Perseverance of the Saints: What does the Bible teach about Remaining a Christian?

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Perseverance of the SaintsWhat does the Bible
teach about Remaining a Christian?

• Alex Chen
• Austin Chinese Church

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Acknowledgments

• Systematic Theology textbook by Wayne Grudem
• Various sermons and books by Paul Washer
  (missionary) and Ray Comfort

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Perseverance of the Saints

• What percentage of children raised in
  evangelical homes leave the church at age 18
  never to return?
• 30
• 60
• 90

4
Perseverance of the Saints

• Doctrine will answer these 2 questions
• Can true Christians lose their salvation?
• How can we know if we are truly born again?

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Can true Christians lose their salvation?

• For I have come down from heaven, not to do my
  own will but the will of him who sent me And
  this is the will of him who sent me, that I
  should lose nothing of all that he has given me,
  but raise it up on the last day. For this is the
  will of my Father, that everyone who looks on the
  Son and believes in him should have eternal life,
  and I will raise him up on the last day." (John
  638-40)

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Can true Christians lose their salvation?

• For I have come down from heaven, not to do my
  own will but the will of him who sent me And
  this is the will of him who sent me, that I
  should lose nothing of all that he has given me,
  but raise it up on the last day. For this is the
  will of my Father, that everyone who looks on the
  Son and believes in him should have eternal life,
  and I will raise him up on the last day." (John
  638-40)

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Can true Christians lose their salvation?

• There is therefore now no condemnation for those
  who are in Christ Jesus (Rom 81)
• Completely rescued from law of sin and death
• Losing salvation implies going back into
  condemnation

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Can true Christians lose their salvation?

• 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 Fathers hand.
  (John 1027-29)

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Can true Christians lose their salvation?

• 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 Fathers hand.
  (John 1027-29)

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Can true Christians lose their salvation?

• God describes His purposes in salvation as an
  unending chain of events that cannot be broken
• And those whom he predestined he also called,
  and those whom he called he also justified, and
  those whom he justified he also glorified.
  (Romans 830)
• All of these apply or none of them
• Those who were justified (now), were also
  predestined and called (past)
• Those who were justified (now) he also glorified
  (future)
• Glorified is used in the past tense because
  its a certainty!

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Can true Christians lose their salvation?

• Being confident of this, that he who began a
  good work in you will carry it on to completion
  until the day of Christ Jesus. (Philippians 16)
• The saved are those, Who by Gods power are
  being guarded through faith for a salvation ready
  to be revealed in the last time (1 Pet. 15)
• The God who saves someone will keep that person
  saved

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But, we need to examine ourselves

• Examine yourselves, to see whether you are in
  the faith. Test yourselves. (2 Cor. 135)
• If the Bible teaches that those who are truly
  saved
• have eternal life
• will never perish
• are justified, glorified
• guarded by Gods power
• will be sustained until the day of Christ
• why does the Bible teach us to
  
• examine ourselves?

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Many people are deceived about their salvation

• "Not everyone who says to me, 'Lord, Lord,' will
  enter the kingdom of heaven, but the one who does
  the will of my Father who is in heaven.
• On that day many will say to me, 'Lord, Lord, did
  we not prophesy in your name, and cast out demons
  in your name, and do many mighty works in your
  name?
• And then will I declare to them, 'I never knew
  you depart from me, you workers of
  lawlessness.'
• - Matthew 721-23

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Many people are deceived about their salvation

• Some who call Jesus Lord were never saved
• I never knew you (Matt. 723)
• Many who are part of the church are not truly
  saved
• False teachers (2 Pet 21)
• False prophets (Matt. 715)
• False brothers (Gal. 24)

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Some have an Appearance of Conversion for Awhile

• Not always obvious who has genuine saving faith
  and who only has head-knowledge
• Jesus said, One of you will betray me
• Disciples suspected themselves rather than Judas
• They began to be sorrowful and to say to him one
  after another, "Is it I?" (Mark 1419)
• Judas was a false convert
• Did I not choose you, the Twelve? And yet one of
  you is a devil." (John 670)

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Some have an Appearance of Conversion for Awhile

• Parable of the Sower
• And these are the ones sown on rocky ground the
  ones who, when they hear the word, immediately
  receive it with joy. And they have no root in
  themselves, but endure for a while then, when
  tribulation or persecution arises on account of
  the word, immediately they fall away (Mark
  416-17)
• Show some signs of conversion
• But when tribulation or persecution comes,
  nowhere to be found
• Tribulation/tribulation/difficulty revealed the
  true condition of their heart (they were never
  saved to begin with)

17
Some have an Appearance of Conversion for Awhile

• They false converts promise them freedom but
  they themselves are slaves of corruption
• For it would have been better for them never to
  have known the way of righteousness than after
  knowing it to turn back from the holy commandment
  delivered to them.
• What the true proverb says has happened to them
  "The dog returns to its own vomit, and the sow,
  after washing herself, returns to wallow in the
  mire."
• - 2 Peter 221-22

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Some have an Appearance of Conversion for Awhile

• They false converts promise them freedom but
  they themselves are slaves of corruption
• For it would have been better for them never to
  have known the way of righteousness than after
  knowing it to turn back from the holy commandment
  delivered to them.
• What the true proverb says has happened to them
  "The dog returns to its own vomit, and the sow,
  after washing herself, returns to wallow in the
  mire."
• - 2 Peter 221-22

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Many people are deceived about their salvation

• Doctrine of True and False Conversion explains
  why the Church is no different from the world
• 62 of Americans claim to have a relationship
  with Jesus Christ that is meaningful to them
• But only 10 are a breed apart
• - Gallup Poll
• Divorce rate is higher for believers than
  non-believers
• Divorce rate for born-again" Christians 27
• Divorce rate for those not "born again 24
• - Baptist Standard (January 2000)
• http//www.baptiststandard.com/2000/1_12/pages
  /divorce.html

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Many people are deceived about their salvation

• 75 of "born-again" Christians lie regularly -
  conscious, premeditated lies.
• - Save America Ministries
• http//www.saveus.org/sam/lighthouse.htm
• More Christian teens watch MTV each week (42)
  than non-Christians (33)
• - Youth Leader Magazine (December 1995)

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Many people are deceived about their salvation

• How do you explain these statistics on American
  Christians?
• Only 10 are a breed apart
• Higher divorce rate
• 75 lie regularly
• MTV viewing

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Many people are deceived about their salvation

• Two Possible Conclusions
• Becoming a Christian makes you more sinful and
  rebellious
• Knowing God makes you a worse person
• The vast majority of those who profess to know
  Christ are false converts

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Many people are deceived about their salvation

• The vast majority of people who are members of
  churches in America today are not Christians. I
  say this without the slightest fear of
  contradiction. I base it on empirical evidence
  of 24 years of examining thousands of people
• - Dr. D James Kennedy (Coral Ridge Ministries)

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Many people are deceived about their salvation

• How can we know if we are truly born again?
• We must go to scripture to determine our
  salvation because human heart is deceitful
• The heart is deceitful above all things,
• and desperately sick
• who can understand it? (Jeremiah 179)

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How can we know if we are truly born again?

• Do I have a continuing trust in Christ for
  salvation?
• Jesus will present you holy and blameless and
  above reproach before him, if indeed you continue
  in the faith, stable and steadfast, not shifting
  from the hope of the gospel that you heard (Col
  122-23)
• For we have come to share in Christ, if indeed
  we hold our original confidence firm to the end.
  (Heb. 314)
• The one who endures to the end will be saved.
  (Matt 1022)

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How can we know if we are truly born again?

• Gods Spirit gives us assurance that we belong to
  Him
• The Spirit himself bears witness with our spirit
  that we are children of God (Rom. 816)
• Having believed, you were marked in him with a
  seal, the promised Holy Spirit, who is a deposit
  guaranteeing our inheritance (Eph. 113)

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How can we know if we are truly born again?

• Bearing Good Fruits
• Every good tree bears good fruit, but a bad tree
  bears bad fruit. A good tree cannot bear bad
  fruit, and a bad tree cannot bear good fruit.
  Every tree that does not bear good fruit is cut
  down and thrown into the fire. Thus, by their
  fruit you will recognize them. (Matt 717-20)
• Bearing good fruit is evidence of being a good
  tree (saved person)
• Bearing bad fruit is evidence of being a bad tree
  (unsaved person)

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How can we know if we are truly born again?

• Fruit of sinful flesh sexual immorality,
  impurity idolatry hatred, discord, jealousy, fits
  of rage, selfish ambition, envy, drunkenness,
  etc.
• Fruit of the Spirit love, joy, peace, patience,
  kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and
  self-control.
• Question is not Do I perfectly display the
  Fruit of the Spirit?
• Question is Are these a general pattern in my
  life?

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Tests of Assurance in 1 John

• Book of 1 John Written so that Christians may
  have Biblical assurance of salvation
• 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.
• - 1 John 513

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Tests of Assurance in 1 John

• Sensitivity to sin
• If we say we have not sinned, we make him a
  liar, and his word is not in us. (1 John 110)
• Gods discipline (e.g. bringing conviction of
  sin) is evidence of being Gods child
• It is for discipline that you have to endure.
  God is treating you as sonsIf you are left
  without disciplinethen you are illegitimate
  children and not sons (Heb 12)

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Tests of Assurance in 1 John

• Conformity to Gods will
• And by this we know that we have come to know
  him, if we keep his commandments. Whoever says "I
  know him" but does not keep his commandments is a
  liar, and the truth is not in him (1 John 23)
• Whoever says he abides in him ought to walk in
  the same way in which he walked. (1 John 25)
• Video camera illustration
• No one who abides in him keeps on sinning no
  one who keeps on sinning has either seen him or
  known him. (1 John 36)

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Tests of Assurance in 1 John

• Continuation in the Faith
• Let what you heard from the beginning abide in
  you. If what you heard from the beginning abides
  in you, then you too will abide in the Son and in
  the Father. (1 John 224)
• Relationship with Believers
• They went out from us, but they were not of us
  for if they had been of us, they would have
  continued with us. But they went out, that it
  might become plain that they all are not of us.
  (1 John 219)
• We know that we have passed out of death into
  life, because we love the brothers (1 John 313)

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Tests of Assurance in 1 John

• Relationship with God
• Whoever has the Son has life whoever does not
  have the Son of God does not have life. (1 John
  512)
• God calls us to embrace Jesus Christ for all that
  He is (Savior, King, Lord)
• We are to deny ourselves, take up the cross, and
  follow Him.

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Perseverance of the Saints

• What percentage of children raised in
  evangelical homes leave the church at age 18
  never to return?
• 30
• 60
• 90

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Perseverance of the Saints

• 88 of children raised in evangelical homes
  leave church at the age of eighteen never to
  return.
• - 2002 report by Southern Baptist Council on
  Family Life
• Why do 90 of children in Christian homes leave
  the church?
• What is our responsibility as a church to make
  sure this doesnt happen?

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Application

• Examine ourselves on a regular basis
• Those who are saved Seek God more so that we can
  grow in our love and knowledge of Him and bear
  more fruit for His glory
• Those who are unsaved Turn from sins and trust
  in Jesus Christ to save you and change you
• Not to judge others
• Parable of the Wheat vs. Weeds (Matt 1324-30)
• Stay faithful to the Biblical Gospel
• Repentance and faith, NOT a decision
• Repentance is impossible w/o a Biblical
  understanding of sin
• Sin is transgression of the law (1 John 34)

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Application

• Teach others what are the marks of a true
  Christian
• Dont want to lead others into a false hope
• You dont tell men they are saved you tell men
  how to be saved- God tells them they are saved
  (Paul Washer)

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Application

• Praise God because salvation is ultimately
  dependent on Him, not us
• Now to him who is able to keep you from
  stumbling and to present you blameless before the
  presence of his glory with great joy, to the only
  God, our Savior, through Jesus Christ our Lord,
  be glory, majesty, dominion, and authority,
  before all time and now and forever. (Jude
  24-25)
• Being confident of this, that he who began a
  good work in you will carry it on to completion
  until the day of Christ Jesus. (Philippians 16)

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Big Idea

• The Perseverance of the saints means that
• All who are truly born again will be kept by
  Gods power AND
• The evidence for being born again is a changed
  life and persevering until the end

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Additional Resources

• Study the Gospels and Parables for more insight
  into True vs. False conversion
• Good tree vs. bad tree (Matt 7)
• Wise vs. foolish virgins (Matt 25)
• Good fish vs. bad fish (Matt 13)
• Faithful servants vs. unfaithful servants (Matt.
  24)
• Wheat vs. weeds (Matt 13)
• Good soil vs. bad soil (parable of sower) (Mark
  4, Luke 8)
• Study the book of 1 John for better understanding
  of Biblical Assurance

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Additional Resources

• True and False Conversion sermon
• Examine Yourself sermon
• Books
• How to Bring Your Children to Christ
• Biblical principles for leading children into a
  lifelong commitment to Jesus Christ
• The Way of the Master
• What does the Bible teach about repentance and
  faith? Why is this so important in preventing
  false conversions?