Good morning and welcome in everybody. Today we are going to take a look at a passage of scripture from the book of Luke.
Luke 13. ²³ Then said one unto him, Lord, are there few that be saved? And he said unto them, ²⁴ Strive to enter in at the strait gate: for many, I say unto you, will seek to enter in, and shall not be able. ²⁵ When once the master of the house is risen up, and hath shut to the door, and ye begin to stand without, and to knock at the door, saying, Lord, Lord, open unto us; and he shall answer and say unto you, I know you not whence ye are: ²⁶ Then shall ye begin to say, We have eaten and drunk in thy presence, and thou hast taught in our streets. ²⁷ But he shall say, I tell you, I know you not whence ye are; depart from me, all ye workers of iniquity.
Salvation is not just a one-time event in someone’s life, but a day by day process of walking in the will of God. This is why the Apostle taught that I die daily. The Lord Jesus taught us to strive to enter the straight gate. Strive indicates exerting great effort to obtain something. Like running a 50-yard dash, eternal life is a prize that we must strive to win.
“Know ye not that they which run in a race run all, but one receiveth the prize? So run, that ye may obtain.”
— 1 Corinthians 9:24
Many people have learned the heretical concept of once saved, always saved. If this philosophy was true, the Apostle Paul and others would have never warned the church about the dangers of damnation. Some women in the church were already headed there. Although they were saved at one time, they lost their salvation.
“Having damnation, because they have cast off their first faith.”
— 1 Timothy 5:12
We have to act in accordance with the will of God to inherit eternal life. Sinners must be transformed into saints. We must put forth a daily effort of obedience towards God. Even Jesus warned His disciples about the dangers of damnation.
“And fear not them which kill the body, but are not able to kill the soul: but rather fear him which is able to destroy both soul and body in hell.”
— Matthew 10:28
Some people will begin living the Christian Life, but simply will not make it to eternity because they really didn’t believe the truth enough to repent of their sins.
“That they all might be damned who believed not the truth, but had pleasure in unrighteousness.”
— 2 Thessalonians 2:12
Once saved, always saved? Well you can clearly see that some people are just not going to have enough to make it. It is absolute nonsense to think that one will obtain eternal life without putting forth some serious effort or energy. To strive after something means to labor or to work towards it. I find it incredible that society seems to understand that to earn a paycheck each week, you need to work for it. They seem to understand that in order to graduate from high school, you need to work for it, yet there are many people who profess to be Christian, who claim once saved, always saved, and that there’s nothing else needed to be done in their life to get to heaven. They simply give themselves their own reward, before they even go to judgment Day. It is an utterly foolish philosophy, and self-defeating concept. We are in a competitive race that we must run to win.
“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.”
— Matthew 7:21
This fraudulent concept of once saved always saved, deceives people into believing that they are automatically going to be in heaven, which negates the responsibility and daily duty of every Christian to repent and mortify the sins of the flesh. Christianity is more than just baptism by itself, because you must believe in God with all of your heart. If you truly believe in Him, I guarantee that you will humbly continue in the faith and willingly submit to His purpose. This is called faith in action, which will result in salvation. The Apostle knew that he had done God’s Will from the heart, and that he would be rewarded accordingly.
2 Timothy 4 ⁷ I have fought a good fight, I have finished my course, I have kept the faith: ⁸ Henceforth there is laid up for me a crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous judge, shall give me at that day: and not to me only, but unto all them also that love his appearing.
The once saved, always saved mentality is a thought pattern that requires no action to continue to do the will of God, or to go on unto perfection.
All that matters is that at one time in your life, you accepted Jesus as your Savior, and then your salvation is locked up and secure. A college president might have a box of diplomas locked up in a cabinet in their office, but they don’t give them away to anybody. Eternal life isn’t given to everybody either, but is granted to those who do the will of God from their heart.
“And the world passeth away, and the lust thereof: but he that doeth the will of God abideth for ever.”
— 1 John 2:17
Salvation is a day-by-day process of rejecting the things of this world and embracing the things of God. Baptism is just the first step in the Christian Life, and our salvation depends on being converted and transformed to the will of God. To do this, you must renounce your own path, and submit to God’s purpose for your life. You must deny yourself daily.
Andrew and my wife can testify that before I became a believer, I said that I would never teach anything in my life! Teaching was something that I absolutely couldn’t stand, and I completely loathed the profession. Like other things in my life, I knew that this was going to have to change in order for me to become pleasing unto God. I was going to have to do something that was completely against my will, so what I did was humbly submit to God’s purpose for my life. So when I talk to people who say I can’t do this, or I can’t do that, be careful who you are talking to, because I am somebody who is involved doing something right now that I never would have done in the past.
We have to act in accordance to the will of God to enter into eternal life. This is a process, not a one-time event. We have not crossed the finish line yet, and we have quite a bit of running to do. Even the Apostle Paul didn’t live his life as though he had already attained salvation.
Philippians 3 ¹¹ If by any means I might attain unto the resurrection of the dead. ¹² Not as though I had already attained, either were already perfect: but I follow after, if that I may apprehend that for which also I am apprehended of Christ Jesus.
¹³ Brethren, I count not myself to have apprehended: but this one thing I do, forgetting those things which are behind, and reaching forth unto those things which are before, ¹⁴ I press toward the mark for the prize of the high calling of God in Christ Jesus. ¹⁵ Let us therefore, as many as be perfect, be thus minded: and if in any thing ye be otherwise minded, God shall reveal even this unto you.
Remember that even though Lot’s wife was saved from Sodom and Gomorrah, she later perished. When the Lord saved the people out of the land of Egypt, He later destroyed them that believed not. Once saved, always saved? You better…..
……. Think Again
Let’s think about these things for right now. We can be found on your web browser by searching, tlkjbc where you can find our diaries distributed through various platforms. We are not associated, nor affiliated with any other religious groups. You can get our entire podcast feeds directly, along with transcripts at tlkjbc.com or I suppose that you could find us somewhere up here, in the Great Northern Minnesota woods. Peace to you, and Lord willing, we will talk with you some more tomorrow. Till then, bye bye everybody. ❤️
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