SALVATION IS FOREVER

 

Salvation is forever. It is the Work of God.  

In salvation, it is God at work in man. This God is the only true God. He is not a man that He should lie, blunder or make mistakes. He is good and whatever He does is good. "Every good and perfect gift is from The Father above." Whatever He determines to do is sure. Whatever He says is true. His Word is eternal. It is forever. 

The Earth He created has only been destroyed by Him in His previous judgment with The Great Flood, and will only be destroyed by Him in His final judgment with The Great Fire (not with flood again or not because of "climate change"). He said this, as written in The Scripture, and His word is true and sure.

Likewise, the human being (body and soul) which was made by God is subject to Death only because God said that "Man would surely die if he ate of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil", and Man disobediently ate from the same tree God forbade him to eat from. God initially created Man to live forever. But due to the Disobedience, Man fell from this glorified status. "All have sinned and fall short of the Glory of God." The human body is thus now subject to disease, deformation, demise and decay. Eventually, the human souls (together with their resurrected human bodies) that are unsaved or unredeemed will be eternally damned in the Lake of Fire. But the human souls (together with their resurrected human bodies) that have been redeemed by the Lamb of God who was slain to take away their sins, will have Everlasting Life. God's Word is true.

"Heaven and Earth will pass away but My Word will never pass away," says the LORD. 

Salvation is a Divine and Supernatural reality effected in Man by the Spirit of God through the Gospel of Christ. 

It is The Father through The Spirit who reveals The Christ to Man's heart, granting him faith to believe the Gospel. Those who receive this New Life or New Heart are said to have been "born of the Spirit" or "born of God." It is to receive Spiritual Life. It is the work of God in the redemption of Man.

The fallen nature cannot generate this Life. Flesh and blood cannot reveal The Christ. 

It is because of God's abundant Mercy and the result of God's free Grace that Man can ever believe, repent and thus be saved. It is God's Mercy on a Man for that Man to genuinely see his sin and thus to see his greatest need, which is his personal need for The Savior who is Jesus Christ (Yeshua Ha-Mashiach).

Without God's Mercy and the work of His saving Grace in the Person and Work of Christ, there can be no saving faith and repentance. Without repentance and faith, there is no salvation. Faith comes by God's Word and God's Spirit. "This faith comes from hearing [what is told], and what is heard comes by the [preaching of the] message concerning Christ."

Saving faith is thus the work of God birth within the heart of Man through the Gospel. No Man believes The Gospel because of their human intellect or intelligence. No Man obeys God's Word because of their human strength or ability. 

Saving faith is not natural faith but supernatural faith which is sovereignly given by God for salvation. 

True saving faith is heart recognition of and reaction to The Christ as its Holy Redeemer from the Eternal Judgment of God. It is inner conviction and inward persuasion of and by the True Gospel. It is characterised by love and the desire to please God. It produces loving surrender to Christ, brokenness over sin, humble disposition, righteous conduct, Scriptural obedience and patient endurance in doing God's Will. These attributes of faith make up what is referred to as fruitfulness and faithfulness, which pleases and glorifies God when existent and evident in Man's life.

True saving faith is a result of Regeneration (New Birth or Spiritual Life) and it produces repentance (change of mindset and lifestyle). It also produces perseverance and commitment to the Lord Jesus. 

As a gift of God in Man, it is divine, permanent  preserving and enduring. When true faith is tried, it produces patience, remains strong and is even purified like gold is refined by fire from dross, debris and dullness. "These trials will show that your faith is genuine. It is being tested as fire tests and purifies gold—though your faith is far more precious than mere gold. So when your faith remains strong through many trials, it will bring you much praise and glory and honor on the day when Jesus Christ is revealed to the whole world." (1 Peter 1:7)

True faith thus endures to the end. "But the one who endures and bears up [under suffering] to the end will be saved." The Word of God is true.

Really, the realisation of and repentance from sin in Man's heart and life are the workings of God's Spirit in that Man, a gift of God's grace, a proof of God's Election and Call to salvation in Man. The Grace for genuine repentance is given by God to The Elect (those who He has called to salvation). Therefore, the flesh cannot boast in true salvation. It is the regeneration of the spirit or the birthing of New Life or the gift of a New Heart, which is a work of God.

This is the Purpose of God, the Goal of Redemption,, and the Objective of Christ's Mission and Work on The Cross: The One New Man in Christ.

As The Christ fulfilled His Mission on The Cross, so also will The Spirit fulfil His Ministry in The Church.

Christ's work in His people can be summarised in this Scriptural verity: "Just as Christ also loved the church and gave Himself up for her, so that He might sanctify the church, having cleansed her by the washing of water with the word [of God], so that [in turn] He might present the church to Himself in glorious splendor, without spot or wrinkle or any such thing; but that she would be holy [set apart for God] and blameless." (Ephesians 5:25-27)

God saves, sanctifies, purifies and perfects His Body through the ministry of The Word (Truth) and The Spirit. 

The work of salvation (more specifically, spiritual regeneration) is "once and forever". The work of sanctification (spiritual growth) is progressive and will continue until the time of our glorification (bodily redemption). All these make up God's comprehensive plan of salvation. 

God's Spirit is given by The Father to execute Christ's work of salvation (regeneration, sanctification and glorification) in God's children. 

Christ baptizes us into and with His Spirit and thus makes us part of His Body. It is One Baptism with One Spirit into One Body, bringing us into union with Christ and with one another who are Believers in Christ, making us members of Christ. 

Salvation is a work of God The Father, Son and Spirit.

Prayerfully and meditatively reflect on the Scriptural truth in the Bible verses I will be citing below:

"In Him, you also, when you heard the word of truth, the good news of your salvation, and [as a result] believed in Him, were stamped with the seal of the promised Holy Spirit [the One promised by Christ] as owned and protected [by God]." (Ephesians 1:13)

"And we believers also groan, even though we have the Holy Spirit within us as a foretaste of future glory, for we long for our bodies to be released from sin and suffering. We, too, wait with eager hope for the day when God will give us our full rights as his adopted children, including the new bodies he has promised us." (Romans 8:23)

"It is He who has also put His seal on us [that is, He has appropriated us and certified us as His] and has given us the [Holy] Spirit in our hearts as a pledge [like a security deposit to guarantee the fulfillment of His promise of eternal life]." (2 Corinthians 1:22)

The Holy Spirit in Believers is God's seal of ownership, medium of protection, means of preservation and guarantee of Eternal Life.

If salvation is the work of fallen Man, then it is not forever. If it is dependent on Man, it is definitely not eternal but temporary and subject to destruction. 

Whatever fallen Man does is subject to human errors and failure. The Christian walk, which includes walking circumspectly, soberly, righteously and godly in this present world full of corruption and wickedness, is marked by times of immaturity, foolishness, weakness, failure and even sin (perhaps unavoidably so but never justifiably so as the True Believer does not continue in unconfessed sin) because it incorporates Man's responsibility to obey God. The Believer being Man and still in the flesh is imperfect, thus the work of The Spirit through the Ministry Gifts and spiritual gifts He gives to each Believer for the "perfecting of the Saints" and the "edifying of the Body". The Father prunes His children, being trees of righteousness, and they grow and bear fruit so that they can be more fruitful. He also rebukes and corrects them, if and when they err or stray from His "paths of righteousness". The Lord Jesus intercedes for His people before The Father. The process of sanctification or spiritual maturity in Believers is continuous. 

If salvation was dependent on Man, Satan will be able "to steal, kill and destroy" it easily or eventually.

However, true salvation being the work of God is dependent on and preserved by God, thus is forever.

"Now may the God of peace Himself sanctify you through and through [that is, separate you from profane and vulgar things, make you pure and whole and undamaged—consecrated to Him—set apart for His purpose]; and may your spirit and soul and body be kept complete and [be found] blameless at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ." (1 Thessalonians 5:23)

"And I am certain that God, who began the good work within you, will continue his work until it is finally finished on the day when Christ Jesus returns." (Philippians 1:6)

As The Church is Eternal, so is Salvation is Eternal.

"I will build My church; and the gates of Hades will not overpower it." (Matthew 16:18) 

This is to the Praise and Glory of God Almighty!

Hallelujah! Salvation is forever!