Jesus Does The Saving, Not Me
When a fireman breaks into a burning building and picks up an unconscious body off the floor of a smoke filled room, does he expect anything from that powerless body in order to get them both to safety?
Does a good shepherd take full responsibility to keep his sheep safe or does he expect the sheep to keep themselves safe?
Jesus is called "The Savior" for a reason! Once He saves you, you can never be lost again. Jesus didn't pave the way to make it easier for us to save ourselves. He went all the way and saved us.
You'll eventually find people online and even some pastors teaching that a person can lose their salvation if they do this or that or if they don't do this or that, but it's not Biblical. We are not co-saviors with Jesus, He is THE Savior and the very word "saved" means "saved". It's done. The very tense of the word means it's already happened.
Once you're born again, you cannot become unborn. Paul says in his letter to the Ephesians that we are "sealed with the Holy Spirit" which means, it's permanent. And I'm so glad. If it were possible for any of us to lose our salvation, we'd probably find a way to lose it. I know I would have countless times.
"But Josh!!! But Josh!!! Isn't that a license to sin?"
Of course not. Our relationship with God and our relationship with sin is permanently changed after we're saved. When we accepted the Blood of Jesus as payment for our sins, we were declared NOT GUILTY and all of the divine charges of our life's sin (past, present, future) were completely paid for by Jesus Himself.
Now that the trial is over, we've been adopted as God's children. So our post-salvation sins are dealt with parentally, not judicially.
Sometimes we'll get a talking to, other times a time-out, other times we'll be forced to learn a painful but valuable life lesson and other times we'll get a divine spanking that really hurts. If we get really outta hand, He might call us home early. But we will never lose our salvation. We will always be His children and Heaven will always be our home.
"But Josh!!! But Josh!!! What about works!!!"
The only work we have to do is to "believe in the One Whom the Father has sent" according to Jesus in John 6:29. After we're saved, the Holy Spirit through our faith will produce more works in time BECAUSE we are saved, not in order to keep us saved.
I had a fellow debate me at an all-night restaurant until 4:30 in the morning about whether or not salvation could be lost. I was 20 or 21 years old at the time and it was my first encounter with such thinking and I couldn't believe it.
He never understood that it's Jesus who does the saving, not us. We don't contribute anything to our righteousness. Just as Jesus didn't contribute to my sin when he took them upon Himself on the cross, I don't contribute to His righteousness when I take upon myself His righteousness. It's a gift paid for by His blood. I don't bring anything to the table. He saved me. Period. I don't have to do anything else.
All that we do after we're saved is a free will offering of love BECAUSE we are saved, not to keep us saved. So yeah, it's a thing. You'll hear people argue about this. But Jesus said He gave us ETERNAL life. How eternal could it be if we could lose it?
Does a good shepherd take full responsibility to keep his sheep safe or does he expect the sheep to keep themselves safe?
Jesus is called "The Savior" for a reason! Once He saves you, you can never be lost again. Jesus didn't pave the way to make it easier for us to save ourselves. He went all the way and saved us.
You'll eventually find people online and even some pastors teaching that a person can lose their salvation if they do this or that or if they don't do this or that, but it's not Biblical. We are not co-saviors with Jesus, He is THE Savior and the very word "saved" means "saved". It's done. The very tense of the word means it's already happened.
Once you're born again, you cannot become unborn. Paul says in his letter to the Ephesians that we are "sealed with the Holy Spirit" which means, it's permanent. And I'm so glad. If it were possible for any of us to lose our salvation, we'd probably find a way to lose it. I know I would have countless times.
"But Josh!!! But Josh!!! Isn't that a license to sin?"
Of course not. Our relationship with God and our relationship with sin is permanently changed after we're saved. When we accepted the Blood of Jesus as payment for our sins, we were declared NOT GUILTY and all of the divine charges of our life's sin (past, present, future) were completely paid for by Jesus Himself.
Now that the trial is over, we've been adopted as God's children. So our post-salvation sins are dealt with parentally, not judicially.
Sometimes we'll get a talking to, other times a time-out, other times we'll be forced to learn a painful but valuable life lesson and other times we'll get a divine spanking that really hurts. If we get really outta hand, He might call us home early. But we will never lose our salvation. We will always be His children and Heaven will always be our home.
"But Josh!!! But Josh!!! What about works!!!"
The only work we have to do is to "believe in the One Whom the Father has sent" according to Jesus in John 6:29. After we're saved, the Holy Spirit through our faith will produce more works in time BECAUSE we are saved, not in order to keep us saved.
I had a fellow debate me at an all-night restaurant until 4:30 in the morning about whether or not salvation could be lost. I was 20 or 21 years old at the time and it was my first encounter with such thinking and I couldn't believe it.
He never understood that it's Jesus who does the saving, not us. We don't contribute anything to our righteousness. Just as Jesus didn't contribute to my sin when he took them upon Himself on the cross, I don't contribute to His righteousness when I take upon myself His righteousness. It's a gift paid for by His blood. I don't bring anything to the table. He saved me. Period. I don't have to do anything else.
All that we do after we're saved is a free will offering of love BECAUSE we are saved, not to keep us saved. So yeah, it's a thing. You'll hear people argue about this. But Jesus said He gave us ETERNAL life. How eternal could it be if we could lose it?
Getting Into Heaven Isn't Hard
Salvation Isn't Based On Performance
