Someone else could probably do this better than I will, but that person isn't here right now. I'm not doing this out of a desire to be right. You see, I'm seventeen; I change my mind a lot on many things, but there a few, just a few, beliefs that I know are right, that I feel so strongly about that it's hard to contain it all. One is the fact that God is incredible, amazing, beautiful, perfect, lovely, loving, holy, and powerful, and I am constantly, forever in awe of him. Another is eternal salvation.
Once we call on Jesus to forgive us of our sins, we are saved from Hell forever. No take-backs. How do I know? First, a bit of logic:
When Jesus died on the Cross, He did it to redeem all people and wipe out all sin. That was over two thousand years ago; at the point in time, I hadn't sinned yet. Never. I was completely perfect. Of course, I hadn't been born yet either, but what does that matter? Jesus didn't die to take away the sin of certain people at certain points in time. He died once for us all, so we only have to accept Him once. It's simple. Not easy, but simple. (Really, how easy is it to accept that the beautiful, incredible King of the universe lowered himself to this dirty world and died for me? It's hard.)
Another thing is time. God is not in time; the Holy Spirit is in time (and Jesus was in time, but now He's at the right hand of God in Heaven). The Holy Spirit guides us through our choices while God is above, outside of time, seeing it all happen at once. The beginning of the universe and the end of it -- He sees it all at the same moment. Therefore, He doesn't need us to constantly ask for forgiveness; we do it because it's right, but it has no affect on our everlasting souls.
Now that I'm done rambling, let's get to the verses.
Hebrews 10:14
"For by one offering, He forever made perfect those who are being made holy." (Emphasis added by me.)
Jesus sacrificed Himself to make us who are "saved" forever perfect, sinless. Our sin is forgiven forever, not just from the time we were born to the time we last prayed.
2 Timothy 2:13
"If we are unfaithful, He remains faithful, for he cannot deny Himself."
No matter what we do, He is faithful to us.
Romans 8:15-16
"So you have not received a spirit that makes you fearful slaves. Instead, you received God’s Spirit when he adopted you as his own children. Now we call him, "Abba, Father." For his Spirit joins with our spirit to affirm that we are God’s children."
We are God's children. When a child is adopted, he becomes the son of his father, especially in the time during which this was written. God is our Father; we belong to Him alone forever.
John 10:27-29
"My sheep listen to my voice; I know them, and they follow me. I give them eternal life, and they will never perish. No one can snatch them away from me, for my Father has given them to me, and he is more powerful than anyone else. No one can snatch them from the Father’s hand."
If no one can snatch us from God's hand, how can we possibly jump or fall from it?
Romans 11:29
"For God’s gifts and his call can never be withdrawn."
Never. And "withdrawn" means that He won't take it back, not that we can't throw it back. (But we can't, as Paul and John have already explained.)
Philippians 1:6
"And I am certain that God, who began the good work within you, will continue his work until it is finally finished on the day when Christ Jesus returns."
He began something in us, and He will not stop until the day that Jesus returns.
John 5:24
“I tell you the truth, those who listen to my message and believe in God who sent me have eternal life. They will never be condemned for their sins, but they have already passed from death into life."
We have already passed into life; death has no hold over us anymore. Those who have eternal life can never go back to death.
Ephesians 1:13-14
"...And when you believed in Christ, he identified you as his own by giving you the Holy Spirit, whom he promised long ago. The Spirit is God’s guarantee that he will give us the inheritance he promised and that he has purchased us to be his own people. He did this so we would praise and glorify him."
When we came to believe in Jesus, He gave us the Holy Spirit right then. The Spirit is a promise from God, who never breaks His promises.
John 6:39-40
"And this is the will of God, that I should not lose even one of all those he has given me, but that I should raise them up at the last day. For it is my Father’s will that all who see his Son and believe in him should have eternal life. I will raise them up at the last day.”
When we believe in Jesus Christ and become "saved," we are given to Him by God. He will "not lose even one of all those He has given Me." We are His.
(To quote the Doctor, this one got away from me, yeah. I told you that it's hard to contain my feelings on this. I'm writing a novel with this premise, have been for a year.
If I did offend or upset anyone in any way, I am sorry that you were offended or upset. I am not sorry for my words because they're true. That should be the slogan for my blog and my stories. I really don't like upsetting people, but it does become unavoidable on worthwhile subjects. I hope something I said made a difference to someone.)
P.S. I used the New Living Translation for this. I hate that one; it dulls the beauty of the words. I prefer NIV because it's easiest to understand and New King James Version because it's beautiful to read. But other people can read Living easier, so... there ya go.
P.P.S. Credit to my daddy for part of the logic, Ted Dekker for explaining time in Blink, and Josh Olds for finding me the verses.
