You are secure

Good morning everyone,

Our theme for this month: “Salvation past, present, and future”

Our Bible verse for today: “Truly I tell you, anyone who hears my word and believes in him who sent me has eternal life and will not come under judgement but has passed from death to life.” John 5:24 (CSB)

Our thought for today: “You are secure”

John 5:24 is another passage in the body of New Testament literature which teaches about the permanence of salvation. Here we read Jesus assuring us that if you have made the decision to place your faith in Him for the forgiveness of your sins, then you have experienced the new birth He taught about in John 3:3. Such a person has been “born again” spiritually. They have passed from death to life and now will never come under judgment for their sins. And the important thing about being born (physically or spiritually) is that once you have been born you cannot be unborn. Once it happens it is a done deal.

John 3:16 is also a familiar verse for most Christians and it is a continuation of Jesus’ teaching about being born again. In John 3:3 He said that you must be born again. In John 3:16 He said that anyone who believes in Him shall not perish but has eternal life. However, the eternal life Jesus referred to is not something that begins when you get to heaven, it begins the moment you place your faith in Him. It begins in the moment of being “born again” and it lasts forever. Eternal life is by definition “eternal,” it is life that does not end.

In this discussion of the security of the believer we haven’t come close to covering all that the New Testament teaches about it, but I think we have covered enough to make the point.

To summarize what we have learned: God loves you with unconditional love that does not end. Despite your sin, His deepest desire is for you to spend eternity with Him in heaven. So, He sent Jesus to earth to pay the penalty for your sins so that through faith in Him, your sins can be forgiven and it is therefore possible for you to go to heaven. Then God sent the Holy Spirit to convict you of your need to be forgiven and to draw you to faith in Christ. All throughout your life the Holy Spirit works quietly behind the scenes creating situations and opportunities for you to come to Christ.

So, as you can see, God has gone to extraordinary lengths to provide for your salvation – it’s the deepest desire of His heart and He has worked very hard to bring it about (short of making the decision for you). Therefore, once He finally has you, there’s no way He’s going to let you go. You are His and Satan cannot have you back. That’s what Jesus meant in John 10:29 when He said that no one will snatch you out of His hand. Now that you are His, He will not give you up. That’s the assurance we have. Once saved, always saved. That’s salvation as a past event. It has already happened.

Tomorrow we will begin to think about the implications of salvation in the present. What should the fact of salvation look like in the life of the Christian?

God bless,
Pastor Jim

(If you like what you are reading in these daily devotionals, and if you would like more content from Oak Hill Baptist Church, join us on Sundays at 10:00, in-person if you are nearby or, if you are geographically distant or if you just can’t make it, online at www.YouTube.com/@oakhillbaptistcrossville

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