To View the Video on YouTube: https://youtu.be/N_EVtvcI3lw
SHOW NOTES
Welcome to episode 95 of the Hope Rescue Podcast. This week Tim and Kimberly are discussing the topic of how one knows they are going to heaven or not. Does sin take away our salvation? If we believe in Jesus but we sin, can we still go to heaven? Can we sin our way out of salvation? Once we believe in Jesus, can we change our minds and lose our salvation?
Tim explains that as a kid, he felt like he needed to give his heart to Jesus over and over again to ensure that when he died, he was going to heaven. We have also had listeners or friends in the past ask this very question: “How do I know I’m going to heaven?” Keep reading or listening to find out!
Can we sin our way out of salvation? Tim answers this question with another question. Do we have to stop sinning to receive salvation in the first place? Ephesians 2:8 says, “For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God.” Since we don't stop sinning in order to get into heaven, we can't sin our way out of heaven.
People often use Hebrews 10:26-27 as proof that we can sin our way out of salvation through deliberately sinning. It says, “For if we go on sinning deliberately after receiving the knowledge of the truth, there no longer remains a sacrifice for sins, but a fearful expectation of judgment, and a fury of fire that will consume the adversaries.” When people use this verse to back up their claim of a person losing salvation, they are taking the verse out of its context and twisting it to fit their needs. At the beginning of chapter ten, the body of Jesus Christ became the new covenant, whereas the old covenant of the blood of bulls and goats was no longer respected by God. Once we have the body of Jesus as the sacrifice for sins, the old testament sacrifices are no longer necessary or even valid. In Hebrews 10:26, he is talking about Jewish Christians that go back to the law and the levitical sacrifices and try to combine the sacrifice of Jesus with the sacrifice of the animals after receiving the knowledge of the truth (that Jesus is the only sacrifice necessary for sins.) Once one has come to Christ, they can't go back to the old testament sacrifices. Jesus is the only way of salvation.
Can a person change their mind, stop believing in Jesus, and lose his or her salvation? John 3:16 “For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life.” Some children grow up in the church and say a prayer as a child believing they will receive salvation. As they get older though, they may rebel and push away from the church and God, saying they no longer believe in Jesus. Can this person lose his or her salvation? Or did they really ever have it in the first place? Tim explains that prayer is not necessary for salvation, but faith in Jesus Christ is. Prayer can be a way of expressing one's faith to God, but it is not the only means to salvation. If a child is pressured into praying “the prayer” and then later denounces their faith, were they ever really saved in the first place? The only thing that secures one's salvation is whether he or she believes in Jesus Christ. If we wonder whether we are saved or not, we shouldn't ask "what is my lifestyle?" We need to ask, "What do I believe about Jesus?"
Romans 10:9-10 says, “because, if you confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved. For with the heart one believes and is justified, and with the mouth one confesses and is saved.” Salvation is not simply believing that Jesus existed. Many religions believe Jesus existed and was even a prophet sent by God. We must confess that Jesus is Lord and also believe in our heart that God raised him from the dead. Tim says, “To believe that Jesus is the son of God is to believe that Jesus has the authority of God Himself.”
1 John 5:12-13 says, "Whoever has the Son has life; whoever does not have the Son of God does not have life. I write these things to you who believe in the name of the Son of God, that you may know that you have eternal life.” The word "know" is the greek word "oida" which means full and complete comprehension. When we know completely, we have a confidence that cannot be shaken. When we believe in the name of Jesus Christ, we will know completely and fully that we currently have eternal life. We don't receive eternal life when we die. We currently possess eternal life, and we cannot lose it once we have it and truly believe.
Tim closes with Romans 8:35-39 which says, “Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or danger, or sword? As it is written, “For your sake we are being killed all the day long; we are regarded as sheep to be slaughtered.” No, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him who loved us. For I am sure that neither death nor life, nor angels nor rulers, nor things present nor things to come, nor powers, nor height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord.” Once we are truly saved, nothing will be able to separate us from the love of God.
John 10:27-29 says, "My sheep hear my voice, and I know them, and they follow me. I give them eternal life, and they will never perish, and no one will snatch them out of my hand. My Father, who has given them to me, is greater than all, and no one is able to snatch them out of the Father's hand.” We can be confident in our salvation through our faith in Jesus Christ. He is hanging on to us.
QUOTES
“To believe that Jesus is the son of God is to believe that Jesus has the authority of God Himself.” -Tim
“We don't stop sinning in order to secure our salvation; we stop sinning because we want a personal relationship and intimacy with our Father.” -Tim
“Knowing that our salvation is secure does not give us a license to sin but the knowledge that we are in an eternal relationship with God.” -Tim
REFERENCED SCRIPTURE
Ephesians 2:8 “For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God”
Hebrews 10:26-27 “For if we go on sinning deliberately after receiving the knowledge of the truth, there no longer remains a sacrifice for sins, but a fearful expectation of judgment, and a fury of fire that will consume the adversaries.”
John 3:16 “For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life.”
Romans 10:9-10 “because, if you confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved. For with the heart one believes and is justified, and with the mouth one confesses and is saved.”
1 John 5:12-13 "Whoever has the Son has life; whoever does not have the Son of God does not have life. I write these things to you who believe in the name of the Son of God, that you may know that you have eternal life.”
Romans 8:35-39 “Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or danger, or sword? As it is written, “For your sake we are being killed all the day long; we are regarded as sheep to be slaughtered.” No, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him who loved us. For I am sure that neither death nor life, nor angels nor rulers, nor things present nor things to come, nor powers, nor height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord.”
John 10:27-29 says, "My sheep hear my voice, and I know them, and they follow me. I give them eternal life, and they will never perish, and no one will snatch them out of my hand. My Father, who has given them to me, is greater than all, and no one is able to snatch them out of the Father's hand.”
