WHO ARE THE LOST? (part 3)

 

 

Repentance means a change of mind. Turning from one’s own thoughts and adopting those of God; from one’s own ideas of saved and lost to believing God’s Testimony of saved and lost. Those who have yet to repent yet say they believe the Gospel insist that, years before they even heard any of the doctrines which make up God’s Gospel and whilst believing in a false gospel, they were saved. As proof of their ‘salvation’ prior to hearing and believing the Gospel, they offer up subjective experiences. Subjective judgements vary widely and if one accepts one’s own subjective experiences then one must accept everyone else's subjective experiences. Salvation then becomes something which is judged by a man’s experience rather than the Word of God alone. They claim that on such and such a day they cried out to God for mercy or felt His Presence in some mystical way or had many tears of remorse over their sins. Instantly they felt delivered from demons, or from a desire to smoke another cigarette or have another drink of beer etc. From that moment on their lives took a dramatic turn, in that they no longer wanted to sin. They started going to church and saw their lives undergo dramatic moral reformations etc. They may even have received physical healing of some kind. It must be noted that these same experiences are held to, as some sort of proof that one is saved, by billions of people who follow false religions. Scripture asks, ‘how can one call out to God if one has not heard of that God?’ "For whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved. How then shall they call on HIM in Whom they have not believed? And HOW SHALL THEY BELIEVE ON HIM OF WHOM THEY HAVE NOT HEARD? And how shall they hear without a preacher?" (Rom. 10:13,14). To turn from one’s sins is a good thing, but when this leads a person to a false gospel wherein is no salvation, it just adds to the deceived and lost state he is in from birth. It makes him twice as much a child of hell (see Matt. 23:15). Plenty of people who are not in the least way religious, have made great changes to their lives. They go to therapists or counsellors, to A.A. or to Drug Rehabilitation Centres. Even some Rock stars have stopped their wild life styles and now say that drug free is the only way to be. Yet, not unlike those who believe in false gospels, none of these people are saved for they believe not in Christ and abide not in His Gospel. A Christless morality has never impressed God, nor has it ever helped anyone get to God. It is all about demanding acceptance with God, rather than expecting God’s acceptance based on Christ’s Righteousness alone. An acceptable Righteousness in the sight of God is what is necessary and man can never reach it or obtain it by his moral reformations and remorseful attitude.

 

Those who claim to have been saved before hearing and believing God’s Gospel, say that after they were ‘saved’ they ‘gradually came to a better understanding’ of things and eventually came to see and believe the Truth. This is like a person saying that he arrived at his destination before he got there! An apple is not produced from the seed of a pear. It does not begin it’s existence as a pear and then gradually become an apple. So, too, no one is born a Christian from corruptible seed (1 Pet. 1:23). A Christian is born only from the Seed of God which is His Gospel. No one is saved whilst in error. No one has become a new creature in Christ, whilst not believing that Christ, Who is revealed in the Gospel of God alone. No one is saved whilst abiding in false doctrine, for what would the ground of that person’s ‘salvation’ be? It most certainly could not be the Righteousness of Christ alone. Scripture says that nothing short of belief in God’s Gospel is the evidence that one is saved. Only at that time is the Righteousness of Christ imputed and the Wrath of God removed. No one can call themselves saved upon whom the Wrath of God remains. The Wrath of God is upon everyone who does not abide in the doctrine of Christ, for they have not God (see 2 Jn.9). Only those who believe and abide in God’s Gospel have received saving Righteousness, the Righteousness of Christ, and only those to whom there is now no condemnation can rightly consider themselves saved. How can one have received justifying faith when one was abiding in error and had faith in false doctrine which promoted a false christ? "He that believeth on the Son hath everlasting life: and he that believeth not the Son shall not see life; BUT THE WRATH OF GOD ABIDETH ON HIM" (Jn.3:36). "Its impossible for any sinner to have entered into God’s rest while believing a system of doctrine that dishonors every attribute of God’s Character by believing salvation conditioned on the sinner and not on Christ." A person does not come to the Father by a moral reformation. Christ said HE is THE Way to the Father (Jn.14:6). In fact, a moral and religious life without the True Christ and His Doctrine, is reprehensible and abomination to God when it is aimed at gaining or maintaining salvation, for it all falls into the category of a man daring to establish a righteousness of his own before a Holy God and rejecting the teaching that Christ’s Righteousness alone is sufficient to present a man spotless and blameless before a Holy God. "And, having made peace through the blood of His cross, by Him to reconcile all things unto Himself; by Him, I say, whether they be things in earth, or things in heaven. And you, that were sometimes alienated and enemies in your mind by wicked works, yet now hath He reconciled in the body of His flesh THROUGH DEATH, to present you holy and unblameable and unreproveable in His sight" (Col.1:20-22; see also Heb.9:15). This passage of Scripture shows clearly that it is God who reconciles a man to Himself and He does it so that a man can be presented to God without sin in His sight through the death of His Son and not through the ‘good deeds’ of any.

 

Every doctrine which makes up the Gospel of God must be believed in before one can truly say he believes God’s Testimony concerning saved and lost. Even if only one of these Gospel doctrines is denied, one would then be holding to a gospel mixed with God’s Testimony and man’s opinion, which quickly becomes tradition which in turn nullifies God’s Word on the matter. If one of these doctrines is denied then all must be denied, for they stand or fall together. If salvation is by grace then it is not by works, so, too, if one does not hold to ALL the doctrines which make up the Gospel one does not have THE Gospel but a mixture of God’s Word and man’s notions. Grace is not grace if it is mixed with works and the Gospel is not THE Gospel if it is mixed with man’s doctrine (see Matt. 15:9). When a person denies one Gospel doctrine they are, unbeknown to them, replacing it with the teachings of men. When God’s Word is rejected and replaced with the teachings of men, that my friends, is what is called ANOTHER gospel which is no Gospel at all, for it does not present God’s Message and therefore cannot save. Paul showed in his writings that even preaching the true Gospel, but then adding something as miniscule as circumcision, would change the whole Gospel into another, for it would not be a message of Grace and Christ would not profit the man who added circumcision or any other work to the Gospel (Gal. 5:2-6,9). The reason for this is that man would be trusting in Christ and something of his own doing and not in the Righteousness of Christ alone, which is what the Gospel teaches. The Good News (Gospel) is ONE Message Authored by God and given to man. It is not subject to interpretation or a man’s preference of what he believes the Gospel is. A child of God does not pick and choose what he will believe but he believes what God has said, in its entirety. A person cannot hold to some of the doctrine of Christ and deny, or be ignorant of, other Gospel teachings and rightly call themselves Christian. An elect person is called by the Gospel, the whole Gospel, unto eternal life and abides in all its doctrines to the end (see 2 Thess.2:14). The apostle Paul stated that "...I have fully preached the Gospel of Christ" (Rom.15:19). If the Gospel is to be fully preached, then it must also be FULLY believed. The true believer fully believes the whole Gospel Message and not part of it. It is what a person adds to the Gospel or what they take away from the Gospel that makes what a person believes a false gospel. A false gospel is one which either adds to what God has said or one which takes away from what God has said. It misrepresents Who God is and what God has done. It is either God’s message which you believe or it is not. To believe the Gospel is to know and cherish the doctrines which make up the Gospel Message. God has defined the Gospel clearly in the Bible and all who believe it show they are among the chosen of God.

 

In light of this, it becomes clear that a man is yet to believe God’s Gospel, that he is LOST, if he does not believe that man is dead in sin and cannot come to God in and of himself. The reason for this is, if one believes that man can come to God in and of himself, or that man can recommend himself to God by his religious efforts and charitableness to others etc., then Christ died in vain and, contrary to Scripture, salvation is attainable by a man’s works. Such teaching is opposed to salvation by grace alone and promotes the lie that salvation is conditioned on the sinner. It must be remembered that God justifies the UNGODLY (see Rom.4:5). If man is to meet certain conditions before he is justified, would this not mean that God justifies the ‘partially-godly?’ If one has to meet certain conditions in order to get saved, one cannot be referred to as ungodly before being justified by God. Paul said: "I do not frustrate the grace of God: for if righteousness come by the law, then Christ is dead in vain" (Gal.2:21). If man can do anything to come to God or contribute in any way, to any degree, to his salvation or to his staying saved, then Christ has died in vain. This teaching alone shows that all of salvation is of Christ, for it is conditioned on Christ. The salvation of man required the blood of a perfect Sacrifice, not the imperfect obedience of man. One cannot give the Pre-eminence to Christ Jesus the Lord if one believes that man can get saved, or must contribute anything to maintaining his salvation by his own efforts, and not solely by the life and death of Christ. There is only ONE Savior, Jesus Christ. Christ is the One that saves His people from their sins. None contribute to their salvation. They are not co-saviors with THE Savior. If one does not believe that man is dead because of the Fall in the Garden of Eden, then he calls God a liar for God promised in Genesis 3 that if man ate of the Tree of the knowledge of good and evil, HE WOULD SURELY DIE! Those who believe man did not surely die are the Devil’s own children, for Satan is the author of this lie. Satan stated that man would not surely die but that he would become as a god, that man would have a free will to choose what he wanted. All who say that man is not dead in sin agree with their father the Devil when he said to Eve that she would not surely die, for they say we are not surely dead. ‘Do what you want to do, be what you want to be’ is the Devil’s catch cry. But Christ said unto His Father "...not My will, but Thine, be done" (Lk.22:42).

 

A man is LOST if he does not believe that God chose a people unto salvation, not based on their works or foreseen goodness, but according to His mercy and grace, before the foundation of the world; that God by His own Free will chose a definite number of people who would spend eternity with Him and receive of His abundant and never ending blessings. Election is an election of grace and not according to works (see Rom.11:5). If one denies that God has chosen the people who would receive His grace, then one is saying that God provides salvation according to what a man does. This is salvation by works, which the Bible plainly states is NOT how the Sovereign God saves (Eph.2:8,9). Salvation is not according to a man’s will but solely of God’s will (see Jn.1:13 & 1 Cor.1:30). Yes, a man must believe the Gospel but he cannot believe it, or even desire to, if he is not given the Faith to believe by God Himself. Man’s believing is merely a fruit of God’s giving. Faith, therefore, is not a condition but an evidence of salvation. If it was a condition it would be a work. The following Scripture shows clearly that faith is not a work: "But to him that WORKETH NOT, BUT BELIEVETH on him that justifieth the ungodly, his faith is counted for righteousness" (Rom.4:5). Faith and works, grace and works, the Gospel and works, are diametrically and eternally opposed. Faith is a gift from God, not a work of man’s. Most have faith in their faith. It is their faith which they consider makes the difference between saved and lost, between Heaven and Hell, and not Christ alone. This ‘faith’ leaves room for a man to boast. Faith in God’s Gospel gives all the glory to God and proclaims loudly that it is HE Who makes a saved man to differ from another: "For who maketh thee to differ from another? And what hast thou that thou didst not receive? Now if thou didst receive it, why dost thou glory, as if thou hadst not received it?" (1 Cor.4:7). The apostle John states: "...A man can receive nothing, except it be given him from heaven" (Jn.3:27). Faith in the true Christ and His Gospel is a Gift from God which no man can merit or earn. If a man believes in the True God, it is because God has made that man a believer and given him the gift of Faith to believe His Gospel. FAITH IS NOT A WORK OF MAN’S , IT IS A GIFT OF GOD. Man can only receive a gift, he does not earn it. A gift is not a wage and a wage is not a gift, and never the twain shall meet. Saving Faith does not originate within man but he receives it as a Gift from His Loving Father. This is the Faith—the ONLY Faith—that can and does savingly believe God’s one and only Gospel, and that eternally, for it is of God and He gives it to all His elect. Jesus said: "It is the Spirit that quickeneth; (makes alive) the flesh profiteth nothing...therefore said I unto you, that no man CAN come unto Me, except it were GIVEN unto him of My Father" (Jn.6:63,65). Coming to God in the acceptable way is a result of His grace upon the sinner and not the outcome of a man’s efforts. Coming to God according to man’s ways and thoughts and with a faith which does not believe in the Gospel of Christ, leads only to death (see Num.3:4). Election is not based on any act of obedience which a man performs, for again, if this were the case, salvation would not be by grace and Christ has died in vain. If election was conditioned on a man’s believing, then it would not be by grace but by works, and man’s believing would be a work of his and not a gift from God to the man. The principal evidence of a man’s election is his belief in God’s Gospel and that his belief, or faith, is not a work of his own but is a gift from God. It is something which has been given to him and not produced by him.

 

If a man believes that salvation is not exclusively for those whom God has chosen, but can be obtained by a man’s free will decision, then he is saying that Christ’s death was not something which accomplished anything in and of itself but it’s efficaciousness is conditioned on man’s free will to accept what Christ has done. Those who deny definite atonement and promote universal atonement are saying that it is not Christ Who makes the difference between heaven and hell, for hell is full of those for whom He died, but that a man’s decision for Christ is what makes the difference, seeing that Christ, according to them, died equally for all. The false teaching of man’s free-will is always coupled with the lie that Christ died for all and that final redemption from sin, and atonement for sin, hinges on a man’s free will choice to receive and accept what Christ has done. Like all false teachings that take away from the Gospel Message, the lie that Christ died for all and that man has a free will, attacks the biblical teaching that the blood of Christ has effectually atoned for the sins of all for whom it was shed. The teaching of Universal atonement is if man does not accept Christ’s offer, then not only was Christ punished (in vain) for that person’s sins, but that person also must suffer the punishment his sins deserve. God would then be an unjust Judge, requiring the sentence of eternal punishment both from Christ and the sinner. This is unheard of in the pages of Holy Scripture. It is a concept which is completely foreign to both the Old and New Testaments. Christ’s Sacrifice of Himself was not made to man but was offered to God: "And walk in love, as Christ also hath loved us, and hath given Himself FOR us an offering and a sacrifice TO God for a sweetsmelling savor" (Eph.5:2). The effectiveness of Christ’s Offering was not dependant on a man’s reception of what was done, but by God’s accepting it. The whole of Atonement, Propitiation, Satisfaction, Redemption, Substitution and Representation is done away with, and must be reinterpreted according to man’s perverted views, if one can at any given moment choose God according to his own free will. Atonement for sin may be properly studied by examining the Old Testament, for therein lies the core teaching of the Substitutionary Sacrifice made on the behalf of another, which was offered up by the high priest under the direction of God. This, and other Old Testament types, were all a shadow of the True Atonement that was to come in the Person and Work of Jesus the Promised Messiah. In the Old Testament the high priest made sacrifice on the behalf of, and for the sins of, the physical nation of Israel, who were at that time the people, the chosen people I might add, of God. So, too, in the New Testament, the Great High Priest, Jesus the Son of God, has laid down the Sacrifice of His very Life, for the blood of animals could never take away sins (Heb.10:4), for the sins of all the elect children of God who make up the spiritual nation of Israel, God’s election of grace (Rom.11:5). While offering the sacrifice for Israel, the high priest had on a robe upon which were the names of the twelve tribes of Israel (Ex.28:1-12). These were the ones atonement was to be made for. So, too, the Lord Jesus Who is the Great High Priest, and of whom the Old Testament high priest was a type, had the names of all for whom He was to offer sacrifice on the behalf of, written on His heart and etched in His Mind. Whenever a sacrifice was made on the behalf of another in the Old Testament, atonement was achieved and redemption was obtained. One very important thing to realise is that such sacrifices were always shed for the people of God and not for the whole world. God’s choosing those whom He would bless based on grace, is proof positive that man is dead in sin and cannot come to God by works or will. Sacrifice was not made for the Amelekites or the Hittites nor was it made for the Egyptians or the Syrians or for any other nation on earth. God had not dealt with any other nation as He had with Israel: "He sheweth His Word unto Jacob, His statutes and His judgements unto Israel. He hath not dealt so with any nation: and as for His judgements, they have not known them. Praise ye the Lord" (Psa.147:19,20). When the blood was shed, the work was finished (see Jn.19:30). Some might argue, ‘Yes, well that was the way it was done in the Old Testament but we live in New Testament times’. My friend, everything that happened in the Old Testament concerning the high priest, sacrifice and atonement for sin was merely shadows or types which pointed to the true High Priest, Atonement and Sacrifice which God had promised for His people. The Old Testament atonement and sacrifice etc., was definite and for a specific number of people because God had decreed it so (Lev.16:34). Where there is blood shed, according to the Word of God, in atoning sacrifice, there IS redemption and remission of sins, for this was the means ordered by God that would result in the eradication and forgiveness of sins. Therefore, where there is atoning death there is redemption; where there is atoning blood shed in sacrifice there is remission of sins (Lev.17:1). An atoning death did not ever depend on a person’s decision to accept its effects. The very fact that blood was shed for the sins of a person ensured that they would receive, and rejoice in, what had been done for them. It was something performed on the behalf of, and for the benefit of, those whom God had chosen to be its recipients. So we see that the benefit of Atonement is not dependant on the sinner’s accepting it, but on the Sovereign God’s election of those for whom it was performed. Therefore, the many for whom Christ shed His precious blood shall ALL be justified (Isa.53:11; see also Jn. 6:37). (For further study see the author’s book ‘Atonement For Whom?’). A man is also LOST if he denies the irresistible grace of God. Even if a man says he believes in all the other doctrines of the Gospel, he is lost if he believes that any to whom the grace of God has been bestowed, and for whom Christ died, can nevertheless resist the Holy Spirit and go on to damnation.

 

All who say that a man may at one point in time be saved, and yet later return to an unregenerate state, are also LOST for they show that they do not know Christ Who gives eternal life to His people and do not know, and therefore cannot savingly believe in, what Christ has done. This teaching also does away with the efficaciousness of Christ’s death to wash away every sin, including that of unbelief, for all time, of those for whom He died. Saying that a man can do something to lose his salvation is as evil as saying that a man can do something to gain or maintain his salvation for both teachings deny that all of salvation is conditioned on Christ. Acceptance of such lies comes from believing in false gospels, which are readily received by man’s deceptive heart. They also deny that Redemption has been obtained on the behalf of God’s chosen, and is opposed to Christ’s statement that none of them shall ever perish for He has obtained eternal redemption for them and given them eternal life (Heb.9:12 & Jn.10:28). The Bible says that God searches for His sheep and searches until He finds them (Ezek.34:11,12; see also Lk.15:4,5). ALL FOR WHOM CHRIST DIED WILL BELIEVE AND BE ETERNALLY SAVED. This is the glorious matchless message of the eternal Gospel, the Good News which God has for His chosen ones, all who will believe on Him.

 

Scripture says that the non-elect, both Jew and Gentile, will count this message as foolishness and it will be a stumbling block to them. God’s Word says that the preaching of the Cross (Christ’s atoning death for His people) is foolishness to them that perish: "For the preaching of the cross is to them that perish foolishness; but unto us which are saved it is the power of God" (1 Cor.1:18). What is meant here by the preaching of the cross is obviously not merely the fact that Christ died on a cross, for most lost religionists believe this. It speaks of what Christ did by His death on that cross. This verse shows clearly that those, who though believing Christ died on a cross for sins, are yet in a lost state for they do not believe what Christ has actually accomplished by His death and that His death was not for every individual ever born but exclusively for the elect of God, all whom He had given Him (see Jn. 6:37), which is revealed in the true preaching of the Cross, which is the core element of true Gospel preaching. Paul said: "For I determined not to know anything among you, save Jesus Christ, and Him crucified" (1 Cor.2:2). Preaching Christ and Him crucified is what the preaching of the Cross, or Gospel, is all about: It is Christ the Person and what Christ has done through His atoning death. 1 Corinthians 1:17 shows clearly that Paul considered the preaching of the Gospel to be the preaching of the cross. Significantly, both the Gospel and the preaching of the cross are described in Scripture as THE POWER OF GOD (see Rom.1:16). If one is to rightly preach the Gospel, one must rightly know and believe what the True Jesus has done and for whom He has done it.

 

Those who say that salvation is of God, but that once saved, a man must do his part in maintaining his saved condition, are also LOST for they deny the Pre-eminence of Christ and His Righteousness as being wholly sufficient to save a man and keep him saved unto the end. They promote grace and works, which is another gospel. Listen to how the apostle Peter speaks: "Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, which according to His abundant mercy hath begotten us again unto a lively hope by the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, to an inheritance INCORRUPTIBLE, and UNDEFILED, and that FADETH NOT AWAY, RESERVED in heaven for you, who are KEPT BY THE POWER OF GOD through faith unto salvation ready to be revealed in the last time" (1 Pet.1:3-5). How arrogantly presumptuous of any man to think that he has been saved by the grace of God and yet is able to keep himself in a saved state by his works. Such a person is under a strong delusion if they say they believe in salvation by grace alone. The saved person is "...justified by His grace..." (Titus 3:7) and not by his own works (see Titus 3:5). The man who believes he must do certain works in order to maintain his salvation does not believe in grace but in works. For he cannot be convinced that all of salvation is conditioned on Christ and that what Christ has done is sufficient to ensure a man’s eternal destiny, but that his eternal future depends on his own efforts at obedience. ‘Thank you God for saving me and now, with your help, I will perform good deeds to ensure I stay saved’. How utterly bizarre! Man’s obedience, when aimed at gaining or maintaining salvation, is the worst kind of DIS-obedience for it denies that Righteousness comes by the obedience of One: Christ Jesus the Lord (see Rom.5:19). The apostle Paul asked, "Are you so foolish? Having begun in the Spirit, are ye now made perfect by the flesh?" (Gal.3:3). If you have been, or are being, taught such a lie you must realise that you are being deceived and that there is no salvation in such a ‘gospel’. You have been presented a false gospel. You have been wrongly taught Who Christ is and what Christ has done and what salvation means and how it is received. The word ‘saved’ in Scripture means ‘preserved’. Listen to how Scripture speaks: The true believer is said to be "...sanctified by God the Father, and PRESERVED (to guard from loss or injury) in Jesus Christ, and called" (Jude 1). The psalmist says of the Lord’s saints: "...the Lord loveth judgement, and forsaketh (relinquishes) not His saints; they are PRESERVED FOREVER..." (Psa.37:28). Salvation from beginning to final glory is ALL conditioned on the Sovereign God and His Christ. Man’s obedience is an essential fruit of salvation but it is not the ground of salvation. The initial obedience a man demonstrates whereby it is evidenced that he is saved, is that obedience to the Gospel of Christ which teaches salvation conditioned on Christ and not on a man’s works. "For he that is entered into His Rest, he also hath ceased from his own works, as God did from His" (Heb.4:10; see also Matt.11:28-30). Man must have accompanying works along with his faith but man’s salvation is in no part conditioned on those works, for they form no part of the ground of salvation which is the Righteousness of Christ alone. A saved man’s works are simply the fruit of salvation. The true believer confesses in accord with Scripture that: "...in the LORD have I Righteousness..." (Isa.45:24). A truly saved man does not look to any of his own deeds to assure him of salvation but solely to Christ and what He has done for him and imputed to him (see Heb. 12:2). No man is saved by a personal righteousness but by an imputed righteousness, the Righteousness of Christ. Man requires a righteousness far and above that which he can produce on his best day. He needs a righteousness in which God Himself cannot find a flaw. That Righteousness is Christ’s Righteousness imputed to the sinner. This is why the publican of Luke 18, and even Paul the apostle, pleaded no righteousness of their own but rather fled from it. Paul testified that he wanted to "...be found in Him NOT having mine own righteousness, which is of the law, BUT THAT WHICH IS THROUGH THE FAITH OF CHRIST, the Righteousness which is of God by faith" (Phil.3:9). Paul spoke of born again Christians as the true Circumcision "...which worship God in the spirit, and rejoice in Christ Jesus, and have NO CONFIDENCE in the flesh" (Phil.3:3). An elect child of God will always be in right standing with God, not because of themselves or based on anything they do, but on who they are in Christ Jesus the Lord Who died for their sins and established a Perfect Righteousness for them which they could never produce, so that they could enter into eternal life and be with Him forever (see Heb.10:19,20). Therefore, "Who shall lay anything to the charge of God’s elect? It is God that justifieth" (Rom.8:33). God does not condemn any whom He has eternally justified, for their sins have been washed away in the Blood of Christ. He will not charge them with their sins (Rom. 4:8), for He has charged them unto Christ and imputed Christ’s Perfect Obedience unto them (2 Cor. 5:21). The Scripture tells us that after we believed "...ye were sealed (preserved) with that Holy Spirit of promise, which is the earnest (pledge) of our inheritance UNTIL THE REDEMPTION of the purchased possession, unto the praise of His glory" (Eph.1:13,14). To be sealed with the Holy Spirit is to be indelibly stamped with God’s mark of ownership. The Holy Spirit is also referred to as our Pledge, which means that the Holy Spirit is God’s ‘down-payment’ for a sign that the purchased possession will be fully redeemed at a later time.

 

John the apostle said: "We know that we HAVE PASSED from death unto life..." (1 Jn.3:14). Christ says: "Verily, verily, I say unto you, He that heareth My Word, and believeth on Him that sent Me, HATH EVERLASTING LIFE, and shall NOT come into condemnation; but IS PASSED from death unto life" (Jn.5:24). Obviously then, one who has passed from death into eternal life is not, and never will be, condemned. The word ‘passed’ in John 5:24 and in 1 John 3:14 is the same word which means ‘depart, remove’, and ‘to change place’. If the blood of Christ has washed away every sin of all of God’s elect and caused the believer to change places from death to life, what sin could possibly ever bring us back into the place of condemnation, seeing EVERY sin has been atoned for? How could someone who has been made a new creature in Christ and eternally alive unto God ever commit the sin of unbelief? Biblical salvation is not a one-off event performed by God, which must then be maintained by man’s performing good works and abstaining from evil works. If this were the case then how could we ever know if we were being sufficiently obedient and abstaining from enough sins? What would be our standard and where is the Scriptural proof for it? Salvation is an eternal decree by a Loving Father upon His children, and is ALL conditioned on Christ for God knows that no man could ever meet any condition of salvation. That is why salvation could never be of works, either for the purposes of attaining or maintaining it, but solely by GRACE. The called of God are a special people, God’s own people, who will never experience the Wrath of God, for the Lord Jesus received that Wrath on their behalf and as their Representative by imputation, when He laid down His life for them: "Christ hath redeemed us from the curse of the law, BEING MADE A CURSE FOR US..." (Gal.3:13; see also 2 Cor.5:21). Christ did something on that cross that no sinner could ever could do: He bore (carried away) our sins (see Isa.53). "Blotting out the handwriting of ordinances that was against us and contrary to us, and took it out of the way, nailing it to His cross" (Col.2:14). "For God hath not appointed US to wrath, but to obtain salvation by our Lord Jesus Christ, Who died for US..." (1 Thess.5:9,10). The elect have an appointment, which cannot be cancelled, with salvation, made by God Himself! GOD HAS DECREED IT AND NONE CAN CHANGE IT. "I know that, whatsoever God doeth, it shall be for ever: nothing can be put to it, nor anything taken from it: and God doeth it, that men should fear before Him" (Eccl.3:14; see also Eccl.7:13).