and are dragged by the devil, hell's jailer, into that prison where they are bound in chains of darkness, filled with horror and anguish until the day of eternal judgment!

Oh, the dread and confusion which the wicked then shall be filled with—when they are summoned and dragged to the tribunal seat of Christ—and there have the books opened before them, where all their sins are written, and which will then be made manifest to the whole world; and when the sentence "Depart, you who are cursed, into everlasting fire!" shall be passed upon them; and when the Lord shall open the treasury of wrath to them, and give them that portion thereof, which is their due; and when they shall see the mouth of hell open beneath them, and a horrible flame issuing forth from there, giving notice of a more horrible fire within which is prepared for them!

Oh, the dread! Oh, the shrieks! Who can dwell with such devouring fire! Who can inhabit such everlasting burnings! How welcome would a great rock or mountain be—if they could find any that would fall upon them, and hide them from the wrath of the Lamb, and keep off the strokes of God's vengeance, which then will be inflicted upon them!

But, the sentence being pronounced—the execution will follow—and none can escape it! From Christ's tribunal seat, the wicked will be thrown into the fiery prison of hell, where they will be shut down and shut in, and that forever! There they will lie; there they will fry, and there they will cry! Though always dying—they will never die! The fire there will burn most dreadfully and continually, yet will never be extinguished! The wicked will be tormented there, in every part and in extreme measure—and their torment will never be ended!

Thomas Vincent (1670)

Remember, it is the kindness of God that leads us to repentance (Romans 2:4), and what could be more kind than being saved from this? Take some time today to thank God for sending Jesus to redeem us and thank Jesus for the salvation that He provided.

What an awesome God we serve!

How To Kill Sin

I am currently working on 2 new posts, but since neither of them are ready to go up yet I thought I would share a couple sermons that I just recently listened to. These are 3 of the best sermons I have heard in a long time, and they are dealing with a subject that we don't hear much about these days - how we are Christians are called to make war against the sin in our lives. So while I finish up writing the next 2 posts take some time to listen to these messages by John Piper and learn how to kill sin.

How to Kill Sin - Part 1
How to Kill Sin - Part 2
How to Kill Sin - Part 3

Have a great weekend!

Walking In The Dark

If we say we have fellowship with him while we walk in darkness, we lie and do not practice the truth.But if we walk in the light, as he is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus his Son cleanses us from all sin.

1 John 1:6,7

Last time we looked at what it means that God is light; today we are going to see what it means to walk in darkness, and then how each of us can walk in the light as He is in the light.

1. What does it mean to walk in darkness?

John begins today's passage by writing, "If we say we have fellowship with Him and we walk in darkness, we lie and do not practice the truth." As we saw in the previous verse light is a metaphor for holiness and perfection, and here by John using the metaphor of darkness he is telling us that without us being holy and perfect ourselves we cannot have fellowship with God. Light and darkness can never occupy the same space, so John says, if you say you are in a relationship with God and you continue in darkness then you are a liar. Because God is holy and pure He cannot fellowship with darkness and sin. In other words, since God is light and cannot live in darkness it is up to us to walk in the light to have fellowship with Him. We cannot continue to walk in darkness and claim to have fellowship with Him because light drives our darkness and by continuing in darkness we prove that we are not in the light. So this then brings up yet another question: in what ways do we walk in darkness?

In his letter to the Galatians (among other places), the apostle Paul gives us a list of actions that we are to avoid as Christians. and this list would be a good place to begin to see what it means to walk in darkness. Here he writes:

Now the works of the flesh are evident: sexual immorality, impurity, sensuality, idolatry, sorcery, enmity, strife, jealousy, fits of anger, rivalries, dissensions, divisions, envy, drunkenness, orgies, and things like these. I warn you, as I warned you before, that those who do such things will not inherit the kingdom of God.

Galatians 5:19-21

So here we have a list of the things people do that show that they are walking in darkness; these are the practices that we can look at and according to 1 John know for sure that if we are practicing these things we are not walking in the light. In fact, John goes so far as to say that if we say we are in fellowship with God and we are doing these things then we are a liar and we are not practicing the truth. In John's mind a person is either walking in the light, or they are walking in the darkness; the very nature of light and darkness do not allow for a person to be in both places at the same time, so John then writes. "But if we walk in the light, as He is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus His Son cleanses us from all sin." This brings us then to our second question:

2. How can we walk in the light as He is in the light?

As we saw last time, light here is a metaphor for the holiness of God, who commands each of us to be holy as He is holy (1 Peter 1:16). In fact, Hebrews 12:14 tells us that without holiness no one will see God. So we have a dilemma, we are sinful and God is holy, and he requires that for us to have fellowship with Him we must also be holy. God is light, he cannot come into the darkness so for us to be with Him it must be us who moves into the light. But even if we take the list above and commit to not do any of those things ever again we are still not holy, because we are all sinners and Jesus told us that sin comes from within us and causes our actions, not the other way around (Mark 7:20-23).

But if we keep reading here John gives us the answer to our greatest problem; he concludes today's passage by reminding us that, "the blood of Jesus his Son cleanses us from all sin." This is the greatest news we could ever receive; we can be cleansed from all of our sin. And how do we get this cleansing? It is by the blood of Jesus. In Galatians 3:27 we are told that those who have been baptized into Christ have put on Christ. In 2 Peter 3:10-14 we are told that those who are in Christ will be spotless and blameless at the coming Day of the Lord. Ephesians 5:25-27 tells us that Christ gave Himself up for us so that we could be presented to Him with no spot or wrinkle, but that we would be holy and blameless.

What this means is that as we repent of our sins and put on Christ, His blood cleanses us and we become holy, not because of what we have done, but because of what He has done. In Christ we can now walk in the light, and in Christ we can now have fellowship with the Father.

What does this look like? Just as we looked at Scripture to see what it looked like to walk in darkness we can also look to Scripture to see what it looks like to walk in the light; in the very next verses from the passage we looked at earlier in Galatians, Paul wrote:

But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control; against such things there is no law.And those who belong to Christ Jesus have crucified the flesh with its passions and desires.

Galatians 5:22-24

So just as Galatians 5:19-21 shows us what it looks like when we walk in darkness, verses 22-24show us what it our life will look like when we are walking in the light. He then concludes with:

If we live by the Spirit, let us also walk by the Spirit.

Galatians 5:25

So we can see here that the life that is lived out in the light is the life that is being actively lead by The Holy Spirit, and it will take on the characteristics of the Holy Spirit which are given to us here. So take some time today and ask the Spirit to reveal any sin you have not repented of, repent of it, and move into the light where God is and where we can have fellowship with Him.

Next time we will look at 1 John 1:8-10 and what it means to confess our sins.

The Fig Tree

And seeing a fig tree by the wayside, he went to it and found nothing on it but only leaves. And he said to it, “May no fruit ever come from you again!” And the fig tree withered at once.

Matthew 19:21 (ESV)

This has been one of the most misunderstood verses in the Bible. What was Jesus doing here, and what was He trying to tell us by cursing a fig tree? In this chapter we are shown three things about the nation of Israel, and each of these is also a warning to us today, so let's look at them and see what we can learn.

The first thing we see in chapter 21 is what is called the triumphal entry of Jesus into Jerusalem. What we see here is a nation of people who are only interested in what Jesus can do for them physically; they want to make Him their king, but they don't want Him to be Lord. This could apply to many in the church today; they are only interested in staying out of hell, but they have no real desire to do His will.

Next we see the cleansing of the temple. In these verses Jesus is showing the Jewish people that even though they are religious outwardly they are corrupt on the inside. This is the second time during His ministry that Jesus has cleansed the temple which indicates that the leaders hearts never changed. This is a problem for us today as well. Jesus told Nicodemus that a person cannot enter the kingdom of God unless they are born again (John 3) and this still applies to us today. We have many in our churches who are religious, but that have never been born again.

This brings us to the fig tree. Jesus is now going to tie all of these events together in one picture so we can easily remember them. He walks up to a fig tree, sees that it has no fruit; He curses it and it withers. So again I ask, what is this showing us? Well, in this instance the tree represents the nation of Israel, and the leaves but no fruit on the tree represent that they are outwardly religious, but that inwardly there has not been a change (there is no fruit). By cursing the tree and the tree withering, Jesus is showing the nation that their unbelief has brought about their judgment. Because they have leaves (an outward show of religion) but no fruitfulness they are judged by Jesus, and isn't this the same thing we are warned about in Matthew 7:21 when Jesus says that not everyone who claims to be a Christian will enter heaven, but only those who do the will of His Father?

Possessions, Or Eternal Life

Matthew 19:21 "If you want to be perfect," Jesus said to him, "go sell your belongings and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven. Then come, follow Me."

The man we know as the Rich Young Ruler has come and ask Jesus what he needs to do to to have eternal life. If someone came to you and asked you that question what would you say? I bet it would not be what Jesus said here. First Jesus told this young man that if he wanted to receive eternal life he should keep the commandments. The young man responded, "Which commandments?" Jesus replied, "do not murder, do not steal, do not commit adultery, love you neighbor as yourself." The young ruler then replied that he had done all of this since his youth and asked what else he was lacking. So Jesus told him; if you want eternal life, sell what you have, give the money you make to the poor, and follow Me. And the man went away grieving because he had a lot of stuff.

So what we see here is Jesus sending away a man who genuinely wanted eternal life. The problem though was that he was not willing to give up his possessions and could not admit that he was a sinner. This man had made an idol out of his possessions; they had taken the place of God for him, and when Jesus confronted him on it he chose his stuff over eternal life.

The other thing that Jesus did was tell him that he needed to keep the commandments, which he said he had done since his youth. Jesus has been making the point throughout His ministry that keeping the commandments goes beyond mere outward obedience (see Matthew 5-7) and that even if a person keeps the law perfectly on the outside, we are all still guilty on the inside. The response of this man should have been, "I am a sinful man and I have broken these commandments in my heart, how then can I be saved?" But the mans pride would not allow him to do this.

The last thing that Jesus said was "follow Me." It is not enough to say that you believe in Jesus, or to just say a prayer asking Jesus to come into your heart, we need to follow Him. That means that we need to know Him, to study His word, and do what He did. This does not mean that we are earning our salvation, we could never do that - Jesus did it all. But if we are truly born again we will want to do everything that we can to please our Lord.

The Eternal Security Of The Believer

The Security of the Believer is a highly debated issue in the Church today; there are those who teach that it is possible for a person who has experienced that forgiveness of God to then have it taken away, and there are others who say that once a person has come to Christ it doesn’t matter how they live, their salvation is secure. What I would like to do here is to show you, from Scripture, why I believe that a Person who has genuinely repented from their sin and trusted Jesus as their only hope of salvation is eternally secure in that salvation.

In order to do this I am going to show you a series of promises of God that would be nullified if salvation could be lost. But before I do that I want to make it clear that just because a person has prayed a prayer, walked an aisle, signed a card, raised their hand, or asked Jesus into their heart, there is no guarantee that they are a redeemed child of God. The Bible teaches that for genuine salvation to occur a person must repent of their sin (see Luke 13:3, 5) and turn to Jesus (see Acts 4:12); if either of these two things has not happened salvation has not occurred.

Now, let’s take a look at several promises of God that would be nullified if salvation, could be lost.

If my salvation can be lost:

1. God is not able to perform what He promised.
and being fully assured that what God had promised, He was able also to perform.

Romans 4:21

2. God is not able to present me blameless.
Now may the God of peace Himself sanctify you entirely; and may your spirit and soul and body be preserved complete, without blame at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ. Faithful is He who calls you, and He also will bring it to pass.

1 Thessalonians 5:23-24

3. God did not predestine me unto the adoption as a child.
He predestined us to adoption as sons through Jesus Christ to Himself, according to the kind intention of His will,

Ephesians 1:5

4. There is condemnation for me even though I am in Christ Jesus.
Therefore there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus.

Romans 8:1

5. The Holy Spirit will take back His deposit.
In Him, you also, after listening to the message of truth, the gospel of your salvation—having also believed, you were sealed in Him with the Holy Spirit of promise, who is given as a pledge of our inheritance, with a view to the redemption of God’s own possession, to the praise of His glory.

Ephesians 1:13-14

6. The Holy Spirit did not seal me.
who also sealed us and gave us the Spirit in our hearts as a pledge.

2 Corinthians 1:22

7. Jesus will leave and forsake me.
for He Himself has said, “I will never desert you, nor will I ever forsake you,”

Hebrews 13:5b

8. Jesus is not able to keep me from falling.
Now to Him who is able to keep you from stumbling, and to make you stand in the presence of His glory blameless with great joy,

Jude 24

9. He will not preserve me forever.
For the Lord loves justice And does not forsake His godly ones; They are preserved forever, But the descendants of the wicked will be cut off.

Psalm 37:28

10. God did not cleanse me from all unrighteousness.
If we confess our sins, He is faithful and righteous to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.

1 John 1:9

11. God’s foundation is not sure.
12. God does not know those who are His
Nevertheless, the firm foundation of God stands, having this seal, “The Lord knows those who are His,”

2 Timothy 2:19a

13. Jesus will cast me out.
“All that the Father gives Me will come to Me, and the one who comes to Me I will certainly not cast out.”

John 6:37

14. Jesus did not perfect me.
For by one offering He has perfected for all time those who are sanctified.

Hebrews 10:14

15. God will not complete the work He began in me.
For I am confident of this very thing, that He who began a good work in you will perfect it until the day of Christ Jesus.

Philippians 1:6

16. My life is not hide with Christ in God.
For you have died and your life is hidden with Christ in God.

Colossians 3:3

17. I have not passed from death unto life.
“Truly, truly, I say to you, he who hears My word, and believes Him who sent Me, has eternal life, and does not come into judgment, but has passed out of death into life.”

John 5:24

18. God is not able to keep that which I have committed to Him.
For this reason I also suffer these things, but I am not ashamed; for I know whom I have believed and I am convinced that He is able to guard what I have entrusted to Him until that day.

2 Timothy 1:12

19. I am not at peace with God.
Therefore, having been justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ,

Romans 5:1

20. I can be plucked out of God’s hand.
and I give eternal life to them, and they will never perish; and no one will snatch them out of My hand. “My Father, who has given them to Me, is greater than all; and no one is able to snatch them out of the Father’s hand.

John 10:28-29

21. I can be separated from the love of God.
For I am convinced that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor things present, nor things to come, nor powers, nor height, nor depth, nor any other created thing, will be able to separate us from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord.

Romans 8:38-39

22. God’s righteousness is not everlasting.
Your righteousness is an everlasting righteousness,

Psalm 119:142a

23. God’s love is not everlasting.
“I have loved you with an everlasting love; Therefore I have drawn you with lovingkindness.”

Jeremiah 31:3b

24. God did not keep His promise.
In the same way God, desiring even more to show to the heirs of the promise the unchangeableness of His purpose, interposed with an oath, so that by two unchangeable things in which it is impossible for God to lie, we who have taken refuge would have strong encouragement to take hold of the hope set before us.

Hebrews 6:17-18

25. God is a liar.
Paul, a bond-servant of God and an apostle of Jesus Christ, for the faith of those chosen of God and the knowledge of the truth which is according to godliness, in the hope of eternal life, which God, who cannot lie, promised long ages ago,

Titus 1:1-2

The Assurance of Salvation

The following is from the weekly devotional "Desiring God" by John Piper. I thought this was too good not to share, and it is my prayer that through this you would be able to walk in the assurance of salvation God that wants us to have.

Helping People Have the Assurance of Salvation
John Piper

Full assurance is God's will for us. "And we desire that each one of you show the same diligence so as to realize the full assurance of hope until the end" Hebrews 6:11.

Assurance is partially sustained by objective evidences for Christian truth. "To [his apostles] He also presented Himself alive after His suffering, by many convincing proofs, appearing to them over a period of forty days" Acts 1:3.

Assurance cannot neglect the painful work of self-examination. "Test yourselves to see if you are in the faith; examine yourselves! Or do you not recognize this about yourselves, that Jesus Christ is in you - unless indeed you fail the test?" 2 Corinthians 13:5.

Assurance will diminish in the presence of concealed sin. "When I kept silent about my sin, my body wasted away through my groaning all day long" Psalm 32:3.

Assurance comes from hearing the Word of Christ. "So faith comes from hearing, and hearing by the word of Christ" Romans 10:17.

"These have been written so that you may believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God; and that believing you may have life in His name" John 20:31.

Repeated focusing on the sufficiency of the cross of Christ is crucial for assurance. "Since we have a great priest over the house of God, let us draw near with a sincere heart in full assurance of faith" Hebrews 10:21-22.

We must pray for eyes to see the truths that sustain assurance. "I pray that the eyes of your heart may be enlightened, so that you will know what is the hope of His calling, what are the riches of the glory of His inheritance in the saints, and what is the surpassing greatness of His power toward us who believe" Ephesians 1:18-19.

Assurance is not easily maintained in personal isolation. "And the eye cannot say to the hand, 'I have no need of you'" 1 Corinthians 12:21.

Assurance is not destroyed by God's displeasure and discipline. "Do not rejoice over me, O my enemy. Though I fall I will rise; though I dwell in darkness, the LORD is a light for me. I will bear the indignation of the LORD because I have sinned against Him, until He pleads my case and executes justice for me. He will bring me out to the light, and I will see His righteousness" Micah 7:8-9.

We must often wait patiently for the return of assurance. "I waited patiently for the LORD; and He inclined to me and heard my cry. He brought me up out of the pit of destruction, out of the miry clay, and He set my feet upon a rock making my footsteps firm. He put a new song in my mouth, a song of praise to our God; many will see and fear and will trust in the LORD" Psalm 40:1-3.

Assurance is a fight to the day we die. "Fight the good fight of faith; take hold of the eternal life" 1 Timothy 6:12.

"I have fought the good fight, I have finished the course, I have kept the faith" 2 Timothy 4:7.
Assurance is finally a gift of the Spirit. "The Spirit Himself testifies with our spirit that we are children of God" Romans 8:16.

"The one who believes in the Son of God has the testimony in himself... And the testimony is this, that God has given us eternal life, and this life is in His Son" 1 John 5:10-11.