When I read the Bible, especially Romans and I John, and parts of Galations, that if we've been saved by grace, there's nothing we did to earn it, and there's nothing we can do to lose it.
Romans 8:38-39
For I am persuaded that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor powers, nor things present nor things to come, nor height nor depth nor any other creature shall be able to separate us from the love of God, which is in Chist Jesus our Lord.
That includes the man in 1 Corinthians 5 who was having an affair with his step mother. Yes, the church as a whole released him to Satan (the forces of the world), but to break him down and convict him to return to the church and ask forgiveness, which he did so, (2 Corinthians 2:5-7) as Paul said "Forgive this man! lest he should be swallowed up in sorrow."
In Romans 8:29-30 Paul says,
For whom he did foreknow, he also did predestinate to be conformed to the image of the Son, that he might be the first-born among many brethren. Moreover whom he did predestinate, them he also called, and whom he called, them he also justified, and whom he justified, them he also glorified.
This is saying that God foreknew who He would conform to the image of God by faith. They've been called, and God says whom He calls He justifies and glorifies in the end.
Jesus is the author and finisher of our faith. We don't know how to do it. But those born of God have been foreknown, and God knows their heart and faith toward Jesus.
This is faith, that we have confidence and assurance in our promise of eternal salvation. John says in 1 John 5:4
For whatsoever is born of God overcomes the world, and this is the victory that overcometh the world, even our faith.
So you see again, it's faith that saves; if we have the faith to say, "I am saved, but I may lose my salvation if I don't do this, and this..." it is good, but not complete. There is works-righteousness involved in salvation or in keeping your salvation. If it was up to me to keep my salvation, I would fail. Now, if we have the faith to cling to God's promises mentioned in the verses above, if we've been born again, we can claim the promise of eternal salvation without depending on ourselves to measure up. John said it, "Whatsoever is born of God [been saved by having faith in the finished work and ressurection of Jesus the Christ] overcomes the world. It doesn't say "may overcome the world", or "will overcome the world as long as we do our part", but simply we are left the exciting option of having faith in God's promises for us.
One last point, is that what about the people who supposedly fall away from the church? In 1 John 2:19 answers this:
They went out from us, but they were not of us: for if they had been of us, they would no doubt have continued with us: but they went out, that they might be made manifest that they were not all of us.
So basically John is saying, if you've truly been born again, you would "no doubt have continued with us". And only each of us know in the heart whether we've been sincere to God in our need for Him and that we truly place our faith in Christ.
Romans 8:38-39
For I am persuaded that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor powers, nor things present nor things to come, nor height nor depth nor any other creature shall be able to separate us from the love of God, which is in Chist Jesus our Lord.
That includes the man in 1 Corinthians 5 who was having an affair with his step mother. Yes, the church as a whole released him to Satan (the forces of the world), but to break him down and convict him to return to the church and ask forgiveness, which he did so, (2 Corinthians 2:5-7) as Paul said "Forgive this man! lest he should be swallowed up in sorrow."
In Romans 8:29-30 Paul says,
For whom he did foreknow, he also did predestinate to be conformed to the image of the Son, that he might be the first-born among many brethren. Moreover whom he did predestinate, them he also called, and whom he called, them he also justified, and whom he justified, them he also glorified.
This is saying that God foreknew who He would conform to the image of God by faith. They've been called, and God says whom He calls He justifies and glorifies in the end.
Jesus is the author and finisher of our faith. We don't know how to do it. But those born of God have been foreknown, and God knows their heart and faith toward Jesus.
This is faith, that we have confidence and assurance in our promise of eternal salvation. John says in 1 John 5:4
For whatsoever is born of God overcomes the world, and this is the victory that overcometh the world, even our faith.
So you see again, it's faith that saves; if we have the faith to say, "I am saved, but I may lose my salvation if I don't do this, and this..." it is good, but not complete. There is works-righteousness involved in salvation or in keeping your salvation. If it was up to me to keep my salvation, I would fail. Now, if we have the faith to cling to God's promises mentioned in the verses above, if we've been born again, we can claim the promise of eternal salvation without depending on ourselves to measure up. John said it, "Whatsoever is born of God [been saved by having faith in the finished work and ressurection of Jesus the Christ] overcomes the world. It doesn't say "may overcome the world", or "will overcome the world as long as we do our part", but simply we are left the exciting option of having faith in God's promises for us.
One last point, is that what about the people who supposedly fall away from the church? In 1 John 2:19 answers this:
They went out from us, but they were not of us: for if they had been of us, they would no doubt have continued with us: but they went out, that they might be made manifest that they were not all of us.
So basically John is saying, if you've truly been born again, you would "no doubt have continued with us". And only each of us know in the heart whether we've been sincere to God in our need for Him and that we truly place our faith in Christ.
