The Genuineness of your Faith - Part 1
1 Peter 1:6-7,”In this you greatly rejoice, though now for a little while, if need be, you have been grieved by various trials, that the genuineness of your faith, being much more precious than gold that perishes, though it is tested by fire, may be found to praise,
honor, and glory at the revelation of Jesus Christ,”
If a person has truly trusted in Christ’s substitutionary death and subsequent resurrection from the grave for the forgiveness of their sins, they have experienced saving faith [and have received eternal life by virtue of having been placed into union with Christ – the embodiment of eternal life].
“In this you greatly rejoice” (v.6):
The critical question that needs to be pondered here is: “If
any genuine follower of Christ
will ever fail these trials to the destruction of their souls [the forfeiture of their salvation], then how could the possibility of rejoicing in them even exist? After all, the eternal destiny of their souls are yet to be determined, that is,
if any one of them
will actually fail the test.
Someone may ask, “must a person pass the test of faith in order to receive a Heavenly entrance? To that I answer “yes”. Will all those who have genuinely been regenerated by the Holy Spirit receive a heavenly inheritance? To that I also answer “yes” … do you see how that works?
The testing of a person’s professed faith spoken of throughout scripture is one that reveals the true nature of that person’s faith. In other words, was it genuine, saving faith? … did that individual actually place all of their trust in Christ’s atoning work? … or did they place it somewhere or anywhere else [such as their moral performance i.e. their good works, their water baptism, their church attendance, etc., etc.?
It’s not a test to see who, after being truly regenerated, will subsequently forfeit/lose their eternal life and ultimately be cast into the Lake of fire to perish eternally … this simply is not the gospel message, rather, it’s one that constitutes the “another Jesus” and the “different gospel” that Paul warned about in 2 Corinthians 11:4 and Galatians 1:8.
It’s so very important to understand this vital aspect of the believer’s eternal security. Here is what I perceive to be a common misconception of this issue among those who embrace the conditional eternal security of the believer:
The assertion is that the believer is placed into some type of probationary period in which they
may or may not successfully complete. That is,
if they remain faithful enough,
then they will ultimately secure for themselves a future entrance into heaven.
However, I believe the scriptural evidence supports the claim that God
will preserve the faith of all genuine believers, He
will successfully keep and lead them to their heavenly inheritance. This is precisely what was stated in the prior verses :
1 Peter 1:3-5, “Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who according to His abundant mercy has begotten us again to a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, to an inheritance incorruptible and undefiled and that does not fade away, reserved in heaven for you, who are kept by the power of God through faith for salvation ready to be revealed in the last time.”
“who are
kept by the power of God” (v.5):
The Greek word for “kept” is actually a military term speaking of a sentinel guarding a king or a fortress. It is the perfect picture of God’s guarding over a believer’s soul.
5432 phrouréo (from phrousos, “a sentinel, guard”) – properly, to guard (keep watch) like a military sentinel; (figuratively) to actively display whatever defensive and offensive means are necessary to guard.
phroureó: to guard
Original Word: f??????
Part of Speech: Verb
Transliteration: phroureó
Phonetic Spelling: (froo-reh’-o)
Definition: to guard
Usage: I guard, keep, as by a military guard.
The military of God would be the angelic host and the Holy Spirit Himself. God
will guard His own against everything in creation that will come against their faith and cause them to depart from the faith.
The Greek word that we translate as “grace” in English is composed of two letters – “Chet” and “nun.” when we combine the meaning of their word pictures, we discover the following truth claims :
(1) God produces life in us, and then puts a fence or wall of protection around that life so that it may not be destroyed or removed.
(2) The new birth that God graciously initiates in every believer delivers us from the bondage of sin, and by God’s Holy Spirit produces eternal life.
To view the above information and more on the subject, watch the following two minute YouTube video, “Grace in ancient Hebrew” [RockIslandBooks] <
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I trust in Elohim’s might and power with the ultimate protection and preservation of my soul. My God is mighty in battle, He
will not fail in His militaristic pursuits, He
will successfully secure an entrance into heaven for all who have [past tense] experienced the new birth! [
John 3:3-8].
Ephesians 1:13-14,”In Him you also trusted, after you heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation; in whom also, having believed, you were sealed with the Holy Spirit of promise, who is the guarantee of our inheritance until the redemption of the purchased possession, to the praise of His glory.”
It is God the Holy Spirit that “seals the deal.” In
1 Peter 1:4, the Apostle had been speaking about an inheritance “incorruptible and undefiled and that does not fade away, reserved in heaven for you.” So then, we see that God’s power is working on both sides of the veil, preserving the inheritance for the heirs, and preserving the heirs for the
inheritance. He
will not fail to preserve them, and they
will not miss out on their inheritance; what a precious dual promise!!.. how can I not overflow with love and everlasting gratitude toward my Lord and Savior Jesus Christ??!!
[continued - Part 2 next :]
one in every crowd i dont have the time or the desire to prove my point.. see if i had the desire and wanted to oppose you countering with scripture showing how secure our salvation is. BTW that's not asas its Bible .everyone interrupts scripture different . something for you to chew on... when you go to sleep at night. do you pray again the next morning to get saved again? do you worry every time you fall short your no longer saved ?
