A gracEmail subscriber in Australia asks, with reference to Paul's remarks in 1 Corinthians 9:24-27, "How can Paul, understanding so well the lavish grace of God, speak in such almost legalistic terms as to suggest that some lack of self-discipline would disqualify him from eternal life? Would not living under grace rather than Law) give him confidence that even such a lack of discipline would be forgiven by his God?" * * * The overall teaching of the New Testament unavoidably leads me to conclude that in God's sovereign purpose, power and grace every true believer -- everyone born from … [Read more...]

A brother in Tennessee says that he is much in accord with comments here about God saving us gratuitously because of what Jesus did as our representative, instead of depending on our ability to figure out all the religious answers and cobble together an acceptable record of obedience on our own. "But wouldn't it be a real tragedy," he asks, "if I go to hell because I misread what the Bible is saying?" * * * If our salvation depended on our correctly understanding all scriptural teaching, we would all go to hell for misreading the Bible -- for none of us has perfect understanding. But because … [Read more...]

A Baptist brother and gracEmail subscriber asks about the permanent well being of God's true people. "Doesn't the Bible teach a doctrine of eternal security?" * * * The believer's assurance of salvation rests on the solid promises of Jesus himself -- that none of those whom the Father has given him will perish, that he will lose none of them, but that he will raise them in the last day and give them eternal life and glory with him forever (John 6:37-40; 10:27-29). For New Testament writers, our eternal security is not an independent or theoretical doctrine to be viewed for its own sake. … [Read more...]

A gracEmail subscriber asks whether one who is truly saved can finally be lost. * * * Jesus himself assures us that those whom the Father has given to him are secure in God's keeping so that no person, circumstance or unforeseen set of events can ever snatch them away to destruction (John 6:37-39). This blessed reality offers no comfort to the person who only pretends to be a believer, however, even if he or she has prayed the "sinner's prayer," has been baptized and actively participates in church activities. As the late J. Vernon McGee used to say, "Beloved, the Bible teaches the security … [Read more...]

A gracEmail subscriber chides me for saying that whoever repents and trusts in Christ as Savior begins to experience the joy of salvation. This reader believes that Acts 2:38 and Mark 16:16 make water baptism a condition of salvation, and he insists that we cannot take other passages at face value which promise salvation to the believer. Salvation may depend on more conditions than those named in a given verse, he insists, but it can never depend on fewer. * * * Surely we cannot think that only the most detailed promises concerning salvation are dependable, for that would make all simpler … [Read more...]

Corrie ten Boom, the Dutch saint whose Christian family hid Jews from the Nazis and eventually survived Hitler's concentration camp in which her family perished, understood true security. "Look around and be distressed," I once heard her say. "Look within and be depressed. Look at Jesus and be at rest." The apostle Paul, who also paid with his life for his devotion to Christ, would certainly agree. Romans chapter 8 provides a window into the security of everyone who trusts in Jesus Christ for right standing with God. This reassuring chapter opens with "no condemnation," ends with "no … [Read more...]

A gracEmail subscriber writes, "Does God ever just give up on one of his children? Is it possible that we can continue to do something so evil that God finally decides that there is no hope for us and that we are not worth salvation?" * * * If God based his attitude toward us on what he sees in us, he would have given up long ago on us all. Our confidence is not in our ability to love God, or to obey him, or even to repent without sinning in the process. Our confidence is in God's gospel promise that he looks on us through the person of our representative, the Lord Jesus Christ, and that he … [Read more...]

A gracEmail subscriber writes: "Many years ago I accepted the Lord through baptism in a Church of Christ. Later, I became a member of a Baptist church. It has been a while since I have attended church, but that doesn't mean I love the Lord any less. My question is, if someone accepted the Lord and later became a backslider, is their soul in jeopardy?" * * * We are saved because God is good to sinners who do not deserve it, but whom he forgives and makes his children anyway (Titus 3:3-7). God shows us his love, and justifies his grace to sinners, through the perfect doing and dying which … [Read more...]

Someone writes: "I am advanced in years and always thought I was saved because I asked Jesus into my heart at age 12. I lived a life of disobedience but have recently been through many profound changes and have turned to God with all my might. I want to be saved but I am going through great torment because I can't get in touch with Jesus or the Holy Spirit. I can't even breath from fear I am not one of God's elect. I don't feel the presence of God in my life even when I plead with God for mercy. I feel totally abandoned. Can you please help me?" * * * Satan is a deceiver and liar and he is … [Read more...]

A retired sister writes from Advent Christian Village in Florida, "How do you reconcile John 6:37 with Matthew 7:21? The one verse seems to say 'once saved, always saved.' The other seems to say, 'not necessarily so.'" * * * In John 6:37, Jesus promises, "All that the Father gives Me shall come to Me; and the one who comes to Me I will certainly not cast out." Elsewhere in the same discourse, our Lord assures us that those whom the Father has given to him "hear and learn" from God himself (v. 45), come to Jesus (v. 45), have eternal life (v. 39-40), and will be raised on the last day (v. … [Read more...]