Is Your Salvation Secure?

Is Your Salvation Secure?
By:  Richard D. Eutsler, Sr.
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Hebrews 4:1-2

Let us therefore fear, lest, a promise being left us of entering into his rest, any of you should seem to come short of it;

For unto us was the gospel preached, as well as unto them: but the word preached did not profit them, not being mixed with faith in them that heard it.

What is Paul telling us here? It is a warning not to become complacent in our faith! As I read verse one there is one word that jumps out to me that I can not overlook. It is seem. He is not saying to fear if you fall short. He is telling us to fear if you seem to come short. I look around today and see many who seem to fall short and the sad part is that most of them don’t want to hear anything that might not make them feel good about themselves. Look at what our Lord Jesus said:

Matthew 7:21

Not every one that saith unto me, Lord, Lord, shall enter into the kingdom of heaven; but he that doeth the will of my Father which is in heaven.

To me, this verse is very clear. He is telling us that not everyone who claims Jesus Christ as their Lord shall enter into the kingdom of heaven. The condition that He sets is that they doeth the will of my Father which is in heaven.

To do the will of God The Father is two fold:

Love God with all of your heart, mind, soul and strength.

Love your neighbor as yourself.

Now let us go back and look at what Paul is saying in verse two of Hebrews 4.

Paul is saying that the Gospel of Jesus Christ was preached unto us as well as the children of Israel in the desert. But they were missing something. They did not mix the Word preached with Faith. To mix the Word with Faith is the same as digesting the Word. When you eat food, you mix the food with enzymes. These enzymes allow you to convert the food into energy which give you life. If this did not happen, then the food you ate would putrefy in your stomach and you would die!

It is the same with the Word of God. If you read or take in the Word of God and you do not mix the Word with Faith, then the very Word that was given unto life, will bring death!

But then you have to ask the question: How do I know if I have mixed the Word with Faith?

To answer this, we will have to turn to the Scriptures for the answer. First we will look at the book of Mark and see what our Lord said to the disciples.

Mark 16:

15 And he said unto them, Go ye into all the world, and preach the gospel to every creature.

16 He that believeth and is baptized shall be saved; but he that believeth not shall be damned.

Let’s take a look at verse 15 first. For a long time I had a problem with this verse. I prayed: “Lord how do I go out into all the world and preach the Gospel?” One day He opened up this verse to me through a brother in Christ who for many years was and still is my student. (God is really cool that way!) He showed it to me this way: As you go into the world, preach The Gospel to everyone you meet. Now that make sense! Now that’s something that everybody can do! You don’t have to be a missionary to fulfill that commandment. All you have to do is be vigilant and watch for every opportunity that comes your way to witness The Good News that Jesus Christ died for our sins (Every sin! Past, present and future!) and arose from the dead as our hope of eternity with Him and the resurrection of our bodies to be with Him forever.

Now let’s look at verse 16. He that believeth and is baptized shall be saved. This takes us back to what Paul was saying. Mixing the Word with Faith! He, that is the person (male or female) who hears the Gospel (The Good News) and believes it and is baptized, shall be saved! Look at the difference between this verse and John 3:16;

16 For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life.

Here in this verse the key words are: should not perish. There is a big difference between shall not and should not! The one (shall not) is a guarantee and the other (should not) is a promise.

Hebrews 1:

1 Let us therefore fear, lest, a promise being left us of entering into his rest, any of you should seem to come short of it.

A promise is just that. A promise. It is not a guarantee. Jesus dying on the cross was the promise. When we believe what He did for us and apply it to our lives, then the results are manifested where not only can we see them but others can see them as well.

Let’s take a look at more of Mark 16:

17 And these signs shall follow them that believe; In my name shall they cast out devils; they shall speak with new tongues;

18 They shall take up serpents; and if they drink any deadly thing, it shall not hurt them; they shall lay hands on the sick, and they shall recover.

Did we read right? Yes! Signs shall follow them that believe! This is not a promise, it is a guarantee! Now I know that there are many out there who will tell you that these signs are not for today. But I find it interesting that it is only those who can not do them that teach that they are not for today! Who shall we believe? Jesus Christ our Lord? Or some stupid idiot that seems to fall short?

We are going to look at one more verse in Mark 16, then we are going to look at what James has to say.

19 So then after the Lord had spoken unto them, he was received up into heaven, and sat on the right hand of God.

20 And they went forth, and preached every where, the Lord working with them, and confirming the word with signs following. Amen.

In these two verses you see the fulfillment of verses 15-18. It’s as simple as that. Has God changed? Is Jesus Christ not the same? Was there one salvation for then and another for now?

What did Paul say in Galatians Chapter One about people who bring another Gospel?

6 I marvel that ye are so soon removed from him that called you into the grace of Christ unto another gospel:

7 Which is not another; but there be some that trouble you, and would pervert the gospel of Christ.

8 But though we, or an angel from heaven, preach any other gospel unto you than that which we have preached unto you, let him be accursed.

9 As we said before, so say I now again, If any man preach any other gospel unto you than that ye have received, let him be accursed.

I won’t even take the time here to go into this very far. It is easy to understand. If you add to or take away from the work of Christ, you have perverted the Gospel! Simple!

Now let us go on and see what James has to say on the matter.

James Chapter Two:

14 What doth it profit, my brethren, though a man say he hath faith, and have not works? can faith save him?

15 If a brother or sister be naked, and destitute of daily food,

16 And one of you say unto them, Depart in peace, be ye warmed and filled; notwithstanding ye give them not those things which are needful to the body; what doth it profit?

17 Even so faith, if it hath not works, is dead, being alone.

18 Yea, a man may say, Thou hast faith, and I have works: shew me thy faith without thy works, and I will shew thee my faith by my works.

19 Thou believest that there is one God; thou doest well: the devils also believe, and tremble.

I can’t tell you how many times people had said to me that James is talking about good works like feeding the poor and such. But, Dear Reader, I assure you that he is not! Does feeding the poor prove that you are a Christian? NO! There are many religions in this world that feed the poor. Are they all Christian? No! Even Atheists feed the poor, are they saved? No!

Then what is he talking about? Look at verse 17:

17 Even so faith, if it hath not works, is dead, being alone.

The key to understanding these verses is right here in verse 17. It starts off with, even so. It means: in like manner, in the same way as.

What he is saying is simple. Just as saying to the hungry and poor to be warm and filled and you don’t do anything about it, is useless, so is saying that you have faith, but the works of God are not following, is useless! Where is your faith? It is dead! You appear to have fallen short!

Dear Reader, I don’t want to hurt you or make you mad, but I do want to provoke you to Love and Good Works! The works of this world are not Good. They are evil, because they are wrought and founded in pride! Good Works are those that can only be done by the Power of God through The Holy Spirit in Jesus’s Name! These works are God’s stamp of approval on the Gospel Message that we preach. They are the proof of our faith in Him and not in ourselves. There is a fine line here that we have to watch for. There are those who take pride in the signs. They become sign followers and not sign doers.

Before I close, I must take a look at Matthew 7:22-23.

22 Many will say to me in that day, Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in thy name? and in thy name have cast out devils? and in thy name done many wonderful works?

23 And then will I profess unto them, I never knew you: depart from me, ye that work iniquity.

There are some, I am sad to say, among my Pentecostal brethren, who have perverted the signs following doctrine. They believe that the signs follow them because they are good. They teach that you have to be worthy to have the signs follow you and that by the signs following, proves that you are righteous’. Righteousness is a gift from God The Father, through Jesus Christ. It comes from what He does, not what we do.

The key to understanding verses 22 and 23 is found in verse 23:

23 And then will I profess unto them, I never knew you: depart from me, ye that work iniquity.

The first worker of iniquity was Lucifer. He took pride in what God had made. God made Lucifer perfect when He created him. But Lucifer began to think that his perfection was from something that he had done. (Read Ezekiel 28:12-19..these verses refer to the fall of Lucifer.)

Let us move forward in the Faith that God has for us. Let us enter into that rest that can only be found by believing Jesus Christ and what He has done for us. When we enter into His rest, we can come boldly unto the Throne of Grace and find the help that we need in time of need.

Please read the whole chapter of Hebrews four. You will find four steps to entering into Gods Throne Room.

Written by Richard D. Eutsler, Sr. to those that are called by God The Father through Jesus Christ our ONLY Savior!

May God Bless you and keep you, giving you perfect understanding of His Word through Jesus Christ our Lord.

Amen.