06.20. Signed, Sealed, Delivered, 'm His

Signed, Sealed, Delivered, I’m His

1 John 5:13

1 John 5:13 "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"

Many people have recorded and sang the love song, Signed, Sealed, Delivered. It says I’m yours. May I say when it comes to our eternal security and how definite we can know that we are escaping hell we can say "I’m His." The question is "are we saved forever?" Can a Christian lose his or her salvation? Can we know that we are saved forever now and not have to wait until death to find out? In this study we are not going to attempt to deal with assurance of Salvation but insurance of Salvation. We might call this SOULical Security. In the history of the church there developed two opposing systems of interpretation of salvation and eternal security of the believers. One, known as Calvinism, supports eternal security. Second, known as Arminianism, opposes eternal security. These two systems got their names from the man who was best known in the past for this doctrine, John Calvin, and Jacob Arminius. The Calvinist position is basically a position that emphasizes the sovereignty of God while the Armenian position stresses the freewill of man. When we talk about Eternal Security it is called by various names. Some call it the perseverance of the saints, some call it eternal security, God simply calls it eternal life. John 10:28 And I give unto them eternal life; and they shall never perish, neither shall any man pluck them out of my hand. I would be very narrow and bias to state that the Armininist position does not have Scripture to support their point of view. There is a lot of scripture that can be understood to teach their position. On the other hand I believe that the position of eternal security is the correct interpretation of the Scriptures when taken as a whole. I wish to give you a few reasons for this.

I- Our Salvation is Based On What Christ Did.

    We must begin our discussion of this subject back at the beginning of our salvation. Was our salvation the result of what we did or what God did. Like the old black man said, "I did my part God did His part. I did the sinning and God did the saving."

What if I told you I knew I had salvation because I had already died on the cross and had already been buried and had already been raised from the dead. According to Romans 6:1-23 I have already been, in Christ. Romans 6:3-7 "Know ye not, that so many of us as were baptized into Jesus Christ were baptized into his death? ⁴Therefore we are buried with him by baptism into death: that like as Christ was raised up from the dead by the glory of the Father, even so we also should walk in newness of life. ⁵For if we have been planted together in the likeness of his death, we shall be also in the likeness of his resurrection: ⁶Knowing this, that our old man is crucified with him, that the body of sin might be destroyed, that henceforth we should not serve sin. ⁷For he that is dead is freed from sin."

    There is a law that is known as the "Law of Double Jeopardy." This simply means that you cannot be tried twice for the same crime Isaiah 53:5; Isaiah 53:11 "But he was wounded for our transgressions, he was bruised for our iniquities: the chastisement of our peace was upon him; and with his stripes we are healed…¹¹ He shall see of the travail of his soul, and shall be satisfied: by his knowledge shall my righteous servant justify many; for he shall bear their iniquities." This plainly states that Christ paid the penalty for the sin of men. By accepting Him as my Savior, we agree to allow Him to pay for my sins. If God requires this sin be paid for again He will have broken the law of Double Jeopardy. My sin was already judged and paid on Calvary. So we know we are eternally secure because of what Christ did not on what we did or will do.

II- Public Defender or Public Prosecutor?

Romans 8:31 "If God be for us, who can be against us?" My friend it is impossible for a man to be both defender and prosecutor at the same time. Romans 8:34 says, "Who is he that condemneth? It is Christ that died, yea rather, that is risen from again, who is even at the right hand of God, who also maketh intercession for us."

    There is a Public Defender who has never lost a case-and never will. This verse states that the one who would condemn us (the Prosecutor) is the one who is justifying us even now and He cannot do both. Who can find us guilty after God has declared us innocent? No one my friend. Romans 5:8 "But God commendeth his love toward us, in that, while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us."

III- The Cases of False Salvation

1 John 2:19-22 "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. ²⁰ But ye have an unction from the Holy One, and ye know all things. ²¹ I have not written unto you because ye know not the truth, but because ye know it, and that no lie is of the truth. ²² Who is a liar but he that denieth that Jesus is the Christ? He is antichrist, that denieth the Father and the Son."

Matthew 7:22-23 "Many will say to me in that day, Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in thy name? and in thy name have cast out devils? and in thy name done many wonderful works? ²³And then will I profess unto them, I never knew you: depart from me, ye that work iniquity."

There are those who seem to be genuine Christian and in fact are not know of God.

What about the person who repeatedly renounces Christ and embraces some other basis for salvation? We must assume that such an individual was never saved in the first place. Notice the following Scriptures that clearly teach that those are in Christ have faith that will endure until the end Php 1:6 "Being confident of this very thing, that he which hath begun a good work in you will perform it until the day of Jesus Christ."

1 Timothy 1:12 "And I thank Christ Jesus our Lord, who hath enabled me, for that he counted me faithful, putting me into the ministry."

Many when they get to heaven will be surprised at who made it and who didn’t. We need to understand that salvation is not walking the church isle on Sunday. It is not belonging to a church as a member. It is not even praying an insincere prayer. Salvation is trusting Christ in you heart for salvation. It is not within any mans ability to know for sure about anyone’s salvation but their own.

IV- A Word About Assurance of the Spirit of God-

    We know that the Holy Spirit is the one who regenerates the believer John 3:3-7 "Jesus answered and said unto him, Verily, verily, I say unto thee, Except a man be born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God. ⁴ Nicodemus saith unto him, How can a man be born when he is old? can he enter the second time into his mother’s womb, and be born? ⁵ Jesus answered, Verily, verily, I say unto thee, Except a man be born of water and of the Spirit, he cannot enter into the kingdom of God. ⁶ That which is born of the flesh is flesh; and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit. ⁷ Marvel not that I said unto thee, Ye must be born again."

We also know that he baptizes the believer into the body of Christ. Romans 6:3 "Know ye not, that so many of us as were baptized into Jesus Christ were baptized into his death?" We know that He indwells us as believers. John 7:37-39 In the last day, that great day of the feast, Jesus stood and cried, saying, If any man thirst, let him come unto me, and drink. ³⁸He that believeth on me, as the scripture hath said, out of his belly shall flow rivers of living water. ³⁹(But this spake he of the Spirit, which they that believe on him should receive: for the Holy Ghost was not yet given; because that Jesus was not yet glorified.)"

Still my friend the greatest thing that He does is seals us until the day of redemption. Ephesians 4:30 "And grieve not the holy Spirit of God, whereby ye are sealed unto the day of redemption." This is one of the strongest Eternal Security verses in the Bible.

V- The Unpardonable Sin and the Sin Unto Death?

    There are portions of Scripture that has caused a great deal of concern to Christians and non Christians alike. First, Matthew 12:31-32 "Wherefore I say unto you, All manner of sin and blasphemy shall be forgiven unto men: but the blasphemy against the Holy Ghost shall not be forgiven unto men. ³²And whosoever speaketh a word against the Son of man, it shall be forgiven him: but whosoever speaketh against the Holy Ghost, it shall not be forgiven him, neither in this world, neither in the world to come."

Mark 3:28-29 "Verily I say unto you, All sins shall be forgiven unto the sons of men, and blasphemies wherewith soever they shall blaspheme: ²⁹But he that shall blaspheme against the Holy Ghost hath never forgiveness, but is in danger of eternal damnation." Can a Christian commit an unpardonable sin that will separate him from salvation? Can a non Christian commit a sin that prevents him every being saved? We must set this Scripture in context to understand this sin cannot be committed today. Christ had just healed a blind man possessed by a devil. The Pharisees accused the work He did by the Holy Spirit was work done by the Devil.

Most scholars today say that this sin cannot be committed during our time because Christ is not walking among us and doing works that could be attributed to the Devil instead of the Holy Spirit. We however know when a lost man rejects the work of the Holy Spirit as He reveals Christ to him is guilty of a sin that sends him to hell. This sin is the sin of rejecting Christ. We also must not confuse the unpardonable sin with the sin unto death. It is possible for a Christian to allow his or her life to become so carnal and unproductive that God takes them home early by physical death. One example of this sin is Acts 5:1-11 The story of Ananias and Sapphira. We might ask does this sin unto death rob someone of their salvation. To answer this allow me to give another Scripture reference in which someone was in danger of committing this sin. 1 Corinthians 5:1-5 records a story of a man in the church who was engaged in a relationship with "His fathers wife." At best this was a relationship with his stepmother. Paul tells the Corinthians to, "Deliver such an one unto Satan for the destruction of the flesh, that the spirit may be saved in the day of the Lord." (My underline for emphasis.) To my mind there is no greater eternal security verses in Scripture. This man, committing a sin not even mentioned by the lost world, thought he might die physically his soul would be saved.

VI- So what Can I lose?

There is a lot that as Christian that we can lose. We can lose conscious fellowship with God. We can lose the approval of God. We can lose our influence for God. Our love, joy, peace, patience, self-control. We certainly can lose our reward. We can lose everything that makes life meaningful and worth living. FOR PERSONAL THOUGHT AND STUDY:

Dr. Robert Gromacki lists twelve things by which one may test his or her salvation experience. I trust you will use this in personal study to review your salvation experience.

A.First, have you enjoyed spiritual fellowship with God, with Christ, and with fellow believers? (1 John 1:3,4 ) B. Second, do you have a sensitivity to sin? (1 John 1:5-10 ) C. Third, are you basically obedient to the commandments of Scripture? (1 John 2:3-5 ) D.Fourth, what is your attitude toward the world and its values? (1 John 2:15 )

E.Fifth, do you love Jesus Christ and look forward to His coming? (2 Timothy 4:8 ; 1 John 3:2-3 ) F.Sixth, do you practice sin less now that you have professed faith in Christ? (1 John 3:5-6 ) G.Seventh, do you love other believers? (1 John 3:14 ) H.Eighth, have you experienced answered prayer? (1 John 3:22 ; 5:14,15) I.Ninth, do you have the inner witness of the Holy Spirit? (Romans 8:15, 16; 1 John 4:13 )

J.Tenth, do you have the ability to discern between spiritual truth and error? ( John 10:3-5, 27; 1 John 4:1-6 ) K.Eleventh, do you believe the basic doctrine of the faith? (1 John 5:1 )

L.Twelfth, have you experienced persecution for you Christian position? (John 15:18-20 ; Php 1:28 ) (Salvation is Forever, pp. 177-182)