“And I give unto them eternal life; and they shall never perish, neither shall any man pluck them out of my hand.” (John 10:28)
Is the threat real or perceived?
There are two factions in the world of what I will term here, Christendom, those who believe that salvation can be lost or removed from them because of either a particular sin or continuing disobedience. Within this group, though they are not of God, the Roman Catholic cult has propagated the deception that life can be lived in sin, though they also have a structured classification for them, a hierarchy if you will of sins, supposing that all men sin and so grace, the grace of God through faith in the Lord Jesus Christ is not sufficient within itself for a man’s salvation, and thus the need to invent the lie of purgatory denying the truth of 2nd Corinthians 5:8, “We are confident, I say, and willing rather to be absent from the body, and to be present with the Lord.”
And many other verses of the Scriptures in this regard.
But within what I will call here the Evangelical community there also rests this fear, that one can sin so badly, that corruption, either in actions of the flesh or the thoughts of the mind can cause the Almighty to rescind His “offer,” that one He has chosen for Himself has proven in some way, shape or form that they are no longer worthy of eternal life.
“There is therefore now no condemnation to them which are in Christ Jesus, who walk not after the flesh, but after the Spirit.” (Romans 8:1)
These believe that they will no longer be hid in Christ, but that they will be cast away, exposed to the eternal wrath of God in the torment of the Lake of Fire, that the righteousness of God that they are in Christ can be removed.
Here is what neither of these groups understand, that it is His righteousness, that it is by His grace that we are saved.
If you belong to one of these factions, I would ask you this, if indeed you believe the truth of Ephesians 2:8-9, “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.” that no work of any sort is required for your salvation, that it is a gift of God, then what makes you believe that some work of your own would cause your Father in heaven to remove that most precious of gifts from you?
“But he that shall blaspheme against the Holy Ghost hath never forgiveness, but is in danger of eternal damnation:” (Mark 3:29)
This is the verse most often presented by those who belong to that group, but it is misinterpreted completely by them. Are there certain curse words, certain thoughts, actions or deeds that can be fulfilled by one who has truly been born-again in relation to this verse? No, it is the denial that Jesus Christ is God, that God is the Holy Spirit, that the Holy Spirit is Jesus Christ, and any who do that are not saved in the first place.
It is attributing the works of the Lord Jesus Christ to Satan, and only fools who do not understand grace would do so.
To deny the sufficiency of the sacrifice of the shed blood of the Lord Jesus Christ as all that was necessary, as all the Almighty required is to live in the fear of losing or having one’s salvation removed, and those that do so do not serve Him willingly and with a loving heart, but out of a fear that they cannot live up to the expectations of the Almighty.
If you have been saved by grace through faith, there are no expectations placed upon you, there is nothing, not one single thing that you can do to mingle with that precious blood, and there is not one sin that the Almighty will see as so grievous that He will remove the covering of that blood from you.
A willing and thankful heart because of His grace, or a fearful one because of the lack of faith in that grace, where are you?
