========================================================================
  GOING ON IS FOR THOSE WHO HAVE BEGUN
  by A.W. Tozer
========================================================================

Summary: The Christian life requires persistence and faith, as giving up
can lead to spiritual ruin.

Topics: "Spiritual Growth", "Persistence in Faith"
Scripture References: John 15:5, Romans 12:2, 1 Corinthians 9:24-27, Galatians 6:9, Ephesians 2:8-9, Philippians 1:6, 2 Timothy 4:7-8, Hebrews 3:14, Hebrews 10:35, 2 Peter 3:18

------------------------------------------------------------------------
DESCRIPTION
------------------------------------------------------------------------

A.W. Tozer emphasizes the necessity of persistence in the Christian
journey, urging believers to hold firmly to their initial confidence in
Christ despite challenges. He warns against the liberal perspective that
encourages unrenewed sinners to continue in the faith without true
spiritual life, which can lead to spiritual peril. Tozer stresses that
genuine growth and development in faith can only occur when a true
saving act of God has taken place in a person's heart, highlighting the
importance of a real transformation for a fruitful Christian life.

------------------------------------------------------------------------
CONTENT
------------------------------------------------------------------------

In the Hebrew epistle a great deal is said about the need for
persistence in the Christian life. The converts were losing heart and
the man of God sought to encourage them to "hold firmly till the end the
confidence we had at first" (3:14). "So do not throw away your
confidence," he exhorts them, "it will be richly rewarded" (10:35).

This concept of the Christian life as a journey to be taken, a growth to
be attained, is being lost to us through two widely separated modern
errors.

The first is that of the liberal, who cheerfully advises the unrenewed
sinner to continue in the Christian life, overlooking the important fact
that he has no life in which to continue. Where there has been no
impartation of life to the soul of the man, growth and development are
impossible. To assume that a saving act of God has been done in a man's
heart when in reality no such act has been done is to set the soul of
the man in mortal jeopardy and all but guarantee his final ruin.

========================================================================
Source: https://sermonindex.net/speakers/aw-tozer/going-on-is-for-those-who-have-begun/
========================================================================