TEXT: Jude 1:3
“Beloved, when I gave all diligence to write unto you of the common salvation, it was needful for me to write unto you, and exhort you that ye should earnestly contend for the faith which was once delivered unto the saints.
WHAT IS SALVATION?
Are believers saved forever?
Jude, (the earthly half-brother of Jesus Christ) wrote an epistle in which he warned the Church to stick tenaciously to ‘the faith’ in it’s purest form. Exactly as it was delivered to the saints without embellishment. I believe the reason he did this was to stem a decline seen in the behavior of some.Those who misunderstood the grace of God as meaning ‘God no longer minds how we live’ once we’re saved.
As wrong as this perception by some was, and as urgent as the need to correct that anomaly in the Body of Christ was; it still doesn’t re-define Salvation to mean “Jesus’s finished works plus your own supplemental works”. It doesn’t imply “Jesus’s obedience plus your own”.
Jesus speaking to the Jews who were under the Law of Moses taught that only a man that doeth righteousness is righteous.
Why did he do this?Because under the Law, righteousness was attained by doing it’s tenets, every jot and tittle of the commandments.
Gal 3:12″And the law is not of faith: but, The man that doeth them shall live in them”.
The Priest Zecharias and Elizabeth, parents of John-de-baptist were described as righteous. And it explains clearly how this righteousness came about. By doing observable acts of obedience to the Law.
Luke 1:6″And they were both righteous before God, walking in all the commandments and ordinances of the Lord blameless”.
BUT then, if attaining righteousness by man’s obedience were sufficient, Christ needn’t have died.Romans 3:20 is further proof that this form of righteousness by works was even ‘fanthom’ righteousness, as it only counted with men. Before God, there was none righteous.
Anyone, Teacher, Apostle or Prophet who equates the New Testament righteousness to this form, (although our Lord chided the Jews with it), NEEDS TO LEARN THE GOSPEL AFRESH, like Apollos had to.(Acts18:26)
Apostle Paul actually grieved that men were ignorant of God’s true righteousness, and went about to establish their own.
Rom 10:2-3:
“For I bear them record that they have a zeal of God, but not according to knowledge. For they being ignorant of God’s righteousness, and going about to establish their own righteousness, have not submitted themselves unto the righteousness of God”.
So are believers saved forever?
This has been the bone of contention amongst the believers dating as far back as the early Church in Jerusalem. It’s amazing that it still is. BUT IT NEEDN’T BE.
Recently, the Church has been reawakened to the true Gospel of Grace in Christ by some daring preachers, some young and others not so young. I have been traveling around preaching since 1989. Why I had to wait until 2010 to get a glimpse of the true Gospel of Christ still baffles me. Hearing the testimonies of other even older preachers, I found out I wasn’t alone.
Indeed we’re in good company with Apostles Peter and John, who started out with Gospel of the Kingdom(majoring on sin, repentance and baptism), and later learning from Apostle Paul the true Gospel. Peter and John were humble enough to acknowledge the Truth and did run with it.
Listen to Peter’s candour in2 Pet 3:15-16:
“And account that the longsuffering of our Lord is salvation; even as our beloved brother Paul also according to the wisdom given unto him hath written unto you; As also in all his epistles, speaking in them of these things; in which are SOME THINGS HARD TO BE UNDERSTOOD, which they that are unlearned and unstable wrest, as they do also the other scriptures, unto their own destruction.
Now, what are those those ‘things-hard- to-be-understood?
One of them is the question we’re dealing with today, especially the answer to the question.
It’s amazing that between the outpouring of the HolyGhost on Pentecost day (Acts 2) and the Vision of Apostle Paul (Acts 9), was a whopping 20 years span.
It’s like the Holyghost waited patiently to see if the earlier Apostles will get it, but after twenty years, the Lord tapped on ‘Saul of Tarsus’, an outsider to reveal the truth afresh.
Gal 1:11-12″But I certify you, brethren, that the gospel which was preached of me is not after man. For I neither received it of man, neither was I taught it, but by the revelation of Jesus Christ”.
With this background in mind, let’s approach our question, whether believers saved forever or not.I give to you two fact witnesses namely, the Lord himself in John 6:37;and Paul in Hebrews 7:25.(Read up privately).
1 John 5:13
“These things have I written unto you that believe on the name of the Son of God; that ye may know that ye have eternal life, and that ye may believe on the name of the Son of God”.
Like Peter, Apostle John also started out with the Jerusalem brethren along the lines of Peter’s gospel.
But in the above verse, and as in all of his epistles to the Church, John demonstrated a pervert to the teaching of Grace, which Apostle Paul took ownership of in Rom 2:16, and 2 Tim 2:8.
The epistles of 1John, 2nd and 3rd John were indeed doctrinal explanations of his vision in Revelation.
After you believed and gave received Christ, all you need in life is Knowledge, and more knowledge of Truth.
1 Tim 2:4 ERV”God wants everyone to be saved and to fully understand the truth”.
So Apostle John in the verse above is saying categorically, that the most important thing a believer needs is KNOWLEDGE that he or she has ETERNAL LIFE, and that this knowledge is only secured by believing in the name of our Saviour Jesus Christ.
That’s your “First love” as a believer, the same thing the Angel warned against losing in Rev 2:4:”Nevertheless I have somewhat against thee, because thou hast left thy first love”.
John’s emphasis continues in same Chapter;
1 Jn 5:20:”And we know that the Son of God is come, and hath given us an UNDERSTANDING, that we may know him that is true, and we are in him that is true, even in his Son Jesus Christ. This is the true God, and ETERNAL LIFE”. Being in Christ is eternal life, can’t you get that? It’s so simple that you need someone’s help to misunderstand it. And such help is readily available from many zealous but ignorant preachers.
Jesus says in Jn 6:37,… I will in ‘no wise’ cast out..
This is old English for ” under no circumstances”, that means, no matter what.
And Paul puts it in a contemporary style in Heb 7:25…Christ is able to save to the ‘uttermost’.What is the meaning of uttermost ?
It means it’s Christ who upholds the believer even in the most bizarre circumstances. It’s Christ who anchors us and keeps us from falling into damnation, NOT our self works.
Your personal good personal CONDUCT as a believer is of paramount importance, but it’s not your saving grace. Yea, it is Christ that died, it’s Him that us risen to justify you.It’s by Christ that you’re KEPT.
CONCLUSION:Jude 1:24″Now unto him that is able to keep you from falling, and to present you faultless before the presence of his glory with exceeding joy”.Selah!
-NICH MBAEZUE PhD