This will not be a full, in-depth theological discussion on salvation, but will be concise and hopefully understable to the reader and bring clearity of its application to ones life.

How Do I Stay Saved?

Does it Come and Go?

Is there a condition or a way of keeping it that I would have to follow?

Are there rules?

IS IT FAITH?

IS IT WORKS?

IS IT WORKS + FAITH?

IS IT FAITH + WORKS?

WHAT DO I HAVE TO DO?

HOW DO I KNOW IF GOD ACCEPTS ME OR NOT?

Keep these questions in mind as you read this article.

Turn in your Bible: READ and Relate with these key passages:

-James 2:14-23- Thought– There is the faith you have in a chair to hold you up when you sit in it, and then there is a faith that leads to repentance that is alone a gift from God. These are not the same, but similar in application.

-Matthew 7:16-20- Thought- Is it good for food? (Ripe/Rotten) Does your life portray the lifestyle of one who believes in Christ, and can people see that faith in action by the attitude of your heart towards Christ?

Look at John 3:7-

“Born again”- we are born in sin, (inherited from our first created, fallen, human parents Adam and Eve) and therefore need to be born again. This simply means having our hearts changed and bent towards Christ by the Holy Spirit’s work alone- having our heart’s changed, and now desiring God’s will and not our own will only.

“This once saved, always saved isn’t wrong. It just isn’t right. It’s not right because you have to define what once saved means, and I firmly say I believe “once saved, always saved” when we understand salvation in Biblical terms. The ground of the assurance of “once saved’’, is not my profession of faith in Christ. But it is Christ’s declaration of me as His.”

-Al Mohler; “Can I Lose My Salvation.”

As I read and ponder this thought, I have come to thoughts of the one and only true, Holy God, being abundantly sovereign to those He saves; and likewise, those He does not save.

I cannot resist the pull towards such an awesome and Divine Character. In humility to this great and mighty Lord, I respond in fear and proclaim:

But, O Holy God, if I be not one of Your chosen people, I yet still stand in awe before You in the wonder of such a merciful transaction You have made on behalf of those who are!

Does this mean that I am flirting with the thoughts of Christ casting me out? Meaning, I am saved now, or that I think I am saved, but really I am not sure? No! Christ alone is able to keep those saved whom He alone has saved. If one be in Christ, then Christ alone has claimed them as His own!

I am, however, relishing in the fact that God chose to save such a sinful wretch like me! I did absolutely nothing to cause Him at any moment to save me. What I deserved and what would have been fair, is for God to cast me into hell and forget about me. But He didn’t. I know I am saved and in fact, I do not think for one moment that a declaration such as the one above would even cross the mind of an unsaved person. For context, read John 6:35-39.

There a plenty, but here are a few Biblical views of   Salvation:

1 Peter 1:3-5, John 3:16, 36, 10:27-30.

Believers must be willing to grow in their understanding that God is greater, mightier, stronger, wiser, more gracious, and more merciful in holding them in Himself, than they are at holding onto His promises. He alone is inerrant, faithful, and always constant. While those He has saved still sin, being that there is no Biblical proof of sinless perfection, He is constant and remains faithful to forgive, which is His faithfulness to His own covenant for His own people.

“The secret of the Lord is with those who fear Him, And He will show them His covenant.”

(Psalm 25:14 NKJV)

Although believers sin less, they will not be sinless until they are with Christ in His perfect glory.

Believers will never comprehend Him fully in this life, and I submit, not even able to do so in the life to come. Only He is able to keep those who have been saved by Him, through Him, in Him, to Him, and for Him- keeping them always with Him.

Christ saves believers from themselves, for Himself.  A profession of faith is from the reality of its own impact in them. A believers profession of faith is not for faith. One cannot make a profession of this faith if they don’t have it. That is to say, one cannot know Christ without Christ, or one cannot know the gift without the gift.

Believers do not pull God towards them, He pulls them to Himself, and through the obedience of His Son, accepts them on the basis of the righteousness God the Son gives to them by His substitutionary atoning and perfect sacrifice in their stead.

Not of any good that they have done, but only of the goodness of Jesus on their behalf! He paid the debt. He makes us holy before God. He makes us righteous before God. The believers goodness and righteousness in and of themselves, to God, is like filthy rags!  (Isaiah 64:6).

This passage is often used as a proof text to condemn all our acts of goodness as nothing more than “filthy rags”

The term “filthy rags” here is quite strong. The word filthy is a translation of the Hebrew word iddah, (ee-duh) which literally means “the bodily fluids from a woman’s menstrual cycle.” The word rags is a translation of begged, meaning “a rag or garment.” Therefore, these “righteous acts” are considered by God as repugnant as a soiled feminine hygiene product.

We think God sees us doing nice things for people and we every now and again have a good thought about whatever may pop into our head. Yet that thinking before a holy God? SICK! We cannot hide from Him. He knows our very frame. He knows the wickedness in our hearts and our evil desires. (Jer. 17:9). The number of hairs on our heads. The sand on the shores. He knows! The Bible says in Hebrews 10:31 “It is a fearful thing to fall into the hands of the living God.”

Salvation. Trust in Christ. Faith.

How do we even know the person next to us has the faith they claim to have?

The Bible says in Matt. 7:16-20.

We should not be so worried about the next man’s sinful state as much as our own because we are all sinners who must face a Holy and Just God Who is also the Justifier of sin. You will either be welcomed by Him, or be cast into the Lake of Fire by Him. If you’re waiting to figure out whether all this is really true or not, then there is really no genuine faith whatsoever.

Although there is no faith in God without Christ, so is there no faith in Christ that stands alone in its profession of Christ. A believer will always work from their faith because faith is always accompanied by a mind and heart that [has been] prepared for [every good work]. Not every nice work, but every good work, which is work done only [in Christ.] 2 Timothy 3:16-17; Psalm 51:17.

The word rendered ‘contrite’ means to be broken or crushed, as when the bones are broken. It is used to describe the mind or heart that is crushed or broken by the weight of the guilt of wrongdoing, or known Biblically as sin. God will not treat the person with a contrite heart, with contempt or disregard. He looks on them with favor because they are in His Son Jesus Christ, and proclaims them as His own.

  There are at least 4 things that will be noticeable about those who are truly in Christ.

More importantly, these are 4 things that should be inward yearnings and only realistic from genuine faith and a selfless trust and belief in Christ and what He has done on behalf of those who are His, that they may be strong in the faith they profess, and hopefully possess; and that only by the Holy Spirits work in them.

So, How is one saved? How does one recognize they have been given this great salvation? How does one keep it? It is by Christ alone! He has accomplished this great entry, and brings His people with Him into everlasting life, both secured now, revealed in eternity later, and alone for those who believe, proclaim, and confess that Jesus is LORD!

(See 1 Corinthians 12:3)

At least, these 4 qualities should be apparent in the life of a believer:

• A hunger for God and His Word! John 17:3, (Also Ps. 42:2, Matt. 5:6)
• A life of continual prayer, and a heart posture of repentance in how they live. (Ephesians 3:20; Romans 8:32.)
• Humility. (Proverbs 18:12; 26:12)
• The fruits of the Spirit, producing godly character. (Galatians 5)

We are saved because of Christ, to Christ, for Christ-

Eph. 2:8-9, John 10:28, James 2:14-17, Romans 5:8.

By Grace,

Through Faith,

In Christ..

According to Scripture

For His Glory.

All of this is done without us. Salvation comes from and returns praise to the only Sovereign Lord Who makes it happen, and Whom without, will never happen.

All of this I have said can be summed up into this:

If the gift of salvation which was freely given by Christ to the believer was somehow earned by the believer, they would indeed lose it.

May we all see Christ as most glorious and in need of no one to help Him accomplish that which He alone is able to do, has done, and will do until the consummation of all time be of earthy measure no more.

“The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God is at hand. Repent and believe the Gospel.” – Jesus

(Mark 1:15)