Does accepting Jesus give you eternal security?

Some people endlessly debate the issue of eternal security. Can you loose your salvation once you accept Jesus Christ as your lord and savior?

Some would say that when they accepted Christ as their lord and savior, they have eternal security regardless what they do. When they die, they will go to heaven.

The Bible teaches us in John 15:6 that you can loose your salvation: “If anyone does not abide in Me, he is cast out as a branch and is withered, and they gather them and throw into the fire and they are burned.”

Verses 7 and 8 continue: “If you abide in Me, and My words abide in you, you will ask what you desire, and it shall be done for you. By this My Father is glorified, that you bear much fruit; so you will be My disciples.”

Notice the contrast from verse 6 to verses 7 and 8. Jesus tells us in verse 6 that those who do not abide in him are cast out and thrown into fire and burned. It means those who do not abide in him will definitely be thrown to the fire and burned. In Revelation 20:11-15, we are told the dead will be judged, also known as the great white throne of judgment.

“Then I saw a great white throne and him who sat on it, from whose face the earth and the heaven fled away,” the passage begins. “And there was found no place for them. And I saw the dead, small and great, standing before God, and books were opened. And another book was opened, which is the Book of Life. And the dead were judged according to their works, by the things which were written in the books. The sea gave up the dead who were in it, and Death and Hades delivered up the dead who were in them. And they were judged, each one according to his works. Then Death and Hades were cast into the lake of fire. This is the second death. And anyone not found written in the Book of Life was cast into the lake of fire.

“And anyone not found written in the Book of Life was cast into the lake of fire,” it continues.

I believe Jesus was referring to the lake of fire in John 15:6 when he said, “and throw into the fire and they are burned.”

The contrast is in the next two verses of John 15 quoted above. Jesus also said, “You are already clean because of the word that I have spoken to you,” and in John 15:5 that “for without Me, you can do nothing.”

Jesus was telling his disciples their eternal security is fully secured in the spiritual realm. You remember, God deployed his son from heaven to earth to do the will of the father. The will of the father is ”that everyone who sees the Son and believes in Him should have everlasting life.”

Jesus wants them to continue to abide in him in their daily activities. It means for everything we do, Jesus must be included always in the equation of our life.

I encourage fellow Christians to examine yourselves and ask these questions first before you decide any activity in your daily walk with him:

• Do I abide in Jesus and do his words abide in me?

• Is the Lord pleased with the things I did today?

• Am I doing for myself or for the Lord?

Apostle Paul told us in the book of Romans that “there is therefore now no condemnation to those who are in Christ Jesus, who do not walk according to the flesh, but according to the spirit.”

Notice Romans 8:1 that says if you are in Christ, you are not condemned because Paul knew the words of Jesus in John 3:1-21, the conversation of Jesus and Nicodemus. However, there are added requirements for those “who do not walk according to the flesh, but according to the Spirit.”

What is he talking about the flesh and the spirit?

Romans also says, “So then, those who are in the flesh cannot please God. But you are not in the flesh but in the Spirit, if indeed the Spirit of God dwells in you. Now if anyone does not have the Spirit of Christ, he is not His.”

See the contrast in Romans 8:8-9 in living between the flesh and the spirit: “So then, those who are in the flesh cannot please God. But you are not in the flesh but in the Spirit, if indeed the Spirit of God dwells in you.” It means we must be spirit-filled by the Holy Spirit and our daily activities should be focused on God first. Spirit-filled is reading God’s word and living with it so that we please the father,

Paul continues in verses 13-14, “For if you live according to the flesh you will die; but if by the Spirit you put to death the deeds of the body, you will live. For as many as are led by the Spirit of God, these are sons of God.”

Now you know that if you want to have eternal security, you must abide in Jesus and live by the spirit of God, and put to death the fleshly desires.

Nauru Weah lives in Palmer.

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