Bob Cassell, Messenger

If the eternal security of your soul is centered in the Lord Jesus Christ, is it your responsibility to maintain that sure salvation or is it his?

Those who are seeking truth concerning this matter can do no more than to look into the perfect law of liberty. Now the Lord is the Spirit, and where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is Liberty 2 Corinthians 3:17. Yes, liberty and freedom is in Christ and not enslavement and bondage in your ineffectual human efforts.

 Stand fast therefore in the liberty wherewith Christ hath made us free, and be not entangled again with the Yoke of bondage. Christ is become of no effect unto you, whosoever of you are justified by the law; you are fallen from Grace (from the sphere of grace, not from salvation in Christ) Galatians 5:1,4.

Saving Grace saves us from the penalty of our sins and the condemnation of the Law. It is eternal life that resides in Christ, which becomes our own, when we believe in him as our only hope of heaven. It is not a reward for our best human efforts because human works are clearly defined as filthy rags and are unacceptable by God.

“But we are all as an unclean thing, and ALL our righteousnesses are as filthy rags; and we ALL do fade as a leaf, and OUR iniquities, like the wind, have taken us away” Isaiah 64:6.

Liberating Grace is following our Savior in voluntary obedience knowing that our best behavior is relative human good (not absolute) and in no way adds to his so great Salvation.

Stand fast therefore in the liberty wherewith Christ hath made us free and be not entangled again with the yoke of bondage Galatians 5:1.

The yoke of bondage is expressed in the fact that the Law prohibits, grace invites equips and provides liberty to serve. The law condemns, the Grace of God saves and redeems.

How shall we escape if we neglect so great salvation, which at the first began to be spoken by the Lord and was confirmed to us by those who heard him Hebrews 2:3.

Why is this so important? Because Jesus Christ specifically addressed this subject when asked by those who were with him by the Sea of Galilee. Let’s examine his conversation with an inclined ear!

Incline your ear, and come unto me: hear, and your soul shall live and I will make and everlasting covenant with you, even the sure mercies of David Isaiah 55:3.

You must seek to understand the content of this important bible information. If you can clearly understand this information then, when you convey the content to others you will be more clearly understood. If your understanding is not clear, you will have difficulty in conveying what you yourself don’t understand clearly.  So, what should you do to have a clear and accurate understanding of what you wish to convey to others. Meditate, search and compare, what the bible says about this subject in context and elsewhere. Don’t rush! Doesn’t it make sense to examine the preparation, education, and communication of your bible teacher? Is the teacher conveying to you what is written in the infallible scriptures?

What is the criteria? Is it bible content or emotional feelings and experiences? Bible information has come to you through revelation, inspiration, illumination, interpretation, and then communication. The bible is your meat, drink, and the essential sustenance for your eternal soul. Listen to these perfect words from the mind and lips of our merciful savior.

Labor not for the meat which perishes, but for the meat which endures unto everlasting life, which the Son shall give you, for him has God the Father sealed John 6:27.

Then said they to him, what shall we do, that we might work the works of God? Jesus answered and said to them,

This is the work of God, that YOU believe on him whom he has sent John 6:28,29.

What does the Apostle Paul have to say about the work of God and the works of mankind?

For by Grace are you saved through faith and that not of yourselves, it is the gift of God and NOT OF WORKS, lest any man should boast Ephesians 2:8,9.

Not by works of righteousness which we have done, but according to his mercy he saved us, by the washing of regeneration and renewing of the Holy Spirit; which he shed on us abundantly through Jesus Christ our SAVIOR; That being justified by his grace, we should be made heirs according to the hope of eternal life Titus 3:5-7.

To believe that one who is saved can then be lost is to embrace a complete contradiction where no middle ground can possibly exist. The overarching issue that exists is whether or not the saving work of Christ on the Cross includes the safekeeping of those who have believed in the Lord Jesus Christ for eternal life.

Either Jesus Christ did enough by his sacrificial death, on the cross, to pay for the penalty of our sins, or he did not. If his sacrifice was sufficient then we may believe in its security. If you have believed in him then…

There is therefore, now no condemnation to them which are in Christ Jesus Romans 8:1.

If there is any other ground for the removal of condemnation or for the impartation of eternal life, then the essential teachings of the New Testament epistles are rendered null and void.

To be instructed by the word of God in these scriptural truths is to embrace them and lay hold on them as they constitute the essential connecting links of God’s so great Salvation.

If being a new creation in Christ is made to depend on the perfect merit of Christ there is no possibility of failure. For Christ to fail, in securing for the believer everlasting life, is for God to fail, and such a possibility is unthinkable. All that God has undertaken, when he delivers a soul from eternal condemnation, demonstrates his perfection and veracity by providing a salvation which is permanent, eternal, and secure.

In spite of unstable human behavior, which is sometimes used to determine the validity of what God has provided so perfectly in Christ, no soul once saved, and secure in Jesus Christ has ever been or will ever be lost.

In instances of occasional doubts in a believer’s life, those uncertainties may be traced to a lack of understanding the reality of what GOD has accomplished in his amazing and immutable grace.

The persuasions of eternal security come from a belief and familiarity with the sure promises that are recorded in the word of God. This familiarity with the infallible word of God enables the believer to rise above speculation, conjecture, rationalization, and potential false doctrine.

Persistent study of this vital subject that is rooted in the word of God will result in building a firm foundation that is reliable and trustworthy. It is fearful, disconcerting, and immature to be tossed to and fro by every wind of doctrine and not to be established and grounded in his sure word of truth.

Let’s examine the source of the information you are asked to evaluate. Who gives it? Here it is… The Lord gave the word Ps 68:11, his word is truth, John 17:17. And in this word what are we given? Exceeding great and precious promises, 1 Peter 1:4.

To continue in this holy word is to know the truth and to be set free. If you continue in my word, then are you disciples indeed; and you shall know the truth and the truth shall make you free John 8:31-32.

To know absolutely, that you have eternal life is to be set free. Where the Spirit of the Lord is there is Liberty 2 Corinthians 3:17.

Being set free is true liberation from feeble, vacillating, inadequate, and most imperfect human efforts. The best a human being can produce is a relative righteousness which falls far short of absolute righteousness. After exhausting the best that is within them, they are destined to become a slave of doubtful human efforts that are never enough. All of your best human works will burn, vanish, and be no more as they cannot and do not appropriate or sustain the sure salvation that resides exclusively in the only Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ.

In view of this truth that comes to you from God’s word, why don’t you simply say to yourself… Lord, I cannot do enough to merit your grace and eternal life. Therefore, I am going to trust Jesus Christ with all my soul and am making him the sole object of my faith.

You will never regret the decision to let go of what you may or may not have the capacity to do and then to embrace all that he has done for you that is complete and perfected forever.

For by one offering he has perfected forever them that are sanctified Hebrews 10:1.

 It was a perfect sacrifice by a perfect person that enabled the perfection of many imperfect people.

Trust in the Lord with all your heart; and lean not unto your own understanding. In all your ways acknowledge him and he shall direct you paths Proverbs 3:5-6.

For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord Romans 6:23.

Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ and thou shall be saved Acts 16:31. Yes indeed!