Eternal Security in Christ: Can You Lose Your Salvation? | Biblical Truths Revealed

[0:00] This morning I'd like to look at the subject of security. and really the security of the believer. He was getting really worried, panicking and phoning everybody, retracing all of his steps.

[0:37] Where are my keys? Where are my keys? Oh, and he found them. Have you ever lost something important?

[0:47] It's a terrible thing, isn't it, to lose something that you really want. Whether it's your phone, your keys, whatever it be. Can I lose my salvation?

[0:59] Some people worry about that. They worry about it. I've got some people in my life that I've experienced and they're quite worried about losing their salvation.

[1:11] Let's look at the truth about our security in Christ. All right? And what does the Word of God tell us about that, about our salvation?

[1:21] And one of the fundamental scriptures is this one. Our Lord tells my sheep, hear my voice, and I know them, and they follow me, and I give unto them eternal life.

[1:38] And they shall never perish, neither shall any man pluck them out of my hand. My Father, which gave them me, is greater than all, and no man is able to pluck them out of my Father's hand.

[1:55] You can picture, for example, a child held tightly in the Father's arms. The storm's raging all around, but the child is safe and secure in no danger.

[2:08] It's like that for you, believer, that trust Christ, that you are held fast in the hands of the Lord. Have you ever doubted your salvation?

[2:20] I can assure you that if you are saved, you have eternal security. That's my message today. The Bible teaches that those who are truly saved in Christ, by faith, they are eternally secure.

[2:38] And they preserve by God's power, not their own works. Now, I'll touch on some things a little that I've already touched on, but salvation is a gift. All right? It's by grace, not something earned, as we've unpacked already.

[2:53] And if it is a gift, it's given freely and fully. God's not, as they call it, an Indian giver that gives and then takes back, as if you have it and then you lose it and you have it again.

[3:05] It's a thing. If God took his gift back based on our performance, then it changes the nature of this gift from grace to works. Because in the realising, in the receiving of it, there's no works there.

[3:20] And in the maintaining, the sustaining of it, likewise, there's no works there. We don't earn it or work for it or merit it. It's by grace.

[3:33] So this morning, we're going to look at this subject on four key areas. Its biblical basis, the key scriptures for it, how we understand passages that seem to challenge that, and what it means for our daily lives.

[3:48] So these are the four truths that we're going to look at today. And brother, sister, genuine believers are forever saved by God's power. It's his work, his finished work.

[4:01] And we're sealed by the Spirit of God as well. These are important truths. It's not about us. It's about his saving. It's the salvation of God.

[4:11] As it tells of Jonah, salvation is of the Lord. Salvation is of the Lord. And we can trust his promises and have a full assurance because of those promises.

[4:26] So let's look at the biblical basis for eternal security. And let me preface this by saying there was one time I didn't believe this. I did not believe this at one time.

[4:37] I thought that I could lose my salvation because the church I was going to actually taught that. It was one of the tenets of the faith. That, oh, yes, you can lose your salvation. But no, I would deny that false teaching now.

[4:51] So let me explain why I've changed my mind. Because the Bible tells us that we are kept by God's power and cannot lose our salvation. There's a truth here, a Bible truth, that people who are born again, genuinely born again, through faith in Christ, are kept by God's power.

[5:11] Kept, guarded, held, held fast by God's power. And cannot, cannot lose their salvation. Now this doctrine, it rests on the nature of God, of the completed work of Christ at the cross, and of the permanent sealing of the Holy Spirit.

[5:29] So, friends, when you get saved, you enter into the family of God. The Bible talks about you are born again. John 3, 1 Peter 1, 23, tells us how we're born again by the living and abiding word of God.

[5:45] You cannot be unborn. You cannot. Once you're born again, that's it. You don't get born again, then unborn, then maybe you can get a chance to get born again, again.

[5:56] And it goes on and on. Some people think they got saved multiple times. No, you get saved once. Once and for all. You get saved once, one time.

[6:07] You only get one time to get saved. Now, that said, I know for myself, there's times when I made a profession of faith, and then I made a recommitment. I kind of refreshed my calling upon the Lord.

[6:20] It wasn't that I got saved again. It was just I was renewing my vows, renewing my love, my faith, refreshing my faith. And there's nothing wrong with that. I almost come to the altar when you feel God's moving you.

[6:33] Yeah, I want to get right with God. Get right with God time and time again. But you get saved one time, one time, for all time. And so when you get saved, you're born again into the family of God.

[6:44] And it's a permanent relationship. You become a child of God. That's a wonderful truth, isn't it? A permanent relationship adopted into his family. And God's unchanging nature, it guarantees our security.

[6:58] Because brother, sister, our security is not based on our ability to hold on. Some people think salvation is us holding on for grim death, for dear life, as if there's some cord that you hang on to.

[7:12] And oh, God forbid that your grip should fail because you're gone. Come on. It's not that. That's not the picture. It's Christ reaching down and grabbing a hold of you.

[7:23] It's like Peter in the water. And say, come on, Peter. He's got a hold of you. It's not about you getting a hold of him. It's his character. It's his promises. It's his power to hold on to you.

[7:36] And God is unchanging. It's one of his character traits, isn't it? God is unchanging, and so are his promises. Brother, sister, he is faithful.

[7:48] He tells us, for I am the Lord, I change not. That's Malachi 3, verse 6. His promises are sure, they are yea and amen. And his faithfulness endures despite human weakness.

[8:03] It says in part, if we believe not, yet he abideth faithful. He cannot deny himself. So even if your faith fails, if you're saved, you're saved.

[8:15] He cannot deny himself. And God's love is everlasting. It tells us in Jeremiah 31, verse 3, Yea, I have loved thee with an everlasting love.

[8:27] That's his arms wide open, isn't it? His everlasting love. It's eternal. And nothing can separate the believer from his love. Paul says, For I am persuaded that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor powers, nor things present, nor things to come, nor height, nor depth, nor any other creature shall be able to separate us from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord.

[8:56] Think of that. Nothing can separate you from his love. If you are loved by God, if you are his, in his possession, nothing can take that away. Nothing can separate you from the love of God.

[9:08] And salvation, really, it is God's doing. It's the work of God. It's initiated by God. It's sustained by God, his power. And it tells of the saved that we are the ones kept by the power of God through faith unto salvation, ready to be revealed in the last time.

[9:26] Think of it, you're kept. He's got a grip on you, and he's not going to let go. He's super glued. He's got a keeping power that will hold you. And it's salvation that's ready to be revealed in the last time.

[9:41] So the ultimate revelation is when we're glorified. For the moment, we're not, we're not, as it were, perfectly saved. We're saved, as it were, for eternity.

[9:52] But then our body will be renewed, and that's the fullness of it, the glorification stage. But that, so the full revelation of it is the glorified body.

[10:02] But for, it tells us that we're kept by until the last time. And ultimately, he'll unveil that, the glorified body, in the fullness of time. And so we think of Christ's finished work.

[10:14] It secures our salvation. That Christ's atonement was complete. And it tells of the atonement work of our Saviour. It's a forever work.

[10:26] We have eternal life. It tells in Hebrews 10, how this man, after he offered one sacrifice for sins forever, sat down on the right hand of God, for by one offering he hath perfected forever.

[10:40] He hath perfected forever them that are sanctified. That's Hebrews 10, 12 to 14. And when Christ declared it is finished at the cross, John 19, 30, he signified full payment, paid in full, payment fully paid.

[10:56] This sense of our sin debt was fully met and paid in full. All of our sins. So think of it, friends, all of your sin at the cross, it was there in Christ's body and it was paid for.

[11:08] The penalty of it was fully paid. All of our sins were paid for in full. So that's Christ's finished work. It secures our salvation. What's more, he's praying for us too.

[11:21] It tells of his ongoing intercession, our Lord's making for us. And our salvation, it tells wherefore he is able to save them to the uttermost that come unto God by him, seeing he ever liveth to make intercession for them.

[11:38] Our Lord is praying and he's able to save to the uttermost. I like to think he's able to save from the guttermost to the uttermost. Amen? Isn't he? He can save the worst.

[11:49] His hand is not short that it cannot save. He can reach the most unlikely, the unworthy to the guttermost and make us, take us as saved people to the uttermost.

[12:01] It's his from go to woe, isn't it? And he ever liveth to make intercession for us. Think of that. The cross is praying for you. He's interceding, he's advocating for you before the Father.

[12:13] Say, hey, I've paid his sin, her sin. And eternal life is stated to be in the present tense. Again, this picture, a simple picture but much truth to it.

[12:24] Eternal life is a present possession. Verily, verily, I say unto you, he that heareth my word and believeth on him that sent me, hath, hath, hath, present tense, he has everlasting, everlasting life, and shall not come into condemnation but is passed from, passed over from, death unto life.

[12:45] This is the truth of it. That our status has changed. We're no longer dead in our trespasses and sins. We're alive unto God by faith. And eternal life is stated to be a present possession.

[13:00] Some people think, and they go through life and this whole school of thought thinks this, is that you've got to wait until your deathbed and you don't really know for sure have I persevered enough?

[13:12] Am I one of the elect? I can't be sure until that last breath whether I'm saved or not.

[13:23] That's wrong. You can know that you're saved. You can know that you've passed over from death unto life. You can know for sure today. You can know for a surety.

[13:35] You can know for sure beyond all doubt. I'm saved. Glory. I'm saved. I've passed over. I'm saved. S-A-V-E-D.

[13:48] And the scriptures that tell us saved as in he saved us. It's present tense. We've realized that it's a possession that we have it. And so he's able to save and it's a present possession.

[14:01] We have. We have everlasting life. And so there's also a third aspect is the Holy Spirit seals us and preserves us. And it marks believers as God's own property.

[14:13] We think you could put a sign up as a put on shop sometimes under new management. When you get saved you're under new ownership. And it's how as of the saved it's how as how in whom you also trusted after you heard the word of truth the gospel of your salvation in whom also after that you believed you were sealed.

[14:31] Done. You've got a seal on you. Sealed. Sealed. Stamped. You're mine. He says to you.

[14:43] In whom also after you believed you were sealed with that Holy Spirit of promise which is the earnest of our inheritance until the redemption of the purchased possession.

[14:55] And the seal of old times it marked ownership. It says hey my property mine. He says you're marked with my name with my seal as you would seal like an envelope as they put the seal and they pressed the seal into the into the wax and it marked that it's a secure ownership.

[15:20] It's a secure transaction. It's authorised. So you are marked you are signified as having ownership by God and security until redemption until the ultimate redemption where the ultimate redemption is the new body.

[15:40] Unto the day of redemption. And so think of it too the spirit abides permanently. When you get saved God's spirit abides. This is John 14 6 and I will pray the father and he shall give you another comforter that he may abide with you forever.

[15:55] So eternal security is grounded in God's unchangeable character the finished work the sufficiency of the atonement and the spirit's permanent sealing. It's not like human effort. I think that sometimes what happens with some people because they believe some kind of works based salvation they think well I've got to keep deserving it.

[16:18] You honestly can't. You just can't. I've got to keep it by my own striving. You're too weak. You're going to fail. You can't do it.

[16:31] What hope have I got? Trust him. It's his trust. It's his work. It's his character. It's his atonement. It's his seal.

[16:42] Trust Christ and that sealing is permanent. It's not human effort. Thank God for that. If it was human effort then none of us would be saved.

[16:55] As a shepherd guards his flock Christ the good shepherd guards his sheep. Think of it. That no true sheep is lost. I am the good shepherd says Christ the good shepherd giveth his life for the sheep.

[17:09] Now we've seen the biblical basis. Hey you've got a shepherd. You're just a little bar bar lamb. And you're inclined to go astray. Sheep.

[17:20] What does it say? All we like sheep have gone astray. Look you don't have any hope if you're trusting in yourself. Because you're going to go astray. That's what sheep do.

[17:31] And we've got sheep in the backyard. We can tell you about sheep going astray. Find a little hole in the fence and bye bye sheep. One's gone astray and he's never come back.

[17:44] We don't know where he is. It's probably been lamb chops for someone by now. But all we like sheep are going astray. Find a little hole in the fence and they're gone. Poof.

[17:57] It's not about you. It's about the shepherd. Thank God we've got a shepherd. It's a better shepherd than me. Looking after my sheep. Because he knows his sheep.

[18:08] And he's going to look after you as his sheep. So know this biblical basis of the shepherd. He's going to look after you brother, sister. And if you are his sheep then you're his.

[18:20] He's stamped you. They do put ownership marks on sheep. And he says no you're my sheep. Notice how he says my sheep. In John 10 it talks about my sheep.

[18:33] So some scriptures we can use to further support this idea of the security of your salvation. him. And the permanence of it. Brother, sister, you can have an assurance.

[18:44] I've already read this one as we have read that of his sheep. He says my sheep you're his. And he's your shepherd.

[18:55] my sheep. The Lord, my shepherd, our shepherd isn't it? Psalm 23. He's our shepherd, my shepherd. And my sheep hear my voice he says.

[19:09] They follow me. And they shall never perish. Think of that. Oh, I can lose my salvation. What?

[19:19] No, this says different. It says different. It says if you're my sheep, you're going to never perish. Well, maybe I can lose it by doing this or that.

[19:30] No man's going to take you out of my hand, he says. Out of the Father's hand. You can have that assurance. Notice they never perish. So on the basis of God's promise, you can say this.

[19:40] I am secure in Christ. Can you say that with me? I am secure in Christ. And that's not a flippant thing. It's not something just a throwaway slogan.

[19:54] That's the word of God. I'm secure in Christ. And Christ guarantees your security as a believer. That you are his and he is yours. You're in the Father's hands. You're in his hands.

[20:05] Ensuring that you will never, ever perish. Never, ever. And he says, all that the Father giveth me shall come to me. Him that cometh to me I will in no wise cast out.

[20:16] And this is the Father's will which hath sent me that of all which he hath given me I should lose nothing but should raise it up again at the last day. The Father's will is that Christ will lose nothing.

[20:27] Amen? That includes you. God's will is that Jesus will lose nothing but he's going to raise you up at the last day.

[20:38] And so Christ commits to losing none that are given to him, securing them till the last day, the resurrection. And Philippians 1 verse 6 is another one. Paul tells, being confident of this very thing, he which hath begun a good work shall complete it.

[20:52] He's going to perform it until the day of Jesus Christ. Christ. So when God initiates salvation, he ensures its completion too. When you're saved, you're saved forever, he's going to perform it, he's going to complete it until the day of Jesus Christ.

[21:06] So again, until the day of his appearing, until the day of our resurrection, of our coming unto him, we see your salvation is sure. And another scripture we can take heart in, Peter writes, Now I know some of you got some superannuation, you got some bank accounts, you got some banks.

[21:52] Let me tell you that money is not secure. Who knows what's going to happen. But we've got an inheritance reserved in heaven.

[22:03] He's got armed guards, angels. I'm just picturing it. In the sense that, hey, that hope that we have, that inheritance that we have, it's incorruptible, it's undefiled, it fadeth not away, it's reserved in heaven for you.

[22:19] The sense that it's under God's security, that assurance of your salvation, that your name's written in heaven already as a saved person, isn't it?

[22:30] It says your name's written down in heaven already as saved people and it's reserved in heaven for you. He's got it under lock and key, under armed angel guards, I can imagine.

[22:41] As believers, we've got that eternal preservation by God's power. And here's another one. This is the record that God has given to us eternal life. He's got it. You've got it now, eternal life. Some people have the idea, well, I've got to wait until I get to heaven to have eternal life.

[22:56] No, you can have it right here, right now, in Elizabeth Park in 2025. You can have eternal life because the life of God is in his son.

[23:07] If you believe on the name of the son of God, you may know that you have eternal life. You can have it. Present sense possession. Believers possess eternal life in the now, and they can know that their salvation is sure.

[23:18] And just one more, it tells us, and there's a lot of truth here. He's able. He's able to keep you from falling. Do we doubt the ability of God to keep us?

[23:30] Or isn't he able? Do you think the one who holds the planets and the solar systems and the universe, the cosmos, and he holds everything in his hands, in his power, do you think that he's able?

[23:43] Do you think that he's able to keep you from falling? Yes, he is. And he's able to present you faultless before the presence of his glory with exceeding joy. Christ's power prevents believers from falling, and it ensures that we're going to be faultless.

[23:59] Me? Faultless? Yeah, that's what it says. He's able, he's able to present you faultless because your sin's been paid for. Thank God. And despite many, many references, though, that underscore the sure security of our salvation, there's some Bible verses people misunderstand, so I'm just going to touch on those real quick to try to explain.

[24:19] Some have this doubt about the truth of eternal security. Let's just look at a couple of verses. I had a whole seven of them that I can explain, but I'll just narrow it down to two to keep it short.

[24:31] So let's look at these verses and show why they do not teach that a believer can lose their salvation. So for example, Hebrews 6, it is impossible for those who were once enlightened and have tasted the heavenly gift and were made partakers of the Holy Ghost and have tasted the good word of God and the powers of the world to come if they shall fall away to renew them again unto repentance, seeing they crucify to themselves the Son of God afresh and put him to an open shame.

[25:00] Some suggest this teaches that believers can fall away permanently. But important with all of these ones that people use to raise some kind of objection is to take the context.

[25:15] The context is talking about Jewish believers tempted to revert to Judaism. It describes those who've got this experience of enlightenment, of blessings, but they've never truly trusted Christ.

[25:26] It's like Judas. He had some experience of stuff, but he wasn't saved. He wasn't a saved man. It's like the stony ground of Mark 4, verses 5 through 6.

[25:37] And it's saying it's impossible, this renewal, because it's a hardened rejection. It's not a loss of genuine salvation. We are promised time and time again that the whole overarching, overwhelming emphasis of the word of God is for our security, that Christ's work is sufficient.

[25:55] As it reads in Hebrews 10, verse 10, by the which will we are sanctified through the offering of the body of Jesus Christ once for all. So if Christ was offered once and for all, then all of our sins were future at the cross.

[26:09] He's paid for everything to save you, and he's paid for all your sins as you trusted Christ. So it's simply trusting there. This is not any exception to the rule that Christ's work is sufficient to save.

[26:24] Another one people try is 2 Peter 2, and it says, for if after they have escaped the pollutions of the world, through the knowledge of the Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ, they are again entangled therein and overcome, the latter end is worse with them than the beginning.

[26:41] The dog is turned to his own vomit again, and the sow that was washed, wallowing in the mire. Now I don't have a picture of the dog, but a picture of the sow here, the pig, wallowing in her mire, in the mud.

[26:56] Some take this to mean that a saved individual can return to sin and lose their salvation. But friends, it's important to understand the context again. What is he talking about?

[27:08] The context is describing false teachers in 2 Peter 2, verse 1. It's not talking about genuine believers. And notice that these ones, they had some intellectual knowledge, some outward reformation, but they were never regenerated.

[27:22] So these are not my sheep. Look at it, a dog and a pig. They're not sheep. It's not talking about the sheep. These ones remain dogs and sows, pigs.

[27:36] Their true nature is revealed as it talks about how not everyone that saith unto me, Lord, Lord, shall enter into the kingdom of heaven. And he says to them, depart from me, I never knew you.

[27:47] Never knew you. You've always been a pig. You didn't get converted into a sheep. You've always been a dog. I never knew you. It's the same context here, isn't it?

[27:59] I never knew you. Whereas if God does know you, you're a sheep. You're a bar-bar sheep. And you're always going to be a sheep. His sheep. All right? So when rightly divided, we understand all of these things in their context.

[28:13] There's other passages. They really describe false professors. They, you know, you can profess faith. You can say, blah, blah, I'm a Christian. It's a false profession. Because you don't believe in your heart.

[28:26] And the Bible warns against that. False profession. Against apostasy. Some Bible verses, they're talking about rewards and fellowship. They're not talking about a loss of eternal salvation.

[28:38] So you can try as much as you can. Feel free to get back to me with other examples, other scriptures that you might be grappling with. There's actually no Bible verses that say that a genuine believer can lose their salvation.

[28:52] Not one. Not one scripture. Whereas there's multiple scriptures that tell us that you're saved by grace through faith. It's an eternal salvation. It's an everlasting life.

[29:04] Mind you, there's warnings that serve God's purpose to preserve true believers. You see, for example, there's warnings that tell us of some, they went out from us, but they were not of us.

[29:16] So there's some, they were never saved. They were not of us. There's some that will come and go. There might be church goers, but they're not of us.

[29:27] They were never saved. It's a sad reality. Hey, amongst our number here this morning, you might be a false professor. Right? It's something you really take stock of, isn't it?

[29:38] And be warned about. As you trust in Christ or some false gospel, as you trust in Christ or yourself, as you trust in Christ to be a saviour, make sure of that. Yeah, I'm trusting Christ, not myself.

[29:50] Trust in Christ. And then you're saved, forever saved. You've become a sheep. And it says of some, they're not really true believers. They're just false professors. Somebody says they believe, but they do not.

[30:00] It's important. There's many warnings about that too. So we want to be sure about that. Don't have some kind of false security. There is a danger of false security. We think that, hey, I'm a Christian because I've been to church all my life.

[30:14] I got baptised. I go to the Bible study. I sing the hymns. I help with the ushering. It's not about what you do. It's your trust in Christ.

[30:25] You can be a false believer. It's important that you're a sure believer that you trust in Christ. Make sure of that. Because God forbid it would be very incumbent on me as a preacher to not give you false security.

[30:38] I want to underline that this morning. I don't want to give you false security. I want to give you sure security, true security. It's Christ. Eternal security in Christ. So with that said, there's some practical implications and we can know a whole lot of benefits from this assurance that we have, this truth of eternal security.

[30:57] There's a great assurance for you. It can help you in your walk, in that holiness, in that walk with God. It can help you be bolder in your faith. When you're saved and you know it, clap your hands.

[31:10] When you're saved and you know it, you really ought to show it. There's some Sunday school songs come to mind. If you're saved and you know it, S-A-V-E-D, I'm saved. These things are written, you may know that you have eternal life.

[31:23] He says, in me you have peace. There's a peace that comes. Oh, I've lost my salvation again. Where is it? I've lost my keys again. No, you can't lose it. You can't lose your salvation.

[31:35] You might lose your keys. You might lose your phone, but you can't lose your salvation. You can't. You've got an assurance there. Why? Because God saves.

[31:47] Because he keeps. And you can trust him and his promises. You've got an assurance that helps you, keeps you amid trials as well. He says, you're going to have tribulation, but in me, you've got peace.

[32:02] Things are going to get harder. Who knows what the new government's going to do? Things are going to get harder. But he says, in me, you have peace.

[32:15] There's an eternal security. Hey, I'm going to have some health scares. Some of you have got some real health scares happening right now. I'm going to lose my job maybe. AI's going to take over. You've got eternal security.

[32:27] You have eternal security, but God holds you fast. And it's a motivation for holiness as well. What should we say then? Shall we continue in sin that grace may abound?

[32:37] God forbid. We're not saying this here for you to say, okay, I'm saved. I'm on the glory train and I'll just kick back and sit back and just enjoy the ride and do nothing for God.

[32:51] I'll be slack and sinful. No, God forbid. God forbid. Eternal security is not a license to sin. It ought to make us more grateful.

[33:03] It ought to make us more zealous. Passing out Chinese literature, JW.org. And then I walked down a little further and there was another stand with some other lovely people handing out literature.

[33:19] And then a third time, three times along North Terrace. A couple of people on each of those stands with their backup team.

[33:29] brother, sister, sister, what are we doing about the gospel? What are we doing? Now, Saturday morning no one turned up to go witnessing.

[33:41] What are we doing about the gospel? Do we care? The love of Christ constraineth us. Brother, sister, time is short. And I did something lately, I did a little video lately, there's a church down near Elizabeth Town Centre, they've taken over the Anglican Church.

[33:59] Mission Church of God. I did a video on it to expose it and it had over 700 views just within a few days. And it further teaches that not only have you got God the Father, God the Son, you've got God the Mother.

[34:15] God the Mother. And it's a Korean woman living in Korea. And there's millions of people believe there's junk. And what's more, they're door knocking, they're door knocking this region.

[34:29] They're knocking doors. Some of you, who's had the visit from them? Yeah? There's a good five, six people. They've knocked your door. They care about their gospel.

[34:39] It's a false gospel. It's the devil's gospel. What are we doing about the real gospel? The love of Christ should constrain us. Brother, sister, it should motivate us, this gospel, this wonderful truth of the salvation that we have.

[34:54] Brother, sister, it should make. And then we see further this truth of this gratefulness that we should have. We've got this confidence in evangelism, the strength in trials.

[35:08] I've kind of already talked about that. And it should prompt us to praise, gratitude, to give God glory. If we're saved, if we've got an internal security, then by the grace of God, shouldn't we want to praise him for it?

[35:23] And be more fervent? Shouldn't we have a fervency? We should. It should prompt us to praise. The finished work should prompt us to praise.

[35:35] Oh, give thanks unto the Lord for his mercy endureth forever. It's forever. We've got a forever eternity, a forever praise. We should magnify God for his grace.

[35:46] And the Bible tells us that genuine believers are eternally secure. You're secure, you're grounded in Christ's work, in God's nature, and the Holy Spirit's sealing.

[35:58] There are no passages when studied in context that deny this truth. Brother, sister, you can say I am secure in Christ. I have salvation by the grace of God.

[36:10] There's warnings about false professors, there's warnings against apostasy, but this doctrine of the eternal security of the believer, it brings an assurance to us, it brings a comfort, it motivates us to holiness, it fuels evangelism, it strengthens us to serve, to worship.

[36:32] It's like we're a ship that's got this immovable anchor, the security that we have in Christ. We're grounded, we're assured, we're held steady and sure.

[36:45] I give unto them eternal life and they shall never perish, neither shall any man pluck them out of my hand. And you can live with confidence, with gratitude, with obedience, knowing that you're secure in Christ, knowing that, hey, you don't have to be anxious, where's my salvation, I've lost it again.

[37:05] You can't, you can't lose it, because he's keeping you. And you can have that assurance, not some anxiety, not some kind of works focus that, hey, well, I've done something wrong, so I've probably lost it, or I'm not doing enough, so I've probably lost it.

[37:24] Nah, it's Christ. It's his unbreakable promise. You are secure in Christ, so you can have a confidence, not a confidence that's a self kind of confidence, but you can have confidence in his promises, and you can know that you can live worthy of his calling.

[37:44] So to close, think of these words as we prayerfully close it here now. Have you got Christ? Are you saved?

[37:55] Are you a child of God? Then you are secure in Christ, all right? And you don't need to have any doubt, or any uncertainty, or any confusion, any fearfulness of losing it, man can pluck you out of his hand.

[38:10] 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, to the only wise God, our Saviour, be glory and majesty, dominion and power, both now and ever.

[38:27] Amen.