Last week in the Tuesday Tea examining the Articles of Faith of the Amarillo Primitive Baptist Church I tried to write a few words examining the method in which eternal salvation comes to the Child of God. With that established, this week I will examine the surety of our salvation. What do the scriptures say about losing our salvation? What role does obedience play in keeping our salvation? Are we supposed to enjoy our salvation here in this life?
“5.We believe that all the chosen in Christ shall be called, regenerated and sanctified by the Holy Spirit; and they will all be justified in the sight of God by the righteousness of Christ imputed to them and will be preserved through grace and never fall away.”
The fifth Article of Faith of the Amarillo Primitive Baptist Church deals with what comes after our eternal salvation. Not only can we lose our salvation – the simple answer to that question being “NO!” – but how does it affect our life and walk here on this planet.
Our Salvation is Sure
“28 And I give unto them eternal life; and they shall never perish, neither shall any man pluck them out of my hand.
29 My Father, which gave them me, is greater than all; and no man is able to pluck them out of my Father’s hand.
30 I and my Father are one.” (John 10:28-30)
In these verses one important truth is established. Twice are we told that no man can pluck one of the elect out of the hand of salvation. The key to understanding these verses fully is the fact that they do not say no “other” man, but rather no man. In other words, you cannot remove yourself from the hand of salvation either. Salvation is an act solely of the Lord and whether or not you are obedient in this life has no impact on whether or not you are saved for eternity.
More Than a Passing Act
“28 And we know that all things work together for good to them that love God, to them who are the called according to his purpose.
29 For whom he did foreknow, he also did predestinate to be conformed to the image of his Son, that he might be the firstborn among many brethren.
30 Moreover whom he did predestinate, them he also called: and whom he called, them he also justified: and whom he justified, them he also glorified.” (Romans 8:28-30)
While verse 28 has often been distorted to promote many errant beliefs – it in all reality is the foundational text for a series of truths about our salvation and what follows after salvation. The scriptures clearly teach that salvation is not a drive by act that has no lasting effect on the believer.
Rather, after salvation we are told that we are called. This calling happens on many levels, but the simplest way to think about it is that we are called to action. Action as a spiritually alive child of God, called to action as one who has assurance there is a God, called to action as one who has truth revealed to him or her, or in the greatest sense called to action as a member of the true church of God. With all of this being the case we should strive to make sure our lives reflect our answer to that call to action.
So are we supposed to enjoy our salvation in this life? The Apostle Paul writes in Philippians 4:7 that we are to rejoice and rejoice. Not enjoying our salvation here in this life would be like getting a new car and refusing to drive it for several years. We have been given the greatest gift this world has ever known. Let us strive to live our lives in a way that shows we are rejoicing in our very present and real salvation.
May the Lord Bless you,
Elder J.W.
Amarillo PBC 
Great minds think alike. The blog post I published today was about having assurance of salvation.
This was actually an old post. I stuck it back to the front page in order to correspond with the two audio sermons added to to the website. However, it is a good topic for any day.