Today on the verdict with Pastor John Monroe. See here is a sobering truth that We like to gloss over. in our cultural Christianity, but the New Testament never does. All who profess salvation Do not Possess. Salvation.
Not everyone who says that they're saved is in fact saved. Welcome to the verdict with Pastor John Monroe. Probably every follower of Christ has wondered at some point about whether their salvation can ever be lost. Perhaps you've had doubts at points in your life and wondered if your faith was even real. Is it possible to be truly secure in your faith?
Today we're discussing the answers to these important questions as we continue in Colossians.
Now, here's Pastor John Monroe with his message: Can I lose my salvation? Can I lose my salvation? That's the question we considered last time and continue today. If you were to die today, on what basis do you think you would be admitted to heaven? The good things you do Going to church?
Being baptized. What's the basis of your salvation? When we look at Scripture to answer these questions, we begin to understand That in the wonder of salvation, Jesus Christ gives us eternal life and we shall never perish. Last time we looked at the goal of our reconciliation, namely holiness.
Now we will see. That the result of true reconciliation with God through Jesus Christ is that we will persevere, we will not lose our salvation. Let's continue to think about this marvelous truth as we continue in Colossians chapter 1. Is it possible? to be reconciled to God.
and later alienated from him. Is it possible truly to be in Christ and then cast away out of Christ? Is it possible to be saved by God's grace today and to be lost tomorrow? Can I lose my Salvation. Let me ask you to open your Bibles now to Colossians.
chapter one. And we're going to be looking particularly at two verses. 22 and 23, but for the sake of connection. Let's read. From verse 19.
Paul writes here, Colossians 1:19, for in him that is in Christ. all the fulness of God was pleased to dwell. and through him to reconcile to himself all things. whether on earth or in heaven, making peace by the blood of his cross. And you, who once were alienated and hostile in mind, doing evil deeds, he is now reconciled in his body of flesh by his death.
In order to present you holy and blameless and above reproach before him. If indeed you continue in the faith, stable and steadfast, Not shifting from the hope of the gospel that you heard. Which has been proclaimed in all creation under heaven, and of which I, Paul, became A minister. This evening, as we focus on verses 22 and 23, we will learn the goal of reconciliation and the result of reconciliation. We're going to learn from verse 22 that the goal of reconciliation is holiness.
Now, an understanding of this will help us to answer our question: Can I lose my salvation? God's goal in reconciling you is to present you. Holy. Look at verse. Twenty-two.
He has now reconciled In his body of flesh by his death. Here's the goal. In order to present you holy and blameless and above reproach. before him. Not only does God say of us not guilty, He pronounces us righteous.
Above reproach, holy. And blameless. That's one of the most mind-blowing truths in all of Scripture, isn't it? That God takes people like you and me, the chiefest of sinners. cleanses us with the blood of his son.
And keeps us from stumbling, so that as Jude says in Jude verse 24, that he will present us faultless. before the presence of his glory with exceeding joy. Aren't you excited about that future? We don't need to fear. Appearing before God?
That in Christ we are righteous. We're free. We're forgiven. No condemnation. See, if we don't understand this truth of reconciliation, we will have this insecurity and we will think that when we fall or when we sin, that somehow our salvation is gone.
And Paul is saying, absolutely, no, you're going to be presented on that future day, holy. and blameless and without reproach. The goal of reconciliation then is Is holiness.
Now, the result of reconciliation, verse 23, is the perseverance of the believer. If indeed you continue in the faith, verse 23, stable and steadfast, not shifting from the hope of the gospel that you heard, which has been proclaimed in all creation under heaven, and of which I, Paul, became a minister. The goal of reconciliation. Holiness. The result of reconciliation is the perseverance of the believer.
The New Testament presents this wonderful truth that the true believer, I emphasize true, the true believer in Jesus Christ does. Persevere. The true believer will not lose his or her salvation, but will continue in the faith. But you say, what about the if at the beginning of verse 23? Doesn't this present some doubt?
Is this future presentation of holiness only a reality if we continue in the faith? Is there a possibility that Paul is saying that a true believer will not continue and so be eternally lost? The F here is one of argument, not of doubt. The statement is assumed to be true for the sake of argument. O'Brien and his excellent commentary on Colossians.
states that this expression could be read as follows At any rate, if you stand firm in the faith, and I am sure that you will. He goes on to say. Quote: If it is true that the saints will persevere to the end, Then it is equally true that the saints must persevere to the end. That is, Paul is convinced. that the Colossians are continuing.
and will continue in the faith. They will persevere. The true believer In Jesus Christ. will not lose his or her salvation. Our reconciliation is not based on our works.
Not based on our own righteousness, but rather on the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, which is offered to us through the reconciling work at the cross. You see, we have to understand. that God's grace not only saves us, God's grace keeps us. And as that wonderful hymn says, that grace that saves us and keeps us is the grace that will lead us safely home. And when we get safely home to heaven, we will shout, grace.
Grace. Grace. We're kept. By grace. If it weren't God's grace, not one of us would keep our salvation.
If your salvation depended on you, let's face it, you, like me, would falter and fail. But God's grace has worked in us through His Spirit, through His sovereignty in our life. keeps us. And the Christian Is transferred from a state of hostility into a state of peace with God and will never be disowned by God. Look back at verse 13.
Paul says regarding Conversion. He that is the Father, God the Father. He has delivered us from the domain of darkness and transferred us to the kingdom of His beloved Son. If you're saved, You are not in the kingdom of darkness. You're not halfway between.
No, you have been delivered from the domain of darkness and transferred now to the kingdom of the Son of his love. As a believer in Jesus Christ, I am presently in the kingdom of the Son of his. Love. Reconciled Through the blood of his cross, which is a perfect sacrifice.
So the true believer in Jesus Christ will continue in the faith, he or she will not fall away. In fact, continuance is a test of genuine Face turn. with me to 1 John for a little verse there which I think will help us. First John two. There's John says, they went out from us.
But they were not of us. Meaning they went out from the The church from the community of believers left us. They went out from us, but they were not of us. For if they had been of us, they would have continued with us. But they went out that it might become plain that they all are not of Uh See, here is a sobering truth that We like to gloss over.
in our cultural Christianity, but the New Testament never does. All who profess salvation Do not Possess Salvation. All who profess salvation do not possess salvation. I remember I was about si about seventeen years old and I had attended a youth rally. where a number of people I had come forward to receive Christ.
And I was very excited. I went home and I told my dad, I said, Dad, 12 people were saved tonight. He said, Oh, how do you know? I said, oh. A little bit taken up.
They responded. And my dad said, what you're really saying is Ten or twelve people professed to be Saved. And he was right. Do you think someone gets saved by putting up their hand? Do you think someone gets saved by walking an aisle?
Do you think someone gets saved by riding a card? Not everyone who says that they're saved is in fact saved. Our Lord Jesus taught that there is a counterfeit faith which withers and dies. Taught by our Lord in the parable of the soils.
Some seed quickly grows, it produces no fruit. There is a faith, says James. Which is a spurious faith, a faith without works. It was only the seed which fell into good ground which produced fruit. Today, in our culture, unlike other parts of the world, People quickly say they believe in Jesus.
Isn't it strange? that people would say they believe in Jesus, but have absolutely no thought of following Christ. Jesus says, if you love me, you love me. You will keep my Commandments. making a profession of salvation with their lips.
but not having the possession of eternal life. in their hearts. If you will confess with your mouth, Jesus says, Lord, and believe in your heart. That God raised him from the dead, you shall be. Saved.
Rather easy in our culture to profess Christ, isn't it? But the true believer, Paul is saying, will continue in the faith. Look at verse 23. Stable and steadfast, not shifting from the hope of. the gospel by their fruit They will know them.
An apple tree produces apples. If a tree produces Thorns Or if a tree produces oranges, And the man insists there's an apple tree. He's deluded, isn't it? The fact that someone says, this is an apple tree, means nothing if it produces oranges. We know it's an apple tree.
Why? When it produces apples. One day, Dale Moody was accosted on the street in Chicago. by a drunk who exclaimed exclaimed, Aren't you Mr. Moody?
Why, I'm one of your converts. That's right, Buddhi said. That must be true, for you're not one of the Lords. What Moody was saying in his own way. When a person is truly saved, there will be signs of new.
Life. If you say you love someone, there's a demonstration in your life, isn't there? As to how you respond to that person. If a man tells me he loves his wife but never acts in a loving way towards him, we would begin to doubt it, wouldn't we? Our faith.
Must have a solid foundation. There is a counterfeit faith. There is a faith without works. Which may be merely intellectual or merely emotional or merely outward, but is not the result. Of the supernatural, of the Spirit of God in the heart.
In other words, there is a profession with the lips. But there is no true rebirth. And the individual. Is Deluded. No, the evidence of the true believer is that he or she positively, Paul is saying here, remains firmly, stable, and steadfast, negatively is not shifting from the hope of the gospel.
This term here, stable. is used in connection with the security of the foundations of a house. Remember the story of the wise man and the foolish man? built their homes, one on the rock, one on the sand. The house which was built on the solid rock was not devastated when the storm came.
Why? Because its foundation was stable. Before the time of testing comes, It's often impossible to distinguish between the genuine and the counterfeit. But genuine faith does not move from the hope of the gospel, but grows and is steadfast on the unshakable and immovable rock of Christ. That is not to say that believers don't backslide.
That's not to say that people don't deny the faith and stumble. No, that is true, but the overall characteristic of the life is towards God rather than towards self or towards the devil. Paul is very concerned about the false doctrine in Colossi, and he wants these believers to continue to stand firm in the gospel. How we need to hear this today. Paul tells us in Ephesians 4:14, not to be like children tossed to and fro by the waves and carried about by every wind of doctrine, by human cunning, by craftiness and deceitful schemes.
Much false teaching today, much emotion today, where people will say or do anything just for a day or two, temporarily moved. but no lasting results. We need to be discerning. That's why in this church we emphasize the preaching and teaching of the Word of God, so that we are rooted and grounded in the faith, the Word of Truth, that our faith, while it impacts our emotions, is not just emotional. That our faith, while it informs our intellect, is not just intellectual but involves the whole person, the intellect, the emotion, and the will, all committed to Christ.
And without this stability, we will be quickly swayed by false teaching. Quickly blown away by the latest theological. FAD coming to us. But if you're a true believer, Your life is committed to Jesus Christ. If you're truly born again by the Spirit of God, you don't need to worry about losing your salvation.
You will continue. William Carey did not view himself very gifted, he said, but he said, I can plod. And Spurgeon said, by perseverance, the snail reached the ark. And much of our Christian life may seem to be very undramatic. And I meet people None of that.
Under the spotlight. The name is never in Christianity day to day. But Day by day. week by week. Month by month.
year by year. Their eyes are on Christ. Living for Christ. Raising godly families. sharing their faith.
at their work. Serving Christ. Daily in the Word of God. on their knees. a life lived towards Yes, there will be struggles.
Yes, all of us will fail from time to time. But we who love Christ will continue to that great day. when we will be presented in holiness to the Lord. Charles Spurgeon said, I believe not so much in the perseverance of the saints as in the perseverance of the Savior. Philippians 1, verse 6, Paul says, I'm sure of this: that he who began a good work in you, will bring it to completion at the day of Christ.
that God is at work in us. Watching over us. as we keep our eyes on Christ.
So this evening we again rejoice in the reconciliation which has been accomplished through the blood of his cross. and in the many benefits that flow From the person and work of our Savior. As we often sing, our hope is built on nothing less than Jesus' blood. and righteousness. It's not based on your goodness, it's based on Christ.
As I conclude, I have two challenges. First, There is no question that the true believer will be presented holy and blameless and without reproach on that great day. Positionally, in Christ, we're already holy. In that future day, we will be perfectly like our Savior. We will be glorified.
But what about now? Are you living a life of holiness? Any sin, unholiness, impurity. compromise in your life If there is this evening, bring it to the cross of Christ. Confess it.
and flee from it. Second, Are you steadfast and stable in your faith? I'm really asking you, are you a true believer in Jesus Christ? Or could it be that you've embraced a superficial? a cultural Christianity, perhaps brought up in a Christian home.
And you say, well, I've always really believed this. But it's superficial. And there has never been A transformation in your heart. You're not really a new creature. in Christ.
We're not saying that believers don't fall into sin, they do fall, they do backslide, but they don't fall totally. They don't fall finally and they don't fall completely. We're not saved because we persevere, absolutely not. Because we are saved, we do persevere. That's one of the themes of the book of Hebrews.
Are you steadfast? and your faith. Are you putting roots deep in the Word of God in prayer, living humbly before God, growing in your faith, not shifting from the hope of the gospel? And keep your eyes on Christ, the sinlessness of Christ. And rejoice in this righteousness which is imputed to us, credited to us, because of his reconciling work.
Our Savior remains steadfast. He remains steadfast. He was obedient to death, even death on the cross. Let's live a holy and steadfast life, confident. That he is able.
to keep us from falling. and to present us faultless before the presence of His glory. with exceeding. Joy. and that kind of life.
will make an impact in our homes. in our relationships. in our society. As we live for Christ. Father, help us.
We do pray. There are some here perhaps that are even Considering giving up the Christian life, perhaps they're discouraged. We pray that these truths will have warmed our hearts as we think of All Of the purpose and the result of reconciliation, all of your. Grace. For those who are discouraged this evening, we pray that they will be encouraged.
For those who are not yet saved, Father, who don't have the assurance of salvation, I pray that you will pour your grace. Give to them that faith that they truly will love and trust the Lord with all of their heart. and may each of us make a difference in our life. living holy lives. telling others about Christ.
and awaiting that great and glorious day. When the heavens will open and our Lord will descend, we say, even so, come. Lord Jesus, in his name, amen. This is the verdict, featuring the Bible teaching of Pastor John Monroe. There's still more to hear when John returns in just a moment, so stay with us.
From matters of truth and identity, to the subjects of love and grace, our world seems more confused than ever. but to find truth and certainty about who we are and find peace, we must turn our attention away from the world and look to the Word of God. To help you do that, John wrote a booklet titled Eternal Security, Finding Certainty in a Chaotic World. Through this special resource, John shares his personal testimony, along with a careful examination of Scripture, to offer us clarity on matters of eternity. Get your copy today by visiting our website at theverdict.org.
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Now, here's Pastor John Monroe.
Well, what's your verdict? Are you secure in your salvation? Do you have this stability that Paul describes? Or are you still trying to save yourself? Don't fall into the trap of looking to your family or your church.
or to what you have done. rather than looking to Christ and to Christ alone. Today. Believe in the Lord Jesus Christ and you'll be saved. and those who are truly saved will never lose their salvation.
Next time, we continue our study of Colossians as Paul deals with the reality of suffering. Thanks for joining us today on The Verdict. I'm Michelle Davies. Today's program with Pastor John Monroe was produced and sponsored by Calvary Church in Charlotte, North Carolina.
