GPS: God's Provided Salvation: Once You're Saved, Are You Always Saved? What Does The Scripture Say?

By Jeffery Giles

God's Provided Salvation is available to every person that desires a relationship with God. His desire is for every person to live eternally with Him in His kingdom and that fact is spelled out throughout the scripture, Old and New Testaments. What we have done in this study book is we have taken scripture from various books in the Bible as they relate to each other on the subject of eternal salvation and combined them along with questions and commentary. God has provided salvation through His Son, Jesus Christ, and this book helps you to understand more about that sacrifice and what is required by God for us to live with Him and His Son, Jesus, throughout eternity. This book, hopefully, will challenge you to dig into the Scripture more on a daily basis and strengthen your relationship with the Lord God in heaven.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Christian Faith Publishing, Inc.
• Release date: Nov 19, 2019
• ISBN: 9781645697268

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GPS: God's Provided Salvation

Once You’re Saved, Are You Always Saved? What Does The Scripture Say?

Jeffery Giles

Copyright © 2019 by Jeffery Giles

All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, distributed, or transmitted in any form or by any means, including photocopying, recording, or other electronic or mechanical methods without the prior written permission of the publisher. For permission requests, solicit the publisher via the address below.

Christian Faith Publishing, Inc.

832 Park Avenue

Meadville, PA 16335

www.christianfaithpublishing.com

Scripture taken from the New King James Version. Copyright 1982 by Thomas Nelson Inc. Used by permission. All rights reserved.

Printed in the United States of America

Table of Contents

Chapter 1

Chapter 2

Chapter 3

Chapter 4

Chapter 5

Chapter 6

Chapter 7

Chapter 8

Introduction

Have you ever been asked about your eternal salvation? Do you ever wonder if you are truly saved? Has the thought ever occurred to you that if our Lord Jesus Christ was to return at this very moment, where will you end up? Therefore if you will not watch, I will come upon you as a thief ( Rev. 3:3 ) . Would you be taken up with Him, or would you be left behind? Have you determined by studying or what others have told you that you are secure in your salvation? Are you 100 percent sure you would hear God call your name? Once you’ve come to know the Lord and have become a partaker of his grace and mercy, can you lose your salvation? Are you going to heaven or to some other place?

What if you were to die right now, at this very moment, where would your soul reside for eternity? There are least two people dying somewhere in this world every second, you could be next. What is your destiny? Do Christians ever need forgiveness?

We as Christians and born-again believers should want to know the answers to these questions and what the real truth is. When the end does come the only thing that will matter is what is the real truth. No matter what we believe in or what we have been taught to believe in, the Most High God only deals in absolute truth, and the Bible is absolutely clear about God’s sovereignty and truth. So what is the truth?

If we as believers are following Christ according to His word, we should want to know what His will is in our lives. We should want to please Him in everything we do. We have to take God’s Word as absolute truth in order to please Him. We are not allowed the freedom within God’s Word to do what we want; we must do what He wants us to do in order to receive His blessings. If each individual is allowed to make up his or her own rules then that means God is not sovereign.

God can see what’s in our hearts and He knows if we are searching for His will and guidance in our lives. I the Lord search the heart and examine the mind, to reward a man according to his conduct, according to what his deeds deserve (Jer. 17:10, NIV). I will kill her children with death, and all the churches shall know that I am He who searches the minds and hearts. And I will give to each one of you according to your works (Rev. 2:23, NKJV). This is some pretty strong language coming from the Savior of the world wouldn’t you say? What reigns in your heart?

The following scriptures are instructions from God spoken to the church with specific instructions not to change what God has intended for the church and the world to understand.

For I testify to everyone who hears the words of the prophecy of this book: If anyone adds to these things, God will add to him the plagues that are written in this book; and if anyone takes away from the words of the book of this prophecy, God shall take away his part from the Book of Life, from the holy city, and from the things which are written in this book. He who testifies to these things says, Surely I am coming quickly. Amen. Even so, come, Lord Jesus! The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with you all. Amen. (Revelation 22:18–21, NKJV)

How strong is this warning not to distort God’s Word as some do? We will come back to this scripture later for further discussion.

If we take His word and use it as we want, then we essentially are removing the truth from God’s sovereignty. If we change the true meaning of what God’s Word says, then we put ourselves in the place of God. There is a way that seems right to a man, but its end is the way of death (Prov. 14:12, 16:25). The way we think, can be noble and sincere, but that way can still be death.

We still have to search out the Word of God to know what the truth is so we can remain in His true and sovereign will. In order to receive His blessings, we have to live out our lives obeying Him and His commandments. Sin will separate us from God. The following verses are just some of the evidence that we will discuss throughout this study.

Your iniquities have turned these things away, and your sins have withheld good from you. (Jer. 5:25) God wants us to be blessed but He cannot and will not go against His own Word!

"Behold, the Lord’s hand is not shortened, that it cannot save; nor His ear heavy, that it cannot hear. But your iniquities have separated you from your God; and your sins have hidden His face from you, so that He will not hear. (Isa. 59:1–2)

If I regard iniquity in my heart, The Lord will not hear. (Ps. 66:18)

Now, is there any proof that once we believe on Jesus Christ and begin to follow Him and have a relationship with the Lord, is it possible to lose our way and salvation? Will we be lost if we leave the will of God and break His commandments, or will we still be secure in that salvation? Do we really know who Jesus is and what we are required to do to obtain that salvation?

What we will attempt to do here is to take the scripture and present it as documentation for what God’s will is for the believer and how that the Bible is a manual on how God expects us to live within His sovereign will.

In Acts 17:11, the Jews that Paul and Silas encountered had received the word with all readiness, and searched the Scriptures daily to find out; they knew they had to study the word to know if what they were being taught was true or not. We are going to search the scriptures to find out what the true answers are to the questions above! We may repeat passages and scriptures over and over to hammer home a point just as God did with the four Gospels.

God wants us to be ebullient in search of the truth of His word, and as true followers of Christ, that should be our desire: to know exactly what God’s will is for us as individuals and for the church as a whole. We are to have faith in our church leaders, but God wants us to depend on Him and His revelations through the Holy Spirit. He does not want us to rely on just what we hear from pulpits on Sunday mornings or the television preachers.

Our spiritual leaders may have been deceived during their educational endeavors, and cultural environments may have an imponderable influence on their lives, like what church organizations that they attended while growing up and the family influences they had. That’s why we must study the word of God personally along with prayer and supplication to know fully what God has for us, letting Him lead, guide, and direct our lives completely through the Word so that we may reach that destiny He has planned for us.

Indoctrination from so-called higher forms of education have been extremely influential in today’s teachings in the churches. Some are teaching that the resurrection did not occur, and others teach that Jesus was not God come to earth. Yet others say there is many ways to heaven and Jesus was just a prophet. Some say you have to belong to a certain church to go to heaven, or you have to be baptized; others say you should be sprinkled. Some say there is not a Trinity that rules heaven or that there is no hell. Remember what Revelations 22:18–19 said, and with that in mind how can there be so many different views?

My son, if you receive my words and treasure my commands within you,

So that you incline your ear to wisdom and apply your heart to understanding;

Yes, if you cry out for discernment and lift up your voice for understanding,

If you seek her as silver and search for her as for hidden treasures, then you will understand the fear of the lord and find the knowledge of God.

For the lord gives wisdom; From His mouth come knowledge and understanding (Proverbs 2:1–6, NKJV).

This is why we must study the Word and ask God to reveal to us as individuals the true discernment of His Word or, as you see from the examples above, that we could be led in many different directions. When you dedicate yourselves to the Lord and invite the Holy Spirit in, He will help you in the study of His Word and to practice righteousness, and you will learn what the truth is while searching for the heart of God.

When we begin to follow Christ and have a true relationship with Him, He will give you knowledge that you could only dream of receiving before following Him. God’s Holy Spirit will keep our minds from being led in the wrong direction when we invite Him into our hearts.

We should be praying for the wisdom offered in His word so we may learn and understand exactly who Christ is and what God’s will is in our lives.

This study book assumes that the reader has already had a basic understanding of God’s Word and doctrine, but I do urge the reader to examine the scripture thoroughly in context for confirmation of the truth!

Chapter 1

Jesus Christ, Who Is He?

Who do you say Christ is? In the book of Matthew 16:15–17 , Jesus asked the disciples that very question. He said to them, But who do you say I am? Simon Peter answered and said, You are the Christ the Son of the living God. Jesus answered and said to him, Blessed are you Simon Bar-Jonah, for flesh and blood has not revealed this to you, but my Father in heaven.

In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was in the beginning with God. All things were made through Him, and without Him nothing was made that was made. In Him was life, and the life was the light of men. And the light shines in the darkness, and the darkness did not comprehend it. (John 1:1–5, NKJV)

And they asked him, saying, Why then do you baptize if you are not the Christ, nor Elijah, nor the Prophet? John answered them, saying, I baptize with water, but there stands One among you whom you do not know. It is He who, coming after me, is preferred before me, whose sandal strap I am not worthy to loose. These things were done in Bethabara beyond the Jordan, where John was baptizing. The next day John saw Jesus coming toward him, and said, "Behold! The Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world! (John 1:25–29, NKJV)

Is Jesus part of the trinity?

This is He who came by water and blood—Jesus Christ; not only by water, but by water and blood. And it is the Spirit who bears witness, because the Spirit is truth.

For there are three that bear witness in heaven: the Father, the Word, and the Holy Spirit; and these three are one.

And there are three that bear witness on earth: the Spirit, the water, and the blood; and these three agree as one. (1 John 5:6–8, NKJV)

The next day John saw Jesus coming toward him, and said, "Behold! The Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world!

This is He of whom I said, ‘After me comes a Man who is preferred before me, for He was before me.’

I did not know Him; but that He should be revealed to Israel, therefore I came baptizing with water."

And John bore witness, saying, "I saw the Spirit descending from heaven like a dove, and He remained upon Him.

I did not know Him, but He who sent me to baptize with water said to me, ‘Upon whom you see the Spirit descending, and remaining on Him, this is He who baptizes with the Holy Spirit.’

And I have seen and testified that this is the Son of God." (John 1:29–34, NKJV)

For even if there are so-called gods, whether in heaven or on earth (as there are many gods and many lords),

yet for us there is one God, the Father, of whom are all things, and we for Him; and one Lord Jesus Christ, through whom are all things, and through whom we live. (1 Corinthians 8:5–6, NKJV)

And when I saw Him, I fell at His feet as dead. But He laid His right hand on me, saying to me, "Do not be afraid; I am the First and the Last.

I am He who lives, and was dead, and behold, I am alive forevermore. Amen. And I have the keys of Hades and of Death." (Revelation 1:17–18, NKJV)

I heard Alistair Begg, a minister on the radio say, There are very few people, Christians included, that really know who Jesus is as explained in the Bible. I completely agree, our Lord Jesus of the Bible is not the one expounded on by the churches and seminaries around the world.

The world has a wide range of views of the person of Jesus Christ, and the sad thing is that there is a wide range of opinions of who He is in the so-called Christian community as well.

Just perform your own survey of people in the multiple church organizations in your hometown or ask within your own church. You might try within your own circle of friends, and you will be amazed at the multitude of answers that you receive. Make sure you ask your question individually and with some privacy so one person’s answer does not influence the other. The difference of opinions may astonish you.

Even though you will receive varying answers from the folks, it doesn’t necessarily mean their responses are wrong, but most likely, the answer they give will probably be incomplete.

I won’t even begin to give an opinion here as to who He really is. If the answer given by Peter was approved by God Almighty and confirmed by Jesus as coming down from the Father in heaven, then what more could we say? But what I will do by using scripture briefly is to show the strong relationship of Jesus to the disciples, His followers, and His Father in heaven, and this should shed some light on who He really is.

The following scripture is clear, plain, and all the emphasis is on who Jesus is.

Some of the passages were prophesied by the prophet Isaiah several hundred or so years before Jesus was born (Isaiah 53).

Then he said, "Hear now, O house of David! Is it a small thing for you to weary men, but will you weary my God also?

Therefore the Lord Himself will give you a sign: Behold, the virgin shall conceive and bear a Son, and shall call His name Immanuel." (Isaiah 7:13–14, NKJV)

He will pass through Judah, He will overflow and pass over, He will reach up to the neck; And the stretching out of his wings Will fill the breadth of Your land, O Immanuel. (Isaiah 8:8, NKJV)

Now the birth of Jesus Christ was as follows: After His mother Mary was betrothed to Joseph, before they came together, she was found with child of the Holy Spirit.

Then Joseph her husband, being a just man, and not wanting to make her a public example, was minded to put her away secretly.

But while he thought about these things, behold, an angel of the Lord appeared to him in a dream, saying, "Joseph, son of David, do not be afraid to take to you Mary your wife, for that which is conceived in her is of the Holy Spirit.

And she will bring forth a Son, and you shall call His name jesus, for He will save His people from their sins."

So all this was done that it might be fulfilled which was spoken by the Lord through the prophet, saying:

Behold, the virgin shall be with child, and bear a Son, and they shall call His name Immanuel, which is translated, God with us. (Matthew 1:18–23, NKJV)

Then the angel said to her, Do not be afraid, Mary, for you have found favor with God. And behold you will conceive in your womb and bring forth a Son, and shall call His name jesus." (Lk.1:30–33)

The name Jesus is the Greek rendering of the Hebrew name Yehoshua, which means Saviour, and the angel confirmed to Mary that Jesus was coming down from God above.

For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life.

For God did not send His Son into the world to condemn the world, but that the world through Him might be saved. (John 3:16–17, NKJV)

Then Jesus said to them, "Most assuredly, I say to you, Moses did not give you the bread from heaven, but My Father gives you the true bread from heaven.

For the bread of God is He who comes down from heaven and gives life to the world."

Then they said to Him, Lord, give us this bread always.

And Jesus