Good Morning Everyone,
Our theme for this month: Doubts”
Our Bible verse for today: “Therefore, no condemnation now exists for those in Christ Jesus, because the Spirit’s law of life in Christ Jesus has set you free from the law of sin and death.” Romans 8:1-2 (HCSB)
Our thought for today: Once saved, always saved.”
One of the most common doubts many Christians wrestle with at one time or another is whether or not they are truly saved; and also, whether or not they can lose their salvation.
Personally I believe strongly in the doctrine known as “The Security of the Believer”. This doctrine holds that once you have placed your faith in Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins, you are saved and nothing can ever change that. Jesus paid too high a price for your eternal soul to allow you to be lost again once you are saved. And the Holy Spirit works constantly, all throughout a person’s life, to draw that person to Jesus. That being the case, after all that effort on God’s part, once you are saved He’s not going to let you go. There is a solid body of Scripture that supports that belief and I want to share just a few of those passages with you this morning.
First, you need to know that it doesn’t take a lot of faith in order to be saved. Even a little bit of faith is a very powerful thing. “If you have faith the size of a mustard seed …” Jesus said in Luke 17:6. Paul wrote in Romans 10:9: “If you confess with your mouth, ‘Jesus is Lord,’ and believe in your heart that God raised Him from the dead, you will be saved.” And then of course John 3:16: “For God loved the world in this way: He gave His One and Only Son, so that everyone who believes in Him will not perish but have eternal life.”
Salvation occurs in a moment of time when you make a heartfelt, sincere, and intentional decision to turn to Jesus for the forgiveness of your sins.
Second, once you are saved you are saved for all time. Jesus will never let you go. “I give them eternal life, and they will never perish –ever! No one will snatch them out of My hand.” (John 10:28).
“For I am persuaded that not even death or life, angels or rulers, things present or things to come, hostile powers, height or depth, or any other created thing will have the power to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord!” (Romans 8:38-39). (Please note that in this verse Paul effectively stated that there is nothing in the physical creation or in the spiritual dimension that can ever separate us from God once we belong to Him through Christ Jesus.)
“God has given us eternal life, and this life is in His Son. The one who has the Son has life. The one who doesn’t have the Son of God does not have life. I have written these things to you who believe in the name of the Son of God so that you may know that you have eternal life.” (1 John 5:11-13).
Yes, even in John’s day there were those who doubted their salvation. So John wrote this letter to reassure them that if they have placed their faith in God’s Son Jesus, they are saved for all eternity. “I have written these things … so that you may “know” that you have eternal life.”
In this devotional I’ve cited a handful of the most convincing passages which clearly teach about the eternal security of the believer. There are others, but the point is that there is a solid body of Scripture which supports this important doctrine.
Like John in 1 John 5:11-13, I have written you these things this morning “… so that you may know that you have eternal life.” If you have placed your faith in Jesus for the forgiveness of your sins, you should never again doubt your salvation.
God Bless,
Pastor Jim
Oak Hill Baptist Church 