A Biblical perspective on Bible topics and subjects from a position of Rightly Dividing the Word of Truth,
King James Bible - God's Word in the English Speaking language.
SANCTIFY THEM THROUGH THY TRUTH
THY WORD IS TRUTH [ JOHN, 17:17 KJB ]
THY WORD IS TRUE FROM THE BEGINNING [PSALMS 119,:160
THE TRUTH IS THE TRUTH EVEN IF NO ONE BELIEVES IT
AND A LIE IS A LIE EVEN IF ANYONE DOESN'T BELIEVE IT
THE TRUTH IS THE TRUTH EVEN IF NO ONE ACCEPTS IT
THE TRUTH IS THE TRUTH EVEN IF NO ONE UNDERSTANDS IT
THE TRUTH IS THE TRUTH EVEN IF YOU HIDE IT
BELIEVING EVERYBODY IS DANGEROUS
BUT BELIEVING NOBODY IS MORE DANGEROUS
Proverb 24:16, “For a just man falleth seven times, and riseth up again: but the wicked shall fall into mischief.”
Chapter 14 — A Just Man Falleth Seven Times
Christians at best are people, and people at best are sinners. No one can live above sin all the time. If we could, we would be sinless like Christ. Only Jesus is without sin. II COR 5:21, "For He [God the Father] hath made Him [God the Son] to be sin for us, Who knew no sin; that we might be made the righteousness of God in Him." Thankfully, God will one day replace this old corruptible body with an incorruptible body. I COR15:52,53, "In a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trump: for the trumpet shall sound, and the dead shall be raised incorruptible, and we shall be changed. For this corruptible must put on incorruption, and this mortal must put on immortality." Amen! What a day that will be. But until that glorious day, we will always be at war with the flesh. I PTR 2:11, "Dearly beloved, I beseech you as strangers and pilgrims, abstain from fleshly lusts, which war against the soul." The Bible calls fleshly lusts "a war against the soul." A war is won fighting one battle at a time.
King David was called a man after God's own heart in I SAM 13:14, "The LORD hath sought Him a man after His own heart." Tragically, David coveted Uriah's wife, Bath-sheba, committed adultery with her, impregnated her, and then murdered her husband to hide the sin (II SAM 11:1-17). What a horrible king! How could such a rotten person be a man after God's own heart? It just proves that even the best of Christians mess up big sometimes. Every believer struggles with the sinful flesh on a daily basis. David was a man after God's own heart because David loved God's Word. PSALM 119:140, "Thy word is very pure: therefore Thy servant loveth it." Yet, David ruined his life because of sin. His reputation was ruined. His friends and own family turned against him. He lost his throne for a time and his beloved son Absalom was executed. David's first child by Bath-sheba died. David paid dearly for his sins. In PSALM 51:3,4,12, we read David's prayer of repentance unto God, "For I acknowledge my transgressions: and my sin is ever before me. Against Thee, Thee only, have I sinned, and done this evil in Thy sight: that Thou mightest be justified when Thou speakest, and be clear when Thou judgest. Restore unto me the joy of Thy salvation; and uphold me with Thy free Spirit." Notice that David did not ask God to save him again; but rather, to restore the "joy" of salvation. Also notice that David calls it "Thy salvation." Salvation belongs to God alone, that is His department. Our part is to BELIEVE ON THE LORD JESUS CHRIST (ACTS 16:31).
No believer has God's permission to sin. RMS 3:31 plainly states, "Do we then make void the law through faith? God forbid: yea, we establish the law." And again in RMS 6:15, "What then? shall we sin, because we are not under the law, but under grace? God forbid." These Scriptures clearly teach that believers are no longer under the curse of the Law; but rather, are under God's saving grace by faith in Christ Jesus. We are under grace and salvation is completely in God's hands. Nevertheless, some believers do choose to live in sin, as witnessed in the lives of many of God's men in the Bible. Noah got drunk (GEN 9:21). Samson had sex with a prostitute (JUDGES 16:1). Abraham and Sara doubted God, laughing at His promise (GEN 17:16,17). Jeremiah quit preaching God's Word (JER 20:9). Isaiah had unclean lips (ISAIHA 6:5). Jonah fled from God's will (JONAH 1:10). Peter cursed the name of Jesus and denied knowing Him (MK 14:71). The Apostle Paul said he struggled with sin continually (RMS 7:14-25). These are just a handful of examples of believer's who struggled with sin in their lives.
PROV 24:16 states, "For a just man falleth seven times, and riseth up again: but the wicked shall fall into mischief." Everyone fails at times when it comes to living right. Even the most mature of Christians mess up. If we were perfect we wouldn't need a Savior. Yet, there is a vast difference between the heart's attitude of the righteous versus the wicked. Many people don't even try to live right anymore. The nicknaming of Las Vegas to the hideous "SIN CITY" is evidence of this. What a mockery of God! I can assure you that what HAPPENS in Vegas is recorded in Heaven! God will not be mocked. GAL 6:7, "Be not deceived; God is not mocked: for whatsoever a man soweth, that shall he also reap." It is no trifle matter with God when men live in sin, defying the Word of God, indulging in that which God calls abominations.
Here are three Scriptural principles to help us live right for God:
PSALM 119:11, "Thy word have I hid in mine heart, that I might not sin against thee." This is reading, studying and memorizing the Scriptures. Remember, sin is the breaking of God's Laws. All sin is against God.
MK 14:38, "Watch ye and pray, lest ye enter into temptation. The spirit truly is ready, but the flesh is weak." Prayer is asking. We need to continually pray about everything, trusting upon the Lord through prayer.
GAL 2:20, "I am crucified with Christ: nevertheless I live; yet not I, but Christ liveth in me: and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by the faith of the Son of God, Who loved me, and gave himself for me." God doesn't merely want to help us live the Christian life; but rather, to live the Christian life through us.
A genuine born-again believer cannot live in sin without being convicted by God's Holy Spirit. HEB 12:7,8, "If ye endure chastening, God dealeth with you as with sons; for what son is he whom the father chasteneth not? But if ye be without chastisement, whereof all are partakers, then are ye bastards, and not sons." The Bible teaches that a true believer will be chastened (disciplined) by God. A person who does not have the Holy Spirit living within their body is not saved. RMS 8:9, "Now if any man have not the Spirit of Christ, he is none of His." It is God's Spirit that causes the believer to desire to please God, to get back up when we sin and try to do better, to ask God to lead us not into temptation but deliver us from evil. The unsaved person doesn't have God's Spirit living within them, and doesn't care about living right. The wicked parade their sins publicly and defend their wickedness as being acceptable and moral, which it certainly is not. Most people who claim to be Christians nowadays are not. Most people have churchianity without Christianity. Many people think that attending Catholic mass will get them to Heaven, but Hell will be their home if they don't become born-again as Jesus commanded in JHN 3:3, "Except a man be born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God." Many arrogant religious people will be horrified one day when they are cast into the Lake of Fire forever. In JHN 10:35c Jesus warned, "The Scripture cannot be broken."
The Bible openly declares that a just man, i.e., a saved man, stumbles seven times; yet riseth again. The number seven in the Bible represents God's perfection. Hence, a righteous man spends his entire life trying to live for God, while messing up along the way, and continually getting back up because he desires to please the Lord. This is exactly what Paul said in RM7:15, "For that which I do I allow not: for what I would, that do I not; but what I hate, that do I." The wicked are not so, but quit, and don't even try to please God. That's what PROV 24:16 means. The wicked person couldn't care less about pleasing God with their life. While they indulge in vile sins, they condemn the believer who stumbles even once into sin.
It is important to make a distinction between the believer who falls seven times, yet rises up again because they love Jesus; versus the unbeliever who has no desire to live right because they've never experienced genuine Biblical repentance concerning their sins. This is vastly different than losing one's salvation, which is IMPOSSIBLE. The fact that God said a just man falls down repeatedly evidences that salvation cannot be lost. Christians do sin, sometimes horribly so, but the evidence of their salvation is that godly sorrow worketh repentance, and they will hopefully, eventually, get back up for God. Yet, Paul clearly stated in I COR 5:5 that a saved man can be turned over "unto Satan for the destruction of the flesh, that the spirit may be saved in the day of the Lord Jesus." Self-righteous religious people need to stop condemning those who they feel are more sinful than themselves, for they are just as sinful according to JAMES 2:10, "For whosoever shall keep the whole law, and yet offend in one point, he is guilty of all." A hypocrite is someone who views another person as being a bigger sinner than them self. We're all a bunch of dirty, rotten, hell-deserving sinners.
When a backslidden believer gets right with God, that doesn't mean they're getting saved again, it just means they're getting right with their Heavenly Father. Contrary to what Pentecostals teach, king David DIDN'T lose his salvation when he sinned with Bath-sheba and murdered her husband. There is absolutely no Scriptural evidence to support the claim that David was saved whene he committed murder. The Bible says, "A just man falleth seven times." Not a Saved man You can't rise up if you don't fall. Although sin is never acceptable to God, struggling with sin is an inherent part of the Christian life, because our flesh continually wars against the Spirit of God living within our body. No one should use this incident to state that a Saved sinner will commit murder and remain saved, its just not so. Just man falling is not a Just man murdering . The scriptures do not say that David was saved it says he was a man after Gods own heart , God used King David , just like he used the 12 Apostles m they weren't saved the whole 3 years they were ministering with Christ ,NO none got saved until>...... they witnessed the Death Burial and resurrection . they were called , separted and used for the Glory of God but they were not saved.
Here are some precious words from PSALM 103:8-14, "The LORD is merciful and gracious, slow to anger, and plenteous in mercy. He will not always chide: neither will He keep his anger for ever. He hath not dealt with us after our sins; nor rewarded us according to our iniquities. For as the heaven is high above the earth, so great is His mercy toward them that fear him. As far as the east is from the west, so far hath He removed our transgressions from us. Like as a father pitieth his children, so the LORD pitieth them that fear Him. For He knoweth our frame; He remembereth that we are dust." What a beautiful passage of Scripture! What a wonderful God! Our Lord knows them that fear Him and He remembers that we are dust. How ridiculous is it for anyone to teach that God takes away the birthright of His own children, kicking them out of the family of God because of sin in their life. "For a just man falleth seven times." The Bible says that fallen man "riseth up again," it doesn't say he gets saved again. The second birth cannot be undone. If saved, always saved.
Researched and Prepared; by Sam Martino
PSALM 37:28, “For the LORD loveth judgment, and forsaketh not his saints;
they are preserved for ever: but the seed of the wicked shall be cut off.”
Preservation; Not Perseverance
The Word of God teaches preservation concerning His saints, not perseverance. Here are some more Scriptures that speak concerning the preservation of the saints.
LUKE 17:33, "Whosoever shall seek to save his life shall lose it; and whosoever shall lose his life shall preserve it."
1st THESSALONIANS 5:23, "And the very God of peace sanctify you wholly; and I pray God your whole spirit and soul and body be preserved blameless unto the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ."
JUDE 1:1, "JUDE, the servant of Jesus Christ, and brother of James, to them that are sanctified by God the Father, and preserved in Jesus Christ, and called."
Notice in JUDE 1:1 that the Christian believer is "preserved in Jesus Christ." The word "preserved" in JUDE 1:1 means "to guard from loss or injury" and to "keep an eye upon." God keeps His eye upon us continually and protects us. Hence, our salvation is safe and secure in the Lord's hands. There is no chance of losing our salvation. We are "preserved in Jesus Christ," that is, we have eternal life and no one can take it away from us, nor can we mess things up and lose it. Those who trust in Jesus Christ are preserved unto God's heavenly kingdom...
2nd TIM 4:18, "And the Lord shall deliver me from every evil work, and will preserve me unto his heavenly kingdom: to whom be glory for ever and ever. Amen."
The word "preserve" in 2nd TIM 4:18 means "to deliver or protect." Hence, God will make good on His promise of eternal life to those who believe on Jesus Christ. God will deliver as PROMISED. The Bible teaches that God will finish what He has started in each and every Christian... From the King James Bible, The Words of God in the English speaking language.
PHILLIPIANS 1:6, "Being confident of this very thing, that he which hath begun a good work in you will perform it until the day of Jesus Christ."
This means that salvation CANNOT be lost. The Bible teaches that God begins "a good work" in every believer at the time of salvation, and God "performs it" until the day of Jesus Christ. To say that salvation can be lost is to say that God doesn't finish what He has started in every believer.
The Bible only mentions the word "perseverance" once in relation to prayer...
EPHESIANS 6:18, "Praying always with all prayer and supplication in the Spirit, and watching thereunto with all perseverance and supplication for all saints."
The Perseverance of the Saints is a false doctrine that John Calvin popularized. The Bible teaches that each believer is PRESERVED in Christ Jesus unto God's heavenly kingdom. We do not need to put forth effort, nor live a certain type of lifestyle, to maintain our salvation. The change that genuine repentance should bring in the life of a believer has absolutely nothing to do with saving-faith itself. We are saved by God's merciful grace through faith in the redemptive work of Jesus Christ. God's preserves His own; this is, He delivers us as promised unto His heavenly kingdom and we are safe in the hands of the Father. JHN 10:28, "And I give unto them eternal life; and they shall never perish, neither shall any man pluck them out of my hand." Notice what Jesus said, "they shall never perish." This is a divine promise from the Lord which teaches Eternal Security. If we can never perish as believers, then we cannot lose our salvation.
JHN 10:29,30, "My Father, which gave them me, is greater than all; and no man is able to pluck them out of my Father's hand. I and my Father are one." Jesus said that "no man is able to pluck them out of my Father's hand." "No man" includes one's self. It is impossible for anyone to lose their salvation, for God has said that "no man" can remove us from God's divine hand of protection, and that must include our self as well.
The Bible speaks plainly concerning salvation, "And I give unto them eternal life; and they shall never perish" (JOHN 10:28a). When Jesus says, "they shall never perish," He is simply saying that every born-again believer is "preserved in Jesus Christ." God watches over His children and delivers them unto eternal life as He has PROMISED. God does not require His children to persevere as part of saving-faith; no, rather, God preserves us by His mighty power, sealing us with the Holy Spirit, and finishing the good work He hath begun in us. Perseverance places the burden of salvation upon mankind, which is sinful self-righteousness; BUT, the Word of God teaches that salvation is solely of the Lord, and God preserves each believer in Christ Jesus. We are saved by HIS RIGHTEOUSNESS, i.e., the righteousness of Jesus Christ which God imputes (attributes to) our record at the time of salvation. 2nd COR5:21, "For He hath made Him to be sin for us, Who knew no sin; that we might be made the righteousness of God in Him." Amen!
ETERNAL LIFE IS ETERNAL. It is NOT “life until you sin again.” Jesus promised us “eternal life” and it is ridiculous to think that He didn’t mean that He gives us life that would never end. Eternal life begins THE MOMENT when we believe.
The believer “is passed from death unto life.” (John 5:24).
SALVATION IS A “BY BIRTH” SITUATION. A birth cannot be undone or reversed. “Once born, always born, Jesus did not teach a man must be born again and again and perhaps even yet again. We don’t have a second opportunity to be born again physically, nor do we have or even need a second opportunity to be born again spiritually once we have received our spiritual birth.
SALVATION (ETERNAL LIFE) IS A FREE GIFT. It is not something that is earned or can be deserved. Works earn “rewards,” not salvation. Romans 5:15-18, 6:23; Eph. 2:8,9; 1 Corinthians 3:11-15.
SALVATION IS BASED UPON HIS RIGHTEOUSNESS, NOT OURS. Philippians 3:9 and 2 Corinthians 5:21 teach that it is Christ’s righteousness that is imputed to our account. If our salvation is based upon Christ righteousness and not our own, how could our own unrighteousness ever make His righteousness insufficient? When God declares us righteous, it is settled. Romans 8:33.
WE ARE KEPT BY THE POWER OF GOD. 1 Peter 1:4,5 teaches this. If it is God’s power that keeps us, who is stronger or more powerful than God?
JESUS IS HOLDING US IN HIS HAND. John 10:28. We are not holding onto God; He is holding onto us! Even if we could let go, He cannot and will not.
1 Peter 1:3-5 Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, which according to his abundant mercy hath begotten us again unto a lively hope by the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, (4) To an inheritance incorruptible, and undefiled, and that fadeth not away, reserved in heaven for you, (5) Who are kept by the power of God through faith unto salvation ready to be revealed in the last time.
WE SHALL NEVER COME INTO CONDEMNATION OR JUDGMENT. John 5:24 teaches us this. As in John 3:16 and John 10:28 wherein we are told we will NEVER PERISH.
In John 11:25 wherein Jesus said the believer will “NEVER DIE,” here we are told the believer will “NEVER COME INTO CONDEMNATION.”
If a person could lose salvation, this would not be true.
WE HAVE ALREADY PASSED FROM DEATH UNTO LIFE. Now get this. According to John 5:24, the believer has already passed (past tense) from death into life. This cannot be speaking of physical life but must be speaking of spiritual death and life. We have never yet been dead physically but we were dead spiritually.
THE BELIEVER SHALL NEVER DIE. In John 11:25 Jesus said to Martha that “whoever lives and believes in me shall NEVER die.” He surely was not speaking of physical death so He must have been speaking of a spiritual death.
JESUS SAID HE WOULD NOT CAST US OUT. As in Hebrews 13:5 wherein Jesus said He would never leave us nor forsake us, He tells us in John 6:37 He will never cast us out.
JESUS WILL LOSE NOTHING (THAT INCLUDES US). John 6:39 tells us that Jesus will lose nothing but “will raise it up at the last day, Whatever we are, we are something! This answers those who say He will not cast us out but we could choose to walk out on our own.
WE ARE “JUSTIFIED” (DECLARED RIGHTEOUS) BY FAITH. When it is God who does the justifying, that is all we need. Romans 5:1 teaches us that it is because we are justified by faith that we have “peace with God.”
WE ARE SEALED BY THE HOLY SPIRIT. When it is God who does the sealing, man cannot break the seal. The Holy Spirit is given to every believer to be with him and in him forever. 1 Corinthians 6:19, 20 teaches us that we are “bought with a price,” the blood of Christ. THE HOLY SPIRIT IS OUR “EARNEST. (GUARANTEE) OF OUR INHERITANCE.Titus 1:2 teaches us that God cannot lie and He has promised us eternal life. God said it; that settles it!
GOD SAYS WE CAN KNOW WE HAVE ETERNAL LIFE. We are taught in I John 5:13 that the believer can “KNOW” that he has eternal life. How could he possibly know it if he could still wind up in hell?
EVEN IF WE ARE FAITHLESS, GOD REMAINS FAITHFUL FOR HE CANNOT DENY HIMSELF.
2 Timothy 2:13 We are “in Christ” once we have believed. For Him to deny us, He would have to deny Himself.
OUR SINS (ALL OF THEM) HAVE BEEN FORGIVEN. If all sins are forgive, how could any sin send a believer to hell?Acts 13:38, 39 says that ALL who believe are justified from all things.” To be justified is to be declared righteous. When Christ died for sin, it was for all sin (past, present, and future).
NOBODY (INCLUDING SATAN) CAN LAY ANYTHING TO OUR CHARGE. Satan may accuse us for what we have done but it was God who sent His Son to pay the penalty for our sins and it is He who declares us righteous. If God declares us righteous, who is Satan to say otherwise? Romans 8:33.
NOTHING CAN SEPARATE US FROM GOD’S LOVE. Romans 8:37-39 teaches this clearly. “Nothing” certainly includes our sin.
THE GIFTS AND CALLINGS OF GOD ARE WITHOUT REPENTANCE. Romans 11:29 Nobody can argue that salvation is not a gift. See Romans 5 and notice how many times the word “gift” is used in describing salvation.
SALVATION IS NEVER BASED ON WORKS SO HOW COULD ONE LOSE IT BY EVEN BAD WORKS? Verses like Ephesians 2:8,9, Titus 3:5, Romans 3:28, 4:5, 11:6, and Galatians 2:16 all clearly teach the receiving of salvation apart from works. (Note especially Romans 4:5 “to him that worketh not.”) The believer will NEVER PERISH. If this does not shout eternal security, then one must be determined to believe otherwise. John 3:16 is perhaps the most quoted and least understood verse in the Bible. Many would rather quote it this way: “For God so loved the world that he gave his only begotten son that whosoever believes and continues to please God might not perish but have eternal life.”THE BIBLE DOES NOT TEACH THAT SALVATION CAN BE LOST. While there are numerous verses that some THAT TRY to use to teach that salvation can be lost, there are no verses that say such a thing.
There are verses that teach subjects like “falling from grace,” “working out your own salvation,” “enduring to the end,” and “overcoming” which people try to use to teach the possibility of losing one’s salvation but this is not the case. Study those verses in their context and you will see they DO NOT teach a loss of salvation. Sadly, many have been deceived into believing their salvation can be lost, even though the Bible never teaches such a doctrine. You might ask: “How can this be?” While it is true that they have their verses they use to teach what is called “Conditional Security,” those verses are taken OUT OF CONTEXT.
It all boils down to this: Those who BELIEVE are not condemned and those who have NOT BELIEVED are condemned already. (See John 3:18) Some think the doctrine of Eternal Security gives the believer a license to sin. Far from it! This doctrine frees the believer to truly live for God out of his love and gratefulness. There are also those who think this doctrine of Eternal Security to be a doctrine separate from that of Salvation, yet I disagree. If being saved doesn’t ultimately land a person in heaven, what was he saved from? Instead of salvation, many actually teach we have a sort of probation-life until we sin so badly we cross the line and lose our salvation. What this amounts to is the fact that man continually looks for ways to put his own works back into the equation.
Romans 11:6, “And if by grace, then is it no more of works: otherwise grace is no more grace. But if it be of works, then is it no more grace: otherwise work is no more work.”