Cherish your Salvation

Can Christians lose their Salvation?

Can we misplace it? No, I don’t think we can.
Can we reject it, forsake it or discard it?
Yes I believe a Christian can choose to reject or forsake God and God’s Salvation.

We make choices and decisions throughout our lives. Through many of these decision points or events, we are faced with 2 choices mainly, God or the World (Which includes ourselves and the lies of the enemy).
What happens when we don’t choose god? What does it mean when we choose God?
When we choose God, we draw closer to him. When we don’t choose God, we sin, we grieve the Holy Spirit. I believe it is that simple, not always easy but it is that simple.

It is possible that if we don’t choose God day after day, we can end up losing our Salvation, even if we were once saved and once accepted Jesus Christ as our Lord and Saviour.

One passage that speaks directly to this question is Hebrews 10:26-31.
26 If we deliberately keep on sinning after we have received the knowledge of the truth, no sacrifice for sins is left, 27 but only a fearful expectation of judgment and of raging fire that will consume the enemies of God. 28 Anyone who rejected the law of Moses died without mercy on the testimony of two or three witnesses. 29 How much more severely do you think someone deserves to be punished who has trampled the Son of God underfoot, who has treated as an unholy thing the blood of the covenant that sanctified them, and who has insulted the Spirit of grace? 30 For we know him who said, “It is mine to avenge; I will repay,” and again, “The Lord will judge his people.” 31 It is a dreadful thing to fall into the hands of the living God.

Salvation is a precious gift from the Living God and should be treated as such and never be taken for granted.

For if we go on sinning deliberately after receiving the knowledge of the truth, there no longer remains a sacrifice for sins. A sobering thought. It is my belief that a Christian can give up, reject or discard his or her salvation, especially over time.

I am not saying that any child of God who sins gives up their salvation. Every Christian sins. I am saying however, that an unrepentant sinner can forsake his/her salvation, even if he or she accepted Christ into his or her heart once before.

An example is when someone has wronged you and you are unable to or find it difficult to forgive that person. I firmly believe that how you deal with it and dealing with it together with God is key. An attitude of “Dear God, I am unable to forgive this person right now, please deal with it for me as I lay this on the altar.” vs “I know/don’t care what the bible says, I am not going to forgive this person”. A big difference between the two examples. The latter example is a one of being unrepentant.

Or an adulterous person with an attitude of "I am going to continue with this" while being a Christian and not dealing with it is another example of being unrepentant.

James 1:15 (NIV)
15 Then, after desire has conceived, it gives birth to sin; and sin, when it is full-grown, gives birth to death.

This "death" referrers also to a spiritual death which can also mean losing your salvation. It has a lot to do with the state of our hearts and also our relationship and attitude towards God. He is a loving Father, most definitely. Do remember also that he is the Sovereign King and The Almighty Lord of Lords whose holiness and righteousness will not be mocked.

The Revelations Chapter 2, Jesus warned the Church of Ephesus, calling them to repent.

4 Yet I hold this against you: You have forsaken the love you had at first. 5 Consider how far you have fallen! Repent and do the things you did at first. If you do not repent, I will come to you and remove your lampstand from its place.

Meaning they were about to be condemned unless they heeded the warning of Jesus and repented. “You have forsaken the love you had at first”. What this tells me is that the church of Ephesus once loved Christ and had a genuine relationship with Christ. They have now departed from that and are at risk of being condemned. This was a Church which was prospering and bearing fruit. In a modern context, you would equate this with a wealthy church with a large passionate congregation.

Mark 8:34 (NKJV )
34 When He had called the people to Himself, with His disciples also, He said to them, “Whoever desires to come after Me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross, and follow Me.”

What the verse tells me, while the love of God is unconditional, being a disciple of Jesus is conditional. Conditional on us denying ourselves and taking up our cross and following him.

2 Peter 3 (NIV)
9 The Lord is not slow in keeping his promise, as some understand slowness. Instead he is patient with you, not wanting anyone to perish, but everyone to come to repentance.

From the verses above I also firmly believe that the Lord, out of his prefect love for us will always give us an opportunity to repent.

God wants all of us to come to repentance and will always provide an opportunity for us to do so. Repentance is however an active decision that we make, like when we make a decision to love and marry our spouses. We will have to choose Jesus, which also means choosing to repent, out of our love for Him. The flip side is true as well, without repentance we will perish, which is the opposite of life, eternal or otherwise.

Denying our self-life is not a trivial matter nor should it be treated as such. To quote AW Tozer :
“He (our self – life) must be torn out of our heart like a plant from the soil; he must be extracted in agony and blood like a tooth from the jaw. He must be expelled from our soul by violence as Christ expelled the money changers from the temple.”

Repentance is not something that “just happens” as we abide in Jesus. If so, we would not have been called to repentance, repeatedly.

We though, have to make a conscious decision. Ridding sin from our lives is not something that happens effortlessly or automatically. There will always be a struggle, that we as followers of Christ have to go through and (empowered by the Holy Spirit) will eventually overcome. Without a struggle, there is no instance of overcoming.

Fellow brothers and sisters in Christ, let us thank our Lord Jesus for his sacrifice. Let us pray for the Lord to grant us wisdom and courage, to continually choose Him over ourselves. For the Holy Spirit to convict us of any unrepentant attitude in our hearts. I pray for the Lord to lead to us all to repentance and the courage and strength to overcome. In the name of our Lord Jesus, Amen.

People Can Disappoint but God does not. True or False?

Many of us would have heard this phrase being said one time or another. Said to console ourselves or others when someone gets let down. 

What triggered me to write this post? Well, a few weeks ago my wife felt let down by some of her co-workers. As we were in the car on the way home from work, she was talking about how upset she felt and at the same time she understood that the incident was very trivial and thus should not have affected her to that degree. In and attempt to make herself feel better, she then went on to say "People will disappoint you but God will not".

I have heard this many times before but never really thought much about it, other than the fact that it made sense all those times I've heard it. Perhaps it was due to the overarching belief that God is perfect while man is fallible. 

But this time it was different. When I heard my wife say it, it did not sit well with me. Perhaps it was the stirring of the Holy Spirit. 

What is the real meaning behind this saying? What does it mean to a follower of Christ?

Even as a disciple of Christ, is it even possible for God to disappoint us?

Here's my take: Man has constantly disappointed God, grieved the Holy Spirit and will continue to do so for a long long time. But for another person to disappoint me, 2 criteria must fulfilled.

1st Criteria: We must have an expectation of the other person to meet. Be it his/her behavior, moral standard, value system and/or capability etc...

2nd Criteria: The other person must fail to meet that expectation.

While God certainly has the prerogative to place expectations on his creations, is right for us to have expectations of others or even God? Who or what gives us the right to place expectations on others? We then get upset and disappointed when these expectations are not met. Is it our pride and vanity taking over, when we decide on a "standard that another must fulfill"?

I have come to the realization that when another person disappoints me, it is as much my own failing. Its something to ponder about. Its true that people will always disappoint, its because of our own failing that we will place expectations on others. If we continue to do that, then we will be disappointed.

A wise mentor once shared with me that one of "best ways for a happy marriage is to have no expectations."

On to the 2nd part of the statement. I have heard of believers being disappointed with God. Why? Again it has to do with our expectations on how we expect God to love, bless and deliver us. Having God confined to your understanding of Love, blessing and deliverance will definitely lead to disappointment.

Conclusion - 

Love unconditionally. The next time someone disappoints me, I have to ask myself if I have loved that person unconditionally. If I am offended or upset, I will need to look inside myself and identify the problem. I like to say "If the intent was not to cause offence, the offended is the one with the problem". If we place our love of God above that of our expectations of others, will there still be disappointment in our lives?

Love God unconditionally, and acknowledge that he is the creator and we are his creations. Trust in his love and that he will not forsake us. Don't put God in box and expect him to stay within those boundaries.

It certainly adds perspective to daily living doesn't it? I hope this helps you, the reader, as much as it help me when I was writing it.

Ephesians 5:1

Follow God’s example, therefore, as dearly loved children

1 Corinthians 13:4-7

4 Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. 5 It does not dishonor others, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs. 6 Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth. 7 It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres.

About Trust, Faith and Clarity

A short while ago, I was preparing my notes on Matthew chapter 12 during the weeks leading up to a bible study meeting.

One of the discussion points referred to verses 38-42.
“An evil and adulterous generation seeks after a sign…” So is it wrong to ask for a sign?

My initial thoughts were "What's wrong with asking for a sign?" Jonathan asked for a sign (1 Samuel 14:8-10) and Gideon asked for repeated signs (Judges 6).

My conviction at that time was "it is alright to ask for a sign when you are ready to believe the sign and are ready to carry out God’s will." Usually seeking a direction or making a decision. The core motivation has be “I want to keep in alignment with God”.

Some call it “putting out a fleece” with reference to Gideon. Much like randomly picking a bible verse or tossing a coin. In this time of grace, it is alright as a tool for discerning God’s will for an early or young believer. However, I am now of the opinion that the need to “put out a fleece” should diminish with an increase in spiritual maturity and with increased intimacy with God.

I feel that the underlying thought of many when ask for a sign is  "I want/need to make sure I get a good deal" or to "Ensure a way to a better life".

For Example:
Will my work life be pleasant if I choose to accept this job offer?
Will my marriage life work or be happy, if I choose to marry this person?
Will my kid have a good future if I choose to enrol them in a particular school?
God help me choose the way to a better life please....

I too have been guilty of such prayers, many many times. Praying "Dear Father in heaven, grant me clarity to decide!". I have even used a coin toss. "God, heads I will do this, tails I will do that. Please help me decide!".

A common occurrence would be, we have already decided in our hearts what we want to do. Which job we want to take and which guy/girl we want to marry etc... We just want some form reassurance from God.

"What is so bad about seeking reassurances?" some may ask. Well I am convicted that we should have already been assured of God's Love for us and that he will never forsake us. God in his grace may indulge us in our need for reassurances but as we grow closer to God is there continued need for it? Many in our own insecure way, we continually seek God's assurances. As a young believer, I believe that its alright, but as we grow in the faith, there should be a growing trust the Lord and therefore less need to "divine" his will.

God’s isn’t a vending machine just sitting there to dispense what we want, when we want. (Note the use of the word want as opposed to need, as I firmly believe we already have and will always have what we need through the Love and Grace of Our father in Heaven.) God is not at our beck and call, but rather it is the other way around! We are at God’s beck and call. We are supposed to do what he wants, when he wants. But God is a perfect gentleman and does not force is will onto us.

This ends my notes for that word study "homework" I was writing about earlier.

A few days after that, my wife shared with me an article she read about praying for clarity and trusting God. The article concluded that trust is what we should have and therefore we do not need to be praying for clarity. If we lack trust in God, then we should be praying for trust instead. Once we are able to trust the Father in Heaven wholly and completely, clarity will come.

Signs are not there to help you believe. I am now convicted that picking out a random bible verse or tossing a coin to seek assurances for our decisions, is akin to divination. If you want a sign to know what the future holds then where is part where we are working out our faith? Where is the trust in God as you take a step forward day after day?

Proverbs 3:5-6 (NIV)
5 Trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding;
6 in all your ways submit to him, and he will make your paths straight.

Take for example players in a team sport, say football (Or soccer in the U.S. and Australia). The greater the closeness between the players, the less assurances they need from a teammate with regard to a certain move or tactic during a match. At some point, you may hear game commentators use the words "almost telepathic" connection between two players. If Player A makes a certain move, then his teammate player B will execute a complimentary move and this complimentary move differs with each match, but there will be basic fundamentals that govern these moves. Player A knows this and has full trust that his teammate will not fail him. If you follow any kind of team sport at the highest level, you will observe this from time to time. This level of understanding and trust comes with a high degree of training and working out together as a team. The very same thing can be said for our relationship with God. You cannot go through life thinking that you are on your own, but always be aware that you have a teammate along with you all the way. The perfect teammate to have who will complement your every move, trust Him.

In the article about trust that my wife shared with me, the author referenced the book "Ruthless Trust" as a book that challenged my "perspective of God".

John 14:1-3
Do not let your hearts be troubled. You believe in God; believe also in me. (Jesus)