Week 3 Day 5 - Security & Trinity


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Day 5 Security of the Believer (John 10:28-29)
28 I give them eternal life, and they shall never perish; neither shall anyone snatch them out of My hand. 29 My Father, who has given them to Me, is greater than all; and no one is able to snatch them out of My Father’s hand.
    Does the Bible really teach “once saved, always saved”? If you are truly saved and going to heaven, is it possible to sin so badly that you would lose your salvation? If that is true, then it calls into question what “eternal life” means if you can only have it until you lose it. Let’s look at four reasons how we can have the blessed assurance of eternal life.
    1. God’s Word says we can know we have eternal life. 1 John 5:13 states that “you may know that you have eternal life”. In Romans 8:1-2, it says there is no condemnation “to those who are in Christ Jesus.”  2 Timothy 2:11 proclaims that “if we are faithless, He remains faithful; He cannot deny Himself.” And Hebrews 13:5 says that God “will never leave you nor forsake you”, leading us to bold fearlessness. Jesus said we will not “come into judgment” in John 5:24 and would always be with us in Matthew 28:20. Jesus also said that because we are God’s children, we will “abide forever” in John 8:35.
    2. God’s Will is what saves us, and not our will, according to John 1:12. Jesus also said He will not cast out those given to Him by the Father (see John 6:37). Paul knew in 2 Timothy 1:12 that God’s will not only saved him, but he was persuaded that God was able to keep him saved “until that Day.” Paul also knew that if God was for us, who can be against us? Again Paul was persuaded that nothing, no created thing, could “separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord.” (Romans 8:31-39). We were predestined to be saved by “the good pleasure of His will” Ephesians 1:5 says. “Not by our works of righteousness, but according to His mercy He saved us,” Paul assured Titus in his letter, chapter 3 verse 5.
    3. God’s Work in the resurrection, not our work, is what we base our salvation on. Romans 8:11 says “He who raised Jesus from the dead will also give life to our mortal bodies.” Our lives are “hidden in Christ in God,” Colossians 3:1 says and that we are already raised with Christ. Our earthly works may perish, but the believers themselves “will be saved, but so as by fire”, says 1 Corinthians 3:15. God’s work is what keeps us in His hand and in the hand of Jesus and no one, not even us, can snatch us out, Jesus said in John 10:28-29. The writer of Hebrews 6:9 was confident in God’s work, because it is impossible for God to lie, and he had an anchor in his soul (6:18-19). Peter said we are kept by the power of God, and that our reserved inheritance would not fade (1 Peter 1:4-5).
    4. God’s Witness is the Holy Spirit, who “sealed us … as a guarantee” (2 Corinthians 1:21-22, Eph. 1:13-14). We are sealed until the Day of Redemption, Ephesians 4:30 says. That guarantee keeps us confident (2 Corinthians 5:6). His Spirit bears witness with our spirit that we are God’s children (Romans 8:15-16). His Spirit of Truth will abide with us forever (John 14:16-17). 

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Day 5 (Continued) – Trinity
(Father, Son, and Holy Spirit) (Galatians 4:6)
6 And because you are sons, God has sent forth the Spirit of His Son into our hearts, crying, “Abba! Father!”
    The Trinity is not a sole distinctive that identifies Baptists only. In fact, if a group does not believe in the Trinity, it is not a true Christian faith. However, since the doctrine of the Trinity is so foundational and somewhat hard to understand, we cite what the BF&M says. (Did I say “somewhat hard to understand”?)

From Article II, BF&M, 1963. 2000 is underlined or footnoted
      “There is one and only one living and true God. He is an intelligent, spiritual, and personal Being, the Creator, Redeemer, Preserver, and Ruler of the universe. God is infinite in holiness and all other perfections. God is all powerful and all knowing; and His perfect knowledge extends to all things, past, present, and future, including the future decisions of His free creatures. To Him we owe the highest love, reverence, and obedience. The eternal God reveals Himself to us as Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, with distinct personal attributes, but without division of nature, essence, or being.

               A. God the Father
      “God as Father reigns with providential care over His universe, His creatures, and the flow of the stream of human history according to the purposes of His grace. He is all powerful, all loving, and all wise. God is Father in truth to those who become children of God through faith in Jesus Christ. He is fatherly in His attitude toward all men.
               B. God the Son
      “Christ is the eternal Son of God. In His incarnation as Jesus Christ he was conceived of the Holy Spirit and born of the Virgin Mary. Jesus perfectly revealed and did the will of God, taking upon Himself [1]the demands and necessities of human nature and identifying Himself completely with mankind yet without sin. He honored the divine law by His personal obedience, and in His death on the cross He made provision for the redemption of men from sin. He was raised from the dead with a glorified body and appeared to His disciples as the person who was with them before His crucifixion. He ascended into heaven and is now exalted at the right hand of God where He is the One Mediator, partaking of the nature of God and of man, and in whose Person is effected the reconciliation between God and man. He will return in power and glory to judge the world and to consummate His redemptive mission. He now dwells in all believers as the living and ever present Lord.
               C. God the Holy Spirit
      “The Holy Spirit is the Spirit of God. He inspired holy men of old to write the Scriptures. Through illumination He enables men to understand truth. He exalts Christ. He convicts of sin, of righteousness and of judgment. He calls men to the Savior, and effects regeneration. At the moment of regeneration, He baptizes every believer into the Body of Christ. He cultivates Christian character, comforts believers, and bestows the spiritual gifts by which they serve God through His church. He seals the believer unto the day of final redemption. His presence in the Christian is the assurance of God to bring the believer into the fullness of the stature of Christ. He enlightens and empowers the believer and the church in worship, evangelism, and service.”




[1] BF&M (2000) reads “human nature with its demands and necessities” 

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