We are saved by grace through faith that comes from the power of God when we hear the Gospel of the Kingdom of God proclaimed and spiritually enter therein through Jesus Christ our Lord, believing in Him we repent of our sins and turn to Christ for EVERLASTING life which every born again believer possesses ALWAYS!
Those who remain saved are all who have been born again through the Spirit of Christ. Many profess to be saved who have NOT been born again of the Spirit. There are many warnings in Scripture about this kind of person professing Christ in the church. How can a born again Christian who has ETERNAL life NOT remain saved? Our salvation is NOT dependent upon us to keep ourselves saved! When we have the Holy Spirit in us, we are being kept by the power of God. The Spirit will NEVER leave us but will be with born again believers until we are bodily raised up immortal & incorruptible at the end of this world.
1 Peter 1:3-5 (KJV) Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, which according to his abundant mercy hath begotten us again unto a lively hope by the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, To an inheritance incorruptible, and undefiled, and that fadeth not away, reserved in heaven for you, Who are kept by the power of God through faith unto salvation ready to be revealed in the last time.
One who has been born again by the grace and power of God CANNOT break covenant with God. Because the Covenant of grace is the work of Christ who saves to the uttermost those who come to God by Him!
Hebrews 7:24-27 (KJV) But this man, because he continueth ever, hath an unchangeable priesthood. Wherefore he is able also to save them to the uttermost that come unto God by him, seeing he ever liveth to make intercession for them. For such an high priest became us, who is holy, harmless, undefiled, separate from sinners, and made higher than the heavens; Who needeth not daily, as those high priests, to offer up sacrifice, first for his own sins, and then for the people's: for this he did once, when he offered up himself.
True.
Ephesians 2 tells us,we were dead in our trespasses and sins first.
Which is why Jesus said,we cannot come unto him unless God calls us into his grace,which then bestows faith. This isn't our doing so that we cannot boast of saving ourselves. And this free gift of grace is eternal and irrevocable,Paul's words.
Which is why it is not in accord with those truths for any doctrine to arise that insists we have to labor to keep what we did not labor to acquire.
I understand the passages that tells us,if we stay in faith,if we keep the faith, and so on as assurances. Not warnings.
So that in times of struggle we have God's blessed assurance that we are eternally sealed. We are vessels of his holy Spirit. And as such should not fear what life has in store. Because what God guaranteed with his sacrifice on the cross will keep us secure in him eternally.
I don't see works salvation as anything more than the ego and the flesh declaring itself as having primacy over our afterlife future . That no matter what,our will takes us where we choose to be. And it is deserved because we earned it.
Which is why it then makes sense such a carnal ideology would conversely insist we can choose to let it go.
A Living Hope, and a Sure Salvation
1Peter, an apostle of Jesus Christ,
To those who reside as aliens, scattered throughout Pontus, Galatia, Cappadocia, Asia, and Bithynia, who are chosen 2according to the foreknowledge of God the Father, by the sanctifying work of the Spirit, to obey Jesus Christ and be sprinkled with His blood: May grace and peace be yours in the fullest measure.
3Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who according to His great mercy has caused us to be born again to a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, 4to obtain an inheritance which is imperishable and undefiled and will not fade away, reserved in heaven for you, 5who are protected by the power of God through faith for a salvation ready to be revealed in the last time. 6In this you greatly rejoice, even though now for a little while, if necessary, you have been distressed by various trials, 7so that the proof of your faith, being more precious than gold which is perishable, even though tested by fire, may be found to result in praise and glory and honor at the revelation of Jesus Christ; 8and though you have not seen Him, you love Him, and though you do not see Him now, but believe in Him, you greatly rejoice with joy inexpressible and full of glory, 9obtaining as the outcome of your faith the salvation of your souls.
10As to this salvation, the prophets who prophesied of the grace that would come to you made careful searches and inquiries, 11seeking to know what person or time the Spirit of Christ within them was indicating as He predicted the sufferings of Christ and the glories to follow. 12It was revealed to them that they were not serving themselves, but you, in these things which now have been announced to you through those who preached the gospel to you by the Holy Spirit sent from heaven—things into which angels long to look.
13Therefore, prepare your minds for action, keep sober in spirit, fix your hope completely on the grace to be brought to you at the revelation of Jesus Christ. 14As obedient children, do not be conformed to the former lusts which were yours in your ignorance, 15but like the Holy One who called you, be holy yourselves also in all your behavior; 16because it is written, “You shall be holy, for I am holy.”
17If you address as Father the One who impartially judges according to each one’s work, conduct yourselves in fear during the time of your stay on earth; 18knowing that you were not redeemed with perishable things like silver or gold from your futile way of life inherited from your forefathers, 19but with precious blood, as of a lamb unblemished and spotless, the blood of Christ. 20For He was foreknown before the foundation of the world, but has appeared in these last times for the sake of you 21who through Him are believers in God, who raised Him from the dead and gave Him glory, so that your faith and hope are in God.
22Since you have in obedience to the truth purified your souls for a sincere love of the brethren, fervently love one another from the heart, 23for you have been born again not of seed which is perishable but imperishable, that is, through the living and enduring word of God. 24For,
“All flesh is like grass,
And all its glory like the flower of grass.
The grass withers,
And the flower falls off,
25But the word of the Lord endures forever.”
And this is the word which was preached to you.
