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...]

A gracEmail reader asks how to resolve the tension between two lines of biblical teaching. "Some passages offer words of assurance," he writes, "while others utter words of warning. How do we put these together?" * * * The New Testament assures us in certain terms. Whoever believes has eternal life (John 3:15). No one can snatch the believer from God's own grasp (John 10:29). God guards the believer by his own divine power (1 Pet. 1:5). The New Testament also unequivocally warns and cautions us. Whoever thinks he stands should take heed lest he fall (1 Cor. 10:12). Christ will present you to … [Read more...]

A missionary in Africa asks for biblical insight regarding the security of the believer, sometimes referred to as "once saved, always saved." And a missionary in China inquires about the passages which warn Christians against falling away from Christ. How do we put all this together? * * * True believers may know that they are securely in God's care and keeping, and that no person, circumstance or unforeseen set of events can ever snatch them away to destruction (John 10:27-30; 1 Pet. 1:3-5). This certainty is grounded in God's own faithfulness (1 Cor. 1:8-9; 1 Thess. 5:23-24; 2 Thes. … [Read more...]

A missionary in Africa asks for biblical insight regarding the security of the believer, sometimes referred to as "once saved, always saved." And a missionary in China inquires about the passages which warn Christians against falling away from Christ. How do we put all this together? * * * The popular doctrine of "once-saved-always-saved" is sometimes presented in an unbiblical fashion. Not when it affirms that the believer is "protected by the power of God through faith for a salvation ready to be revealed in the last time," for that affirmation comes on very good authority indeed (1 Pet. … [Read more...]

A missionary in Africa asks for biblical insight regarding the security of the believer, sometimes referred to as "once saved, always saved." And a missionary in China inquires about the passages which warn Christians against falling away from Christ. How do we put all this together? * * * When it comes to the security of the believer, the New Testament speaks in stereo, to both our ears at once. One ear hears assurances of pardon, of God's keeping us, of the impossibility of anything or anyone separating us from God's love. The other ear hears warnings against apostasy, exhortations to … [Read more...]

In the Christian tribe of my upbringing, salvation was presented as a possibility rather than a reality, something uncertain from moment to moment and always up for grabs. Even godly believers with fruitful lives often approached their deaths in genuine fear that God would discover that they did not measure up and throw them into hell. The most confident among us taught that true believers were secure but that remaining a true believer depended finally on our own effort and strength of will. That still left us insecure since our marks so far in either category inspired very little confidence … [Read more...]