Shane Idleman addresses the contentious question of whether one can lose their salvation, emphasizing the importance of understanding scripture in context and the need for unity among believers despite differing views. He highlights that while there are warnings in the Bible, true believers are secure in their salvation as it is ultimately God's work to hold them. Idleman encourages the congregation to examine their faith and the fruit of their lives, asserting that genuine faith will produce a desire to live for God. He concludes by reminding everyone that God is the one who holds us together, and that our relationship with Him should inspire heartfelt worship.

The title is, well let me just give you the backdrop here. I was in Psalm, are we in Psalm 9 or 10? 9, there you go. And I was trying to make this topic fit in there and it wasn't working, so I'm going to do Psalm 9 in a couple weeks. You know, next Wednesday is Thanksgiving. And this is actually a special message for a Wednesday night and the title is, are you ready? Drum roll please. Alright, let's see if we can, I was kidding but that's good. Can I, can I lose my salvation? Uh oh. Can I lose my salvation? And we do have people following us on Facebook, there's usually about a thousand people watch on Wednesday night. And I'm going to let them know that all of these verses are in the comments section of Facebook as you're watching. You can follow along, I think you've got the handout as well. And here's my challenge. I didn't want to just do a message and have theological discussions and going back and forth. Because in these camps, pretty much people have already made up their mind. And it's, I don't want to just come up here and do a teaching of what I think or, and just, and really not waste time. But just, what do they call it, theological bantering. You know, just going back and forth. And people will watch YouTube clips of what they believe and they'll watch other clips of maybe what they don't believe. And not to really necessarily learn all the time, but sometimes we pick those camps that we agree with. And people will watch this just by the title and say, I wonder what Shane believes. I wonder if he thinks what I think. And then, oh, he doesn't. I'm going to have to, you know, unfollow him from Facebook. So this teaches us a couple different things. We need to learn as a church how to disagree cordially. How to have essentials. We agree on the essentials. We have to be on the same page with the essentials. Who Jesus is, the resurrection, the deity, the word of God. These are essentials. But then beyond that, I believe that God has given us differences or allowed differences so we can allow iron to sharpen iron. And on this topic, it's not one where I would say dogmatically that, you know, this is the way it is. I don't care what you believe. There's people that on both sides of the camp that disagree, even in this church. But what I want to do is actually not try to prove a point. I want to actually point us to Christ and point us to the wonderful work that was done in our hearts. And so we can leave here edified and built up regardless of what side of the debate you're on. And that's kind of my point, not to just, well, here's what I think. It's like, you know, I'm struggling through scripture like most people. Some things aren't crystal clear, but we do know this one side or the other has to be right. Correct. You can't have you can lose your salvation and then, well, no, you can't lose it. And we're both right there. There's on things like this. There are clearly clear indications on on what the heart of God is. So what I'm going to do is, as I go through these, I believe that context is king. You've heard me say that before. Context is king. As much as I love chapter and verses. We need them with this topic and many other topics. You can't just take a verse and read it and say, well, that's what it is without, especially when it says when it starts with therefore, because, well, what? Therefore, he just wrote a letter to Hebrews, for example. He just wrote a letter to this church or Jesus just gave this long instruction. And we pull out one part of it. So when it comes to something like this, you have to read the scriptures in context. What was God trying to say or the writer of the Bible trying to say in the whole letter? For example, the big one is in Hebrews six. Right. Those who have tasted those who have experienced or those who have tasted the good things of God, those who have have and we'll get to that in a minute, have partook in the things of God if they fall away. But again, you have to look at it actually begins with therefore. So what what is he saying? The other five chapters in Hebrews, who's it written to? What's the context of everything? So it's really helpful to look at the context. But we have to be careful that brother is not shooting brother. In the Christian community, and that's I really maybe because I strive for unity. I just hate to see people just a really just brother shooting brother, sister shooting brother over things that should not be dividing us and where they actually get mean spirited. They say nasty things on on things that we shouldn't be getting so nasty about. If that makes sense. Hope I worded that correctly. But all of us, I think, are saying the same thing. Basically, are you trusting in Christ? Are you ready for his return? Is there unconfessed sin? Are you on a bad? Are you going in a bad direction? You need to get back in the center of God's will. We're all saying the same thing. We're warning people who are who are drifting from God. We're offering those who know God security. So but within that, people try to try to understand the heart of God in this area. And I want to remind all of us of the primary thing here is the Bible is written to two types of people. Believers, and I'm pretty sure the writers knew that unbelievers would be reading it as well. I hope we could all agree on that. It's not just written just for believers only. The Bible is written to believers and unbelievers alike. And we have places such as Titus 1.16. That's why I gave you this handout. You can look at this later. James 2.14. First John 2.19. All of those conclude that many people say they know God, but they deny him by their lifestyle. So I think that's a confusion that a lot of times we make just because someone says they're a Christian. For example, I tell my kids, don't date someone just because they say they're a Christian. Amen. Where's the fruit? Is there fruit that goes with that lifestyle? Or that confession of faith. So let's start, and I was actually going to get that scale out. You know that scale I use that put coins on it and kind of shows? Because there are some scriptures that talk about losing your salvation. I would put a few coins on that side. But when there are scriptures that talk about God securing us, in my opinion, there seems to be a lot of scriptures that outweigh this side of it. And that balancing act, and we see more scriptures on that side. So if you're curious where I lean, that's the direction I lean. That God secures us in salvation, and it's something that we cannot undo. Where did I come up with that? Well, we're getting there. Hold on. But here's some scriptures where those who believe that you can lose it, here's where we would go. Galatians 5.4. Paul says to the church in Galatia, you have become estranged from Christ. You who attempted to be justified by law, you have fallen from grace. So we use that terminology sometimes. They have fallen from grace. What does that mean? Well, they have lost their salvation, people would say. They've fallen from that. But again, the context is, and again, read these on your own. Read the whole chapter of Galatians, actually the whole book of Galatians. He's talking to the church saying, who has bewitched you? Who has fooled you? Are you going to do these things in the flesh that began in the spirit? But then he goes on to say, the warning is against bringing the law in for justification. So what they were doing is bringing God's law in. Obeying this, or doing this, circumcision, all these things, and adding to this. So the rebuke here is those who are attempting to justify themselves by the law, by doing good things. And he's saying, if you're doing that, you're going to fall away from grace. But also, in my opinion, it wouldn't have to mean falling away from salvation. And here's where I would come up with this. Galatians 5.4 is what we're reading. And if you keep reading, here's the solution that Paul gives in Galatians 16. He says, I say then, okay, because of all this, because falling from grace, you've been estranged from Christ. If you keep reading about ten more verses, he's dealing with this subject. And then he says, okay, I say then, here's the solution. He doesn't say repent and believe again and get saved again. Here's the solution. I say then, walk in the spirit and you shall not fulfill the lusts of the flesh. So that's the solution, to go back and walk in the spirit. And you will not begin to fulfill the lusts of the flesh. So we don't see the antidote is repenting and believing again. We say that the cure is to walk in the spirit, to get back on the right track. And then we see in Romans 11.22, this is number two. Consider therefore the kindness and sternness of God, sternness to those who fell, but kindness to you, provided that you continue in his kindness, otherwise you will also be cut off. So again, what's the context? Read all of Romans 11. And if we were to keep reading the verse, the following verse doesn't seem to be cut off from eternal salvation, but that the Gentiles will be cut off as a group of people. So he's talking to the Gentiles saying, hey, you were grafted in because Israel was disobedient. So don't take too much pride, too much self-satisfaction, you know. There we go. Thank you. Tongue tied again. So he's saying this group of Gentiles will be cut off. And then we have number three, Revelation 22.19. Some may have their names removed from the Lamb's book of life, correct? But what is he saying there in Romans 22? That if you add or take away from the word of God, that's the warning. So who adds or takes away from the word of God? You see it right now today, cults and liberal theology. It's a warning to those to not take away from God's word and not add to it. Do not tamper with the word of God. So again, I don't see that as dealing with somebody losing their salvation. Others do, others may, and that's fine. That's why we agree to disagree. Number four, Ephesians 5. No immoral or impure or greedy person, such a person as an idolater, has any inheritance in the kingdom of Christ and of God. Now the only reason I put this down is because some people do say, Shane, if this person, if somebody starts to become impure and greedy and immoral, they can lose that salvation. God's not going to save them. But obviously here we see this is the practice of sin. Those who practice sin will not inherit the kingdom of God. Correct. That's what we, I mean, most of us can agree on this. So I don't know, this scripture isn't really, to me, doesn't show that side, but people do use it showing that if a person gets involved in a sinful lifestyle, but even with that, there's a distinction because a person can get involved in sin and be convicted and stuck in sin like the prodigal son, but they're still convicted. They still have drifted from the father. It doesn't mean that they're not saved. It means that they're a prodigal son or a prodigal daughter. Anybody been caught in sin and can relate? Okay, some of us are being honest. Well, maybe some of you have. That's good if you haven't. But a lot of people, they can open that door to the demonic realm again. They can fall back into that sin, and they're stuck in it, and they're depressed, but they still want God. They know what's right, and that's a person who has quenched and grieved the spirit. The Bible is clear that someone who is not saved does not view being caught in sin the same way a believer does. Here's the difference. A believer will wake up hungover and say, God, I need to stop that. Please help me. The unbeliever will say when they wake up, let's do that again. See, there's a different conviction going on. Same sin, but the heart is different. And then the fifth verse, Colossians 1, 22 through 23. He has now reconciled in his body of flesh by his death in order to present you holy and blameless and above reproach before him, if indeed you continue in the faith. And that's a good point. If you continue in the faith, stable and steadfast, not shifting from the hope of the gospel that you heard. But again, I believe that in Colossians, the church in Colossae, he is speaking to a mixed group of people. Just like in Matthew 13, we forget that Jesus spoke to a group of people in Matthew 13, verse probably 23, 24, 25, all in there, that some seed, what? Falls on good soil. Some seed falls on rocky soil. Some seed falls on thorny soil. Some seed falls where the enemy comes in and grabs it. It falls on hard soil. So people are hearing it. He's speaking to a mixed group of people here and saying if you continue in your faith, if you're not stable and you're not steadfast, you're not shifting, if you're grounded in the hope of the gospel and there's a true work being done in your heart. So again, I can't put this in the camp of losing your salvation. Being steadfast and unmovable and continuing in the faith is always a mark of somebody who's been genuinely converted. But it does bring up an interesting question. What do we do with a lot of these warnings? Because warnings are in the Bible. And I believe that some of these, if they're not applying to true believers, they can also be used as motivation. God motivates even believers through these warnings. Can you imagine if the Bible said, hey, you're secure. Don't even worry about it. Just enjoy it. But there's a warning. There's a warning to stay close. There's a warning, like a probe or a prodding. These warnings are prodding us in the right direction to stay that course and to stay that course and be resilient and steadfast. And then number six, James 5, 19 through 20. As you can tell, each one of these verses could take a sermon. So I'm trying to go briefly, but that's why I want to give you the handout so you can read them in context. This one comes up a lot. It says that if anyone wanders from the truth and someone turns him back, a soul is saved from death. Have you heard that before? That verse, if anyone wanders from the truth and someone turns him back, he saves a soul from death. But again, what's the context of James 5? The context is a believer, a believer who is sick because he or she has wandered from God. There's a pattern of sin. There's a warning. There's a conviction. There's a rebuke, and all of them were ignored. So if repentance doesn't take place, it could lead to an early death. This verse seems to be more about disobedience than losing your salvation. Again, look at the context. If there's a sin that you're caught in that leads to death and that person's caught in that sin, go to the elders, have them pray with you. If you confess, and that's why it goes on to say, so if you turn that person from the error of their way, you save that person from facing the consequences of disobedience. When you see death, it doesn't necessarily mean eternal damnation, separation from God eternally. It means what? What he said here. You're saving that person. Have you ever seen anybody on a collision course to disaster, and they're going in a wrong direction? There may be a believer, and you know this is not going to turn out good, and you turn that person back onto the right path. So again, read that whole scripture in context. And now the biggie, number seven. You ready for the biggie? Hebrews 6, 4-6. It is impossible for those who have been enlightened, who have tasted the heavenly gift, who have shared in the Holy Spirit, and who have had tasted the goodness of the Word and the power of the coming age, if they fall away to be brought back to repentance, because to their loss they are crucifying the Son of God all over again and subjecting Him to public shame. That's pretty serious. He's saying if they fall away, they're toast. It's impossible for those who have been enlightened and tasted, and like, well Shane, what do you do? Well, many years ago when I would read this, these words actually kind of stood out, because I've never seen, and do your own study, I haven't seen these types of words often being used in regard to salvation. If someone has been enlightened, or if they've tasted the heavenly gift, or if they've shared in what the Holy Spirit is doing, if they've tasted the goodness of God, if they've tasted but not swallowed, to me I instantly and immediately think of, in my opinion, I think of Judas Iscariot. Absolutely. Was he not enlightened? Did he not taste of the heavenly gift? Did he not share in what God was doing through the Holy Spirit? Did he not taste of the goodness of God? He was right there. He tasted. He saw Christ. He was enlightened. Christ spoke, and he knew all those things. But when he fell away, we all know his fate. To me, this applies perfectly to Judas Iscariot. So these terms are not necessarily connected to salvation. We don't see these words being tied to those who are genuinely saved. You don't see these words in that context. Also, I want to bring to your attention, while we're talking about this, Luke 13. Jesus said, Strive to enter. Where? Through the narrow gate. Strive to enter through the narrow gate. And then something that's very interesting. For many will seek, many will seek, and they will not enter. So he said, strive to enter that narrow gate. For many will seek. Let me read it to you. Many will seek to enter and will not be able to. What does that word seek mean? If you look it up in the Greek language, it actually means to ponder. To contemplate. To be enlightened. Tasting of the good things. Many people will ponder. God's moving there. I can see that. That makes sense. I'm contemplating it. I'm a seeker. I'm seeking. I've been enlightened, Shane. I've listened to your sermons. I've tasted the goodness of God. I went to the services when I heard worship and I felt the presence of God. I've been seeking. I'm pondering all of that. But they're not saved. He says right here. Strive to enter. And that word strive, in the Greek language, it's where we get our word agonized from. Agonizo. There's a contending. There's a striving against. There's a fighting against the pull of the flesh to go away from God. And striving with all of our heart to seek God, it's different than pondering and seeking and contemplating. So to me this verse fits right in with Hebrews 6. That many are being, they've tasted, they've been enlightened. If they fall away, and we've seen that before. Somebody who's right there on the end, if they finally say forget it, I'm out of here. Then they fall away. You cannot renew them again to salvation. And I should probably tell you, I forgot to do this at the beginning, where this argument really originates, where it really comes from, is it's really a debate between John and Joseph. Can you catch that one? John Calvin, Joseph Arminius. That's where this whole debate comes from because John Calvin, reformed theology, teaches election, predestination, God chooses certain people, and actually the order of salvation is different than what I would believe. The order of salvation for this camp, I don't remember the Latin term, or do us, salute us, or something, where it's the order of salvation. So God will, let's, Paul, you're gonna be the example. God will, if you're elect, the Holy Spirit comes in you. Okay, you're elect. Now you exercise faith and believe. Where I would say, believe and exercise faith, then you receive the Holy Spirit. But this doctrine teaches that the elect will receive the Holy Spirit first. Now they can repent and believe because God is electing them. God is drawing them. You have no choice in the matter. You have no say so in the matter. God chooses certain people. It's called election. And that, you guys are elect. So, because God chose you, and because he gave you the Holy Spirit so you could exercise faith and belief, there is no way in the world you're gonna be able to undo that. So that's why Calvinist, this type of theology, would embrace that eternal security of the believer. You can't lose that. It's one of the tenets of that movement. TULIP, total depravity, unconditional election, limited atonement, irresistible grace, and perseverance of the saints. Saints will persevere. And then the other side is Joseph Arminius, Arminian, not Arminian, you know, like the group of people, but Arminians. You know what I'm saying. I'm tongue-tied. I should have looked up this word too. Maybe this word. Jacob Arminius. That's what it is. Jacob Arminius. Thank you so much, Brian. I know that Joseph wasn't sounding right. So, Jacob Arminius, it's where they get the different view where man is actually able to repent and believe. So man is responsible for his actions. So if Brian repents and believes in the gospel as he exercises that faith and belief and repents, then he receives the Holy Spirit. So because he did something, then this side is more inclined to believe that he can undo something. So that's why this side will say that you can lose your salvation, more often than not. Because you did something, you believed, you can undo that belief and retract and then now lose the Holy Spirit. But again, I try to find, I don't teach, I don't believe in either side of the group. It's the middle ground. I gravitate towards this order of salvation that you repent, you believe, you receive the Holy Spirit, but now there's been a new birth occurred. Now there's something inside of you that wasn't inside of you before and it's not me holding on to God, it's God holding on to me. And I can't undo a new birth any more than I can undo a physical birth. So that's where the two schools of thought come from, Jacob and John. That's really where, and these sites, they're anchored in because of how they believe that God has saved people. So that's where this really comes from. So where are the verses that I look to? Well, you'll have on your sheet there, John 14, John 14, 16. And I will ask the Father, Jesus said, and he will give you another helper. What else does it say? To be with you forever. So God here, Jesus said, and I will ask the Father and he will give you another helper to be with you forever. And we see the same message in John 3, 16. For God so loved the world that he gave his only Son that whosoever believes in him shall not perish but have everlasting life. So I read these not as conditional, like shall have everlasting life as long as you do this. Or he will give you the Holy Spirit as long as you abide, as long as you obey. These are promises of God that you can take to the bank, that he gives you the Holy Spirit forever. And then number two, John 10, 28. I give them eternal life and they will never perish. They will never perish. And no one will snatch them out of my hand. So who holds us together? If we must maintain our salvation, what happens if Alzheimer's or some other mind debilitating disease sets in and begins to twist, corrupt, and pollute our thinking? If I'm holding, that's why I can't fully embrace this because I'm holding on to my salvation the rest of my life and I've got to abide in the vine, I've got to maintain, I've got to keep these things and it's all up to me to keep my salvation and keep that eternally secure. So it's not God holding on to me necessarily, it's me trying to hold on to God. So basically, again in my opinion, my salvation is contingent upon how well I continue to abide in Christ or how long I continue to exercise faith. And it's this process of, okay, I've got to keep doing this. But we do see warnings and that's good to prompt us and to motivate us, but I don't see how I can undo a spiritual birth where I've been born again. My spirit, the Bible says, the spirit, whatever that is, it's hard to concept. My spirit, the natural spirit has died and I've been made alive again in Christ, a new creation in Christ and we've been given the Holy Spirit. So I don't see how we can remove that because it's not contingent upon what I do now. Granted, I believe it was contingent upon man having the ability to, God giving us the ability to repent and believe. Once you exercise that faith and you believe and you're filled with the spirit of God, you can't undo that because it's now God's work to secure you. Here's another verse. The Holy Spirit is referred to as the deposit. Did you know that? 2 Corinthians 1, Ephesians 1, you can look at these all up at your convenience. The Holy Spirit is given to you and given to me as a deposit. He's also referred to as the seal or what would be considered an earnest in the hearts of Christians. What is an earnest? In real estate, you would give them an earnest deposit. Here's $5,000 to secure this loan. So the Holy Spirit is given to us as believers as a deposit of what's to come, eternal salvation with God. He has sealed us. It actually says, He has sealed us with the Holy Spirit until the day of redemption. Now, what people say is that you can actually undo that seal. That you can undo that guarantee. And I'm just reading it, trying to process it, looking at the heart of God. I can't find where if I'm sealed with the Holy Spirit, I can undo that seal because it's not contingent upon me maintaining my salvation. You can grieve and quench the Spirit of God, but you cannot remove Him. We see throughout the Bible, don't quench, don't grieve. We don't see and don't remove Him. And don't lose that salvation. So being born again is a supernatural act of God that cannot be reversed. It's not about hanging on to God, it's about God hanging on and holding on to us. So see what happens when you weigh the Scriptures, you know, of warnings. You know, there's some strong warnings, but if you, I mean, the Scriptures I just read, for anyone to think that they're not saying what they're saying, that's hard for me to process. I can't process when he says, the helper will be with you forever. You will never perish. No one's gonna snatch you out of my hands. The Holy Spirit's given to you as a seal to seal you until the day of redemption. How much more clear can the author of the Bible be? I mean, I don't know how he could be more clear that God is holding us. Matthew 24, 24, for false messiahs and false prophets will appear and perform great signs and wonders to deceive. Now there's two words in there that make this interesting. It doesn't say signs and wonders to deceive the elect. He says, if it were possible, if it were possible, it's not possible to deceive the elect of God, but their signs, their wonders are so great that if it were possible, even the elect would be deceived, but they're not deceived because they're held by God. They're elect of God. You can't undo that. Let no one deceive you in believing that Christ has already come. That's the context. This is a massive falling away from the truth. And don't we see that in America today? If you look at America 100 years ago compared to even today, you see a massive falling away from the truth. Even a lot of the people 100 years ago weren't believers, but at least they feared God. At least they honored God's word. At least they contemplated truth. Today they're mocking truth. They're just drifting completely. This is a massive falling away from the truth. And we are also seeing where many churches are caving in and they're putting rainbows on their signs and they're falling away from the truth of God's word. So he said it would be so deceptive that even the elect would be deceived by the signs of these false messiahs and false prophets if it were possible. And then Philippians 1.6, number five. And I am sure of this. See, this one gets me. I don't know what to do with this one. And I am sure of this, that he who began a good work in you, Shane Eidelman, will bring it to completion until the day of Jesus Christ. Again, I'm just being honest. I'm not mocking. I'm not trying to demean. But if God says he's began a good work in me, he's going to finish it. But it doesn't say, but you've got to make sure you maintain. If you fall away, this promise is null and void. You better hold on tight. You better abide in the vine. You don't have any of that. He said if he's begun a good work in you, he will complete it until the day of Jesus Christ. So I can't personally see how that could be turned around to where that has to do with. And again, I've read both sides, so I'm blue in the face. But I just look at what the scripture teaches. In my opinion. So God will complete his work, period. Correct? And then what about number six? Colossians 2.13. And you, being dead in your trespasses and uncircumcised in your flesh, so we were dead in our sins, he has made us alive together with him, having forgiven all trespasses, having wiped out all the handwritings of the requirements that was against us, which was contrary to us. And he has taken it out of the way, having nailed our sins and everything to the cross. So to me, this is a final nail in the coffin. The finality of sin being dealt with. He has made you alive. He has wiped out condemnation once and for all. He has nailed it to the cross. There's not a sense of, but temporarily. That could all be untrue. Shane, if you begin to drift away and you leave your faith, all of that, he just made you alive. He dealt with your sin. He cleaned you. He made you alive anew. That's all conditional. That's unconditional on how you live your life until you die. I don't see that that's conditional. I see it's the finality of what Jesus has done on the cross. Now here's what gets me angry, though. And I'm sure it's on Facebook thread right now. You can look at it later. You are giving people permission to sin by saying once saved, always saved. You lukewarm pastors, you're just offering people salvation. They can live however they want. And I want to say, have you ever listened to any of my sermons? Have you listened to one full sermon? Because that is not true. Telling somebody, oh, just live however you want. Once saved, always saved. That's a perversion of the gospel. The gospel says, those who are redeemed through Christ will live godly lives. They will seek God with all their heart. Yes, they might fall, but God will hold them back up. Yes, they might stumble, but God will see them through. They want to honor the Father. They live under a higher standard, living under grace. They want to run from sin. They want to love God with all their heart, with all their soul, with all their strength. I would never encourage someone whose life looks like an unbeliever that they are saved. Never. I've never done that. There's strong warnings. Because there's no fruit that can mean there's no conversion. That's actually what it does mean. I believe in one of the passages, I forgot to write down, John, I think it was, it says, they were with us, but they didn't continue with us because they were not one of us. They were not part of the faith. And you see a people writing, you see the authors writing to two different groups of people here. So I see the finality of these verses. And then number seven, I've seen some people try to get around this one and I don't know how they do. And I didn't write, you might have the reference here. It's Romans. I didn't write it in my notes, but I think we cleaned the notes up. Now that I have to get these notes out so much quicker than I have before, I missed some things. And this is from Romans. Paul said, For I am, what, persuaded that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor powers, nor things present, nor things to come, nor height, nor depth, nor any other created thing shall be able to separate us from the love of God which is in Christ Jesus. And I've had people say, But Shane, it doesn't say you can't separate yourself. I'm like, Well, for the love of God, how clear do you want this to be? Paul said, I am persuaded, I am convinced, that neither death, nor life, nor principalities, nor powers, nor angels, nor things to come, nor height, nor depth, nor any created thing is going to separate me from the love of God which is in Christ Jesus. I am secure as a son to the Father. See, we see that throughout the Gospels. Son, you are secure. You're a child of God, not a partial child of God, depending on how you live and see how it all plays out. You are a son of God. Therein is the inheritance. And we live and we walk in that freeness and that newness of life. That's Christian liberty. I can't imagine going through life thinking, I hope I don't lose my mind in 20 years. And start to think things I shouldn't. I hope I, you know, I mean, I hope I make it. There's security in the Gospels. The security of the believer. Again, look at all these on your own. But Paul is convinced that nothing, even ourselves as created beings, cannot separate the love of God that is in us. What about John 10, 28? I didn't even put that up there. I give them eternal life and they will never perish. See, there's no way that would be worded. That would be worded differently if a person could lose that. You would think, I give them eternal life if they continue to abide in me. If they continue to follow me. If they can keep exercising faith, then they will have eternal life. This is finality. I give them eternal life and they will never perish. You take that to the bank. That's the security of the believer. I think people should get excited about that. Well, Shane, that means people can just sin. No, it doesn't. It does not mean that. I've actually noticed that true believers on fire for God fill their spirit, want to live for God and honor God. I see just the complete opposite of people giving permission to sin. If they want permission to sin, they're probably not converted. And Matthew even warns of that. Matthew 7. Many will come to me in that day and say, Lord, Lord, we did what? We did these things in your name. We did things in your name. And Jesus says, what? Depart from me. I don't even know you because you practice. It's a habitual lifestyle. You practice lawlessness. You practice sin. So there's many people saying, oh, I'm a Christian until the heat's turned up. I'm a Christian until you have to produce fruit. I'm a Christian if that means involving nice to people, going on the mission field and bringing food to homeless. But watch when the rubber meets the road. Watch when there's tribulation. Watch when you have to stand up and be bold for Christ. Watch when you are mocked, you're backstabbed, you have to go through life and be beat up by the world because the world hates Christ. It's going to hate you. Then the fruit comes out. You'll know them by their fruit. So I preach just as hard at funerals, wherever it's at, that if there is no fruit, if there is zero fruit, and you're going through the motions, maybe young adults are relying on their parents to get them in or they're a good person or they do good things. If there's no fruit abiding in you, what you love God, you love His Word, you love Jesus Christ, you love worship, there's sincere humility, there's deep brokenness and repentance for sin. If there's none of that present by the authority of God's Word, I have to seriously question your salvation. Is it genuine? Because there has to be fruit. How is that possible? If the Holy Spirit's in you, He's producing fruit. Now, you could be quenching the Spirit. You could be grieving the Spirit. I've met people that are caught in a lifestyle of sin and they weep, they want so much freedom, but they're bound by demonic strongholds. They're crying out, God, break me free of this. I want to please the Father. I want that fruit. I want to get back on track. And it's a struggle there. That's part of the spiritual warfare. That's part of fighting the Christian fight. So in a nutshell, I believe a Christian cannot be unnewly created. He's been created, a new creation in Christ. The old things have passed away and he's a new creation. What happens is the Spirit is energized. You have body, soul, and spirit, correct? Now, I don't know what our spirit was before being believers, but it was dead to the things of God. If you believe that we are eternal beings, spiritually speaking, then that spirit was dead. It was in rebellion to God. And now we're revived, renewed with the Spirit of God. We are given that Spirit, the Holy Spirit. So now that Spirit, the Holy Spirit changes our body and soul. It changes our thoughts. It changes our mind. It changes how we live. And that dramatically affects the whole person. So again, a Christian cannot be unnewly created. He cannot be unborn again. He cannot remove God's seal. The redeemed cannot be unpurchased. And eternal life cannot be temporary. Want me to read that again? You cannot be unnewly created. You cannot be unborn again. You cannot remove God's seal that he has given you. The redeemed cannot be unpurchased. And eternal life cannot be temporary. I got that from GotQuestions.org, so thank them. But again, I wasn't looking for sources to tell me what I want to hear. I'm just looking at what God's Word says because we read throughout the Bible that eternal life is in the Son, correct? There's eternal life there. So when he speaks of eternal life to the believer, we don't see how that's temporary or conditional. We see that's a promise of God to those who believe. Because I believe, maybe people think of this differently, and I don't want to give a bad example. I'm trying to think of a really good one. But being saved, being born again, you exercise your faith, you repent, and you're born again. It's a supernatural experience. Now you have the Holy Spirit in you. It's almost like you get locked in jail in a good way. It's like you've been sealed. You've got the Holy Spirit. You can't undo that. It's a new birth. It's a supernatural act of God. You're done. You're in. You can't undo that. You've been sealed by the Holy Spirit. You've been given this new life. But there are strong warnings. And we need to hear strong warnings. Are you playing church? Maybe some of you need to consider this tonight or listening online later. Are you playing church? Are you giving God lip service? Are you a false proclaimer of truth? Do you supposedly have faith but no fruit? Do you know people have faith but no fruit? James says, Show me your faith by your fruit. For faith without works is dead. And the Roman Catholic Church grabs that and runs with it and says now you're saved by works. No, it doesn't say that. It doesn't say that. It says show me genuine faith by your works. So tonight, have you truly repented and believed? Do you not like worship? Do you not like God's word? Does it bother you? Do you not like being in church? I mean you know you need it but there's just no fruit? Then I want to challenge you tonight to examine yourself. Paul said that examine yourself. Do you not know yourself? Is Jesus Christ in you? Paul asked the church that. Paul asked the believers or unbelievers. Remember, writing to mixed audiences, just like I preach, just like the Bible today. He says examine yourself. Do you not know yourself? Is Jesus Christ truly in you? This I know for the Bible tells me so. You will know. You know without a shadow of a doubt that I repented and I believed. I might not be walking straight. I might be walking crooked. But I know that Jesus is my Lord and Savior. I know that God is my Lord of my life. But it's when you say I'm not sure. I'm not sure. I think so. I mean when I was little my mom told me. I was baptized as a baby. I see all these things. We have to deal with examining our hearts. So I'm going to leave you with this thought. Is it you holding on to God or is God holding on to you? Granted, both are true, I think. We hold on to God. I do. I don't know about you. But at the end of the day, he's also holding on to me. It's not contingent only on how I'm conducting myself. So for all the believers here, what is the point then, Shane? Well, let me just tell you what Paul said. Walk in the Spirit. Walk in the Spirit. You will not fulfill the lust of the flesh. Walk in the Spirit as the days get more difficult. Walk in the Spirit as life becomes confusing. If you're not sure what to do, walk in the Spirit. What does that mean? Well, if I'm walking, it's a step-by-step choice, right? Walk in the light. Don't walk in darkness. So the way we live our life, what we allow into our minds, I don't know if you realize how big what you think about, how big that is, how much of that plays a role in who you are in your Christian life. Paul said to the Romans, to the church in Rome, be not conformed. What else? Be not conformed by this world, but be transformed. That word is actually where we get our word metamorphosis. Did you know that? Like the butterfly and different things. That word transformed is where we get our word metamorphosis. So in the Greek it sounds similar. I don't want to butcher it, so I'm not going to say it. But it's that don't be conformed to this world by their standards, by what is the world going after. The sports and all this ungodly entertainment and the business and the news. We're being influenced by the world. We're being conformed to the world. That's why many Christians are fearful. That's why they don't know what's going on. That's why they're not walking in the fullness of the spirit. That's why they're not seeing God move in their lives. They're walking in the flesh. But they have to be conformed, not be conformed by the world, but be transformed by the renewing of their mind. So when I begin to drift, I bring my mind back to the word of God. What does God's word say? Because you can't trust your feelings. You can't trust situations. You have to go back to the word and say, God, you are good. Even though I don't understand what is going on, even though all hell is breaking loose in my home, I trust you, you are good. Even though my kids are not serving you right now, God, I trust you. I'm transforming my mind to remember the goodness of God. Remember Sunday, I got excited about the goodness of God? That might happen again today. All week, I love that song. Oh, you are so, so good. The goodness of God. The grace of God. The blessings of God. And you renew your mind back to who God is as a father. For single women, as a husband. For men who need direction, as a man who will lead you in the right direction. Look to God for everything. Walking in the spirit. That's how we fulfill. That's how we live the Christian faith. Walk in the spirit so you're not fulfilled. The lust of the flesh. So I'm going to have the worship team come up, and we're going to end with a few songs. And I just want to, I hope you're encouraged a little bit. Regardless of what side of the debate you're on, at least encouraged knowing that God has a little bit more to do with holding us together than we do. I don't know, I thank God that he's holding my kids together. I thank God he's holding my marriage together. I thank God he's holding me together. And from that encouragement, that's really, isn't that where worship comes from? The reason many people can't worship is because they're not excited. They're not happy with the things of God. They're angry. They're bitter. They're resentful. They're lukewarm. And they're just, worship doesn't do much for them because they're not walking in the spirit. They're not living in the spirit. Don't you think if you were full of the Holy Spirit tonight, you might worship a little differently? Come on. If you were truly broken by God, if you could see Christ on Calvary, and you were there on Golgotha, and you said, oh, God, thank you for saving me. You did that for me. Look, you were beaten. You were beaten beyond recognition. Nobody could recognize you. Blood coming out of every area could come out of just the Son of God on a cross, and that breaks you, and you repent right there, and you believe, and you're filled with the spirit. You're not going to come in here with handcuffs, bored to work. What time is it? What time is dinner? You're filled with the spirit of the living God. That's why many people do not like worship. They do not like that. They'll sit through a teaching, but they don't like worship because that's where the rubber meets the road. Yes, I'm trying to step on toes. I'm trying to convict, but what's the point? You think I just come up here and want to make people mad? No, not at all. But we have to challenge the status quo. We have to challenge a heart that's hard towards God. Well, Shane, how do I know? How do you feel during worship? Let's just be straight. Now, not all the time. It takes time sometimes, but how do we feel? Are we excited and we want to worship God, or are we bored to death? Are we angry? And it prevents heartfelt worship. And worship is so important because that's how captives are set free. Who the Son sets free is free indeed. That's how captives are set free. Do you think bitterness and anger just leaves during a sermon? No, people can stay still just as bitter and angry. But it's during worship. That's when the heart breaks because we start to say, God, You're worthy. Oh, victory in Christ. Remember that old hymn? There's victory in Jesus. Boy, they could sing those old hymns, couldn't they? You guys can too. I'm not saying that. But just the theological depth and remembering how far the church has come, you have to remember the church was started with the 12 fearful men who were filled with the Spirit of God. Eleven of the 12 died horrendous deaths. The early church was scrutinized from the get-go. Gnosticism came in. Emperors, Nero and others tried to burn them. They burned them as candles to light the streets of Rome. The Christian faith is one of warfare. It's one of travail. It's one of prevailing. And we have to remember that and be thankful that God holds us through the midst of the storm. He holds us together.