Forgiven and Kept Forever

Welcome to the Preaching of the Cross Radio Podcast, featuring the radio ministry of Pastor James W.

Knox of the Bible Baptist Church of Deland, Florida.

Our prayer is that these half-hour Bible study programs will bring the lost to a saving knowledge of the Lord Jesus Christ and enable the saved to grow in the grace and knowledge of the Savior.

Now here's your host, Pastor James W.

Knox.

Ladies and gentlemen, boys and girls in all ships at sea.

I'm Brother James, and I greet you one more time.

In the name of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, the Lamb of God, which taketh away the sin of the world, I welcome you, as always, to the Preaching of the Cross Radio Broadcast.

We are in the midst of a series of Bible studies underscoring, reinforcing, setting forth, proclaiming the grand news that everyone who has trusted the Lord Jesus Christ for the salvation of their soul has been given everlasting life as a gift of God, not temporary life, not as long as you can hang on to it life, not if you're a good boy or a good girl life.

But since salvation is by grace through faith, since salvation is the gift of God, since salvation is said to be synonymous with, they're used interchangeably, salvation and eternal life, eternal life and salvation, we believe, we are persuaded that someone who has received the Lord Jesus Christ for the salvation of their soul, we believe that person has everlasting life.

We established our foundation in Romans 8, verses 38 and 39.

Romans 8:38

We'll not go back there.

And we began on the last broadcast to look at, I got the count for you, to look at 25 New Testament passages, well, Bible passages, because a couple are in the Old Testament.

25 places where God gives us absolute reason to believe that when he said eternal life, that's what he meant.

When he said everlasting life, that's what he meant.

And we're gonna hold God to it.

We're gonna trust him to keep his word.

We looked at Ephesians 2, 8 and 9 last time.

We looked at Ephesians 2, 4 and 6 last time.

We move now to John chapter number 3.

And this is a portion of the Bible.

If people know anything, they know this one.

I memorized this in Sunday school probably before I could read.

I believe I memorized at least John 3, 16.

I don't know about the surrounding verses, but uh they came along not long after.

And this is what the Bible says, John 3 starting at verse 14.

And as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, even so must the Son of Man be lifted up.

And he was, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life.

Now, what do you say we believe what we just read?

Just for the blessing of our soul, just for our spiritual well-being, what do you say we believe what God wrote?

Now, in the wilderness, Numbers 21, there were a group of people that were sinning against God.

And that sin provoked the Lord to send judgment upon them, as all sin eventually provokes God to send judgment upon the sinner.

In this particular case, the judgment was fiery serpents, many of them, so many of them that people were not only being bitten by these serpents and dying, but they were dying in great numbers.

It was a had to be a terrifying, terrifying scene.

And God instructed Moses, now listen carefully, God instructed Moses to make a serpent, they're being bitten by serpents, make a serpent, a representation of a serpent, put it on a pole, and lift it up, and then tell the people, if you have been bitten and you want to live, look upon the serpent.

God said, if you look upon this serpent, you can live.

Then you would have died.

That doesn't seem like a way to survive the bite of a poisonous snake, then then you would have died.

God didn't say to the people, what what seems logical to you?

What makes sense to you?

God gave sinning people who deserve to die.

Sinning people who were in the process of dying, sinning people who would not have survived until morning.

God gave them a way to live.

They had to believe him.

Now, if they didn't believe him, and they didn't have to, they would die.

If they did believe him, they would simply do what he said, look to the serpent on the pole, and God would heal them of this deadly poison, would spare their lives of the death they deserve, because they put faith in his word.

You can read all about it in the book of Numbers.

Now, the Bible says in the same way, in the same way, you have been bitten, I have been bitten, you have sinned, I have sinned, you are dying, I am dying, and we are going to die under the judgment of God because of our sin.

But but wait, but wait.

God's Son, Jesus Christ, is lifted up upon a cross.

And if you believe God and look to Him for your salvation, God will forgive your sin and save your soul.

He said, Well, I don't think it's that easy.

Then you'll die.

I don't think that could be the that doesn't seem like the way sins would be taken away.

Then you die.

I just don't think that's that's how God does it.

Then you're going to die.

You don't have to die.

If you do, it'll be on you.

It won't be on God.

It won't be because there wasn't a way for you to be saved.

It'll be because there was a way so simple, so easy.

And you you could have availed yourself of that way of salvation, but you didn't believe it.

It's not hard to be saved.

Sacraments, difficult.

Rituals, difficult.

Uh prayers for the dead, baptism for the dead, two-year missions, selling watch towers door-to-door, faithful church membership, tithe or die, all of that.

That's that's difficult.

Salvation, biblical salvation is not difficult.

Can you lift up your eyes and look at something?

Can you lift up your heart and look at something?

Can you obey God and do one simple thing?

Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ.

All right, so having said all that, why why why do we say that?

Because here's what the scripture says.

Look at it again, verse number 15, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have, have.

Present tense, not hope to have, not someday have, not maybe have.

Whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have eternal life.

From the very moment those people in the wilderness looked at that brazen serpent lifted up on that pole, they had temporary life.

And from the moment, the very moment you look to Jesus Christ for the salvation of your soul, God says you have eternal life.

Not that you're trying to have, might have, hope to have, have for a little while until it slips away.

No, you have eternal life.

That's what he said.

For verse 16, God so loved the world that he gave his only begotten son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but, listen, have present tense, ever lasting life.

Now, if you'll believe on the only begotten son, God said you would have present tense, life that lasts forever.

Not life that lasts until you lose it, not life that lasts until you slip up, not life that lasts until you walk away, everlasting life.

That's what he said.

What God said in the Bible.

For God sent not his son into the world to condemn the world, but that the world through him might be saved.

He that believeth on him is not condemned.

But he that believeth not is condemned already because he hath not believed in the name of the only begotten Son of God.

Now, why will you be condemned by God if you go to Mass every week of your life, but never believe on the Lord Jesus Christ for your salvation?

Because the only way to be saved is believing on the Lord Jesus Christ.

Why will you be condemned by God if you are baptized by a Baptist pastor and join a Baptist church and faithfully attend a Baptist church all the days of your life, but never believe on the Lord Jesus Christ?

Because the only way to be saved is to believe on the Lord Jesus Christ.

That's what the Bible says.

Your Lutheran baby sprinkling didn't save you.

Your Greek Orthodox baby sprinkling didn't save you.

Your sovereign election from before the foundation of the world that you got from John Calvin, who murdered people who disagree with him, doesn't save you.

You are saved when you believe on the Lord Jesus Christ from your heart.

And having believed on the Lord Jesus Christ from your heart, you are not temporarily saved or conditionally saved.

You have everlasting life.

That's what you just read in the Bible.

Now, if you want to argue with that, you can argue with me.

I'm not present.

If I was present, it wouldn't do you any good to argue with me.

I didn't write it.

God did.

Why would you argue with God and say I don't have everlasting life when he said you did?

I don't have eternal life when he said that's what he gave you.

Take it, receive it, be persuaded, be at peace, rejoice.

Do not dare.

Make that life that God gave you mean life till your next failure, life until you stray, life until you realize you're a wretched man who cannot do the good you would and once again do the evil that you would not.

God said this life is everlasting.

Praise the Lord.

Let's go next to Titus chapter three.

Cross-reference, proof text number four, is found in Titus chapter three, Timothy Titus chapter three, and we'll start at verse number three.

For we ourselves also were sometimes foolish, disobedient, deceived, serving diverse lusts and pleasures, living in malice and envy, hateful and hating one another.

Now, no one I'm speaking to right now, I don't think, I hope not, has done all of those things repeatedly.

I've not done all of those things repeatedly.

But I'm not speaking to anyone who hasn't done one of those things at least once.

I have.

Some time in our life we've been foolish.

Many times in our lives we've been disobedient.

We've all been deceived by someone somewhere.

We have served our lusts, we have given in to our uh to the pursuit of pleasures, malice, envy, hateful.

Not always.

Not toward everyone, but sometimes.

Toward somebody.

Well, here's what the Bible says.

But after that, why deny you're a sinner?

God knows you are, you know you are, everybody knows you are.

What we want to do is stop arguing about whether or not we've sinned and find out when is there a day when you passed from just a sinner to after that?

But after that, the kindness and love of God our Savior toward man appeared.

He's kind to fools, he's kind to disobedient haters, he's kind to people who are deceived and serving lusts.

What love, what boundless love.

The Bible says the kindest love of God, our Savior, toward man appeared, 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 Ghost, 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.

How about that?

Saved not by my works, saved without righteousness because I didn't have it, saved by God's grace, and what came with it?

The certain inheritance of eternal life.

Do you believe what God wrote in the Bible?

I do.

And it's it's brought such joy and peace to my heart, it'll do the same for you if you'll just trust him.

Come every soul by sin oppressed, there's mercy with the Lord, and he will surely give you rest by trusting in his word.

Only trust him.

Now, what a great hymn.

Though our lives had been a ceaseless stream of sin, God remained kind and loving.

Praise him.

This became apparent when he offered us a salvation that neither required nor took into account our works.

Our righteousness, yours such as it might be, mine such as it might be, plays no part in this salvation.

God's mercy results in our being saved.

He washes us clean.

He regenerates us, gives us a new birth, a new life.

He begins immediately or a miraculous work whereby the Holy Ghost takes up residence inside the believer and perpetually renews, ongoing, day by day, moment by moment, renews, the regenerating work wrought by the Father.

This was given to us in abundance.

Enough to save us, enough to renew us, grace and mercy to spare more than we could ever need.

All of this was made possible through the finished, accepted sacrifice of the Savior, Jesus Christ.

We are declared righteous.

That's justification, that's what it means.

Declared righteous.

God didn't say you are righteous.

I reckon you righteous.

I declare you righteous.

We are declared righteous, justified through the finished, accepted sacrifice of the Savior, Jesus Christ.

We are declared righteous by God because we put our trust in the righteous Son of God.

Now the result of this incredible salvation is not temporary life or conditional life, but it is what we read, eternal life.

Amazing, just amazing.

The Bible says, according to the hope of eternal life.

Let's try one more.

Romans chapter five, Romans chapter five and verse number one.

In Romans three, we learn what Jesus Christ did so we could be saved.

In Romans 4, we learn how it is that we are saved by believing on the Lord Jesus Christ by faith.

And then in Romans 5, verses 1 and 2, the scripture says, therefore, being justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ, by whom we have access by faith into this grace wherein we stand and rejoice in hope of the glory of God.

Romans 5:1

How about that?

We're declared righteous, just like Titus said, by the Father, because we believed the gospel of his son, and this results in peace with God, something that would be impossible were we living with the threat of hell fire hanging over our heads.

While we were sinners, Christ died for us.

When we put our faith in him, God justified us.

Because we are now justified by the precious blood of Jesus Christ, we are guaranteed salvation from wrath in the future.

It's almost too much to take in.

But in the pages of the sacred perfect book, which God wrote for man and preserved so that today you can sit with your Bible and I can sit with my Bible, and we can read the promises of God and know that they're sure and certain, and know that He gives salvation, He gives it to sinners who believe that Jesus Christ paid it all.

What peace, what hope, what joy comes into our hearts.

Abraham believed God.

It that belief was counted on to him for righteousness.

Now, my friend, just ever so quickly, and I I can't run any of these Bible verses.

Throughout the course of Abraham's life, he failed many times to be what he should have been.

You know, all have sinned and come short of the glory of God.

That's what the Bible says.

Abraham lied to an innkeeper.

He lied to a man regarding his wife, not once but twice.

He he fathered a child with a woman to whom he was not married.

And that caused all kinds of problems throughout history.

And God sent him to a promised land, and when things got tough there in a time of famine, he left.

Now, I'm not saying that to belittle Abraham.

I'm telling you that Abraham believed God in Genesis 12 and Genesis 15, and God counted that belief for righteousness, and all the failures I just mentioned in Abraham's life happened after that.

Yet Abraham enjoys everlasting life.

Because it's a gift of God, it's not of works, and when Abraham believed God imputed, counted, credited to his account, a righteousness he did not possess.

Even as David, this Romans 4, describeth the blessedness of the man unto whom God imputeth righteousness without works, saying, Blessed are they whose iniquities are forgiven and whose sins are covered, blessed is the man to whom the Lord will not impute sin.

So David trusted God to be his Savior.

And then if you read the long account of David's life, there are some dreadful, dreadful failures, some horrible sins.

You know what David said?

I'm ashamed of it.

I've repented of it.

I regret it.

I certainly wish it wasn't recorded for people to read about.

But I am so blessed that when I called on the Lord for salvation, he credited me with a righteousness I did not have, and will never again add to my account the sins that he's already forgiven.

So then when I turn from Abraham, a man who believed God, but didn't always live it, and David, a man who believed God, but didn't always live it, I am told, therefore, being justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ, by whom also we, just like Abraham, we, just like David, have access by faith into this grace, wherein we stand and rejoice in hope of the glory of God.

Abraham harmed his life by his sin.

Don't harm your life by sin.

David harmed his life by sinning.

I don't want to harm my life by sinning.

But Abraham wasn't saved by not sinning.

And David wasn't saved by not sinning.

And you, if you were saved, were not saved by not sinning, and I was not saved by not sinning.

We were saved by God's grace when we put our faith in Jesus Christ.

And God, God wrote on my account, on your account, righteousness, credit via Jesus Christ.

And that's my salvation, that's your salvation.

And that's why I have peace with God, and that's why I have eternal life, and that's why I'm trying to persuade you to live in peace with God and confidence that you have eternal life, not so that you can sin, but so that when you do, you will know that you still have a heavenly Father and a loving Savior to help you when you need it most.

My friends, this is the Preaching of the Cross Radio Broadcast.

I cannot say to you everything I'd like to say to you in one brief session.

This entire series of Bible studies is available online or at our website.

The web address is jameswnox.org.

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872-Glenwood Road D Land, Florida.

The zip code, sometimes I get it right, sometimes I get it wrong, is 32720.

32720.

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Until then, I'm Brother James.

May the Lord richly bless you, and good day.

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Until next time and throughout eternity, may Jesus Christ be praised.