Eternal salvation · 3:25pm May 14th, 2017

God did not leave us without a Hope of salvation. That Hope is Jesus Christ. All who believe in Him are saved. He turns away no one who turns to Him; "All that the Father gives Me will come to Me, and the one who comes to Me I will by no means cast out. (John 6:37).

Our eternal destiny is secure. Look at the Parable of the Lost Son (Luke 15:11-32). In spite of the son's selfish acts and undoubted sins, his father at no point kicked him out of the family or considered him an ex-family member. When the son came to his senses and came back, the father welcomed him. All he said about the son's evils was that he was "dead, and is alive, was lost and now is found." At no point did the father say, "this was my son, and now has become my son again." (Eternal Security, pg. 46, by Charles Stanley.)

There is no evidence in scripture that salvation can be lost, gained, lost, and gained again. There is evidence that salvation occurs once and for all. Salvation is not and never has been dependent upon our good works, but upon our love, belief, and trust in Jesus Christ. Good works are not enough; the prophet Isaiah told us that our good acts are as "filthy rags" (Isaiah 64:6).*

Martin Luther said, “The most damnable and pernicious heresy that has ever plagued the mind of man is that somehow he can make himself good enough to deserve to live forever with an all-holy God.”

Works alone can't save us. We are saved, rescued, and brought into the Kingdom by loving and trusting in Christ and His atoning death on the cross. Any truly good works are evidence of that salvation, not salvation or production of salvation itself. When He said "It is finished (John 19:30)," He meant it. "It" was not completed by good works but by His death.

"He who believes in Him is not condemned, but He who does not believe is condemned already, because he has not believed in the name of the only begotten Son of God (John 3:18)."

*https://www.gotquestions.org/filthy-rags.html

https://www.gotquestions.org/parable-prodigal-son.html