(Text) - The complete gospel by Revelation 1611 (the free grace, once saved always saved gospel - by faith alone without works (Acts 16:31, Romans 4:5-6, 1John 5:10-13 - salvation is truly a free gift requiring nothing in return but simple faith (belief) in the death, burial and resurrection of Christ as the complete payment for our sins and the gift of eternal life.)

If you were to die today, are you a 100% sure that you’d go to heaven? You can know for sure! First of all, the Bible says that we’re all sinners – ‘’For all have sinned, and come short of the glory of God’’. (This includes all of us). The Bible also says there’s a consequence for our sins – ‘’For the wages of sin is death’’… (This includes a second death in hell) – ‘’And all liars shall have their part in the lake which burneth with fire and brimstone: which is the second death’’. (And we know that we’ve all lied before, and we’ve all done worse things than lying. Therefore we all deserve hell because of our sins). (Romans 3:23, Romans 6:23, Revelation 21:8)

But God loves us and He doesn’t want us to go to hell to pay for our own sins. That’s why He sent His Son Jesus Christ to be the propitiation (or payment) for our sins. Jesus is the Son of God and He is also God manifest in the flesh. The Bible says that Christ died for our sins, and that He was buried, and that He rose again for our justification (that is, to declare us righteous before God). He took our punishment upon Himself and made a complete payment for our sins (He paid our sin debt in full - He died for all of our sins- past, present and future). ‘’But the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord. But God commendeth His love toward us, in that, while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us.’’ (Romans 6:23b, 5:8).

Salvation is a free gift received by faith – we cannot save ourselves by our own works, such as: by repenting from our sins, or by joining a church, or by getting baptized, or by keeping the commandments, or by being a good person, etc.). It is not based on our own goodness or efforts. It’s a 100% by faith (by trusting in Jesus and in His finished work alone) and 0% by works - (it’s all by grace, meaning it’s an ‘’unmerited favor’’). - For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God: Not of works, lest any man should boast (Ephesians 2:8-9).

The Bible says there’s only one thing we must do to be saved. Acts chapter 16 verse 31 says: ‘’Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, and thou shalt be saved.’’ To believe means to trust. Believing on Jesus means that we put all of our faith and trust in His death, His burial and His resurrection as the complete payment for our sins (which guarantees us eternal life). We must simply ask Jesus to save us by believing that He died and rose again for our salvation (His sacrifice is entirely sufficient to save us). ‘’That if thou shalt confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus (if you ask Him to save you), and shalt believe in thine heart that God hath raised him from the dead, thou shalt be saved. For whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved’’ (Romans 10:9, 13).

And once we’re saved, we’re saved forever. The Bible says that salvation is eternal and that it can never be lost for any reason. The moment we believe on Christ, we receive forgiveness for all of our sins (past, present, and future sins) and eternal life. Then God becomes our Father and we become His child. Now, if we do good things after we’re saved, God will bless us- and if we commit sins, God will discipline us- but our punishment (or chastisement) for our sin will come only in this lifetime, and we can never lose the gift of eternal life or go to hell because it is God’s promise to us – ‘’He that believeth on the Son hath everlasting life’’ (John 3:36).

So if you admit that you’re a sinner, condemned to hell, and if you believe that salvation can only be received by accepting Jesus’ death, burial and resurrection as the complete payment for your sins - and that you cannot be saved by your own works or efforts, and that you can never lose salvation after having received it, you can repeat after me – ''Dear Jesus, I know I’m a sinner, and I deserve to go to hell. But I believe that you died on the cross and rose again to pay for all of my sins. Save me right now and give me eternal life. I’m trusting in you alone as my Savior - apart from my works. Thanks for saving me- Amen’’! If you have sincerely believed in your heart and asked Jesus to save you, you’re saved forever. You can write down today’s date as your salvation day - Congrats.

No copyright - feel free to share and modify this text. Soli Deo gloria - The eternal gospel (Revelation 14:6)

I don't know if I can 100% agree with just a one-time thing you ask for and then you don't have to do anything.

It's true that we are not saved by our works, however Faith without works is dead.

James 2:17-26 KJV
Even so faith, if it hath not works, is dead, being alone. Yea, a man may say, Thou hast faith, and I have works: shew me thy faith without thy works, and I will shew thee my faith by my works.

That means we can't earn our way in to heaven with our good works, we have to temper it with faith and trust in our salvation. But also...

We have to continue to Live the message and share the gospel by trying daily to live a life that would be considered acceptable by God. Take care of our bodies, be compassionate and merciful toward others, etc. We have to demonstrate the love of God for others.

To the point of this message, we are always at risk of making mistakes and we ALL have struggles that we try to overcome every day. Despite that we will always have the option to ask for forgiveness and to be saved. And we will be saved as long as we repent from our evil ways.

The thing is we can't just decide we've accepted Jesus as our savior then continue to live destructive and evil lives. It's not a one-and-done and now you're saved forever no matter your works. But no your works will not earn you a ticket in either.

It's a balance.



This post was edited by Ariana on May 22 2023 08:21am

It seems what James is getting at is the work is a proof of the faith. If you're saved and have been forgiven the penalty of spiritual death, the idea is that it will produce the works on it's own, if it is a true faith. There is of course plenty of room for disagreement and as long as we set our ONLY hope on the same Jesus, we're ok : )

I think the "one time" thing does appear in the bible quite a bit, though, that is, if it is true, saving faith, you are saved forever.
Just some examples:
John 10:29
29 My Father, who has given them to me, is greater than all; no one can snatch them out of my Father’s hand.

2 Timothy 1:12
12 That is why I am suffering as I am. Yet this is no cause for shame, because I know whom I have believed, and am convinced that he is able to guard what I have entrusted to him until that day.

Hebrews 7:25
25 Therefore he is able to save completely [greek panteles - complete/entire/perfect/through all time] those who come to God through him, because he always lives to intercede for them.

Hebrews 10:10
10 And by that will, we have been made holy through the sacrifice of the body of Jesus Christ once for all.

Hebrews 10:14
14 For by one sacrifice he has made perfect forever those who are being made holy.

1 Peter 1:3-5
3 Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ! In his great mercy he has given us new birth into a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, 4 and into an inheritance that can never perish, spoil or fade. This inheritance is kept in heaven for you, 5 who through faith are shielded by God’s power until the coming of the salvation that is ready to be revealed in the last time.

This post was edited by birrdd123 on May 22 2023 06:36pm

If you look up Yankee Arnold's (the pastor's) channel, he will explain everything.

1 Timothy 4:1
But the [Holy] Spirit explicitly and unmistakably declares that in later times some will turn away from the faith, paying attention instead to deceitful and seductive spirits and doctrines of demons,

There are usually two camps of belief regarding this subject, Some believe that you can fall away (By Choice/Free-Will) therefor *losing* their salvation once saved.
Many who bring this topic up from the secular side do it to give a license to sin or live how one wants. New-born Christians bring this up because they are worried that somehow they can lose their salvation by things outside of their control.

John 10:28-30
28 And I give them eternal life, and they will never, ever [by any means] perish; and no one will ever snatch them out of My hand. 29 [a]My Father, who has given them to Me, is greater and mightier than all; and no one is able to snatch them out of the Father’s hand. 30 I and the Father are One [in essence and nature].”

1 John 2:19
'They went out from us, but they were not of us; for if they were of us, they would have continued with us. But they went out so that it might be revealed that they were not all of us.'

There are others who believe that once you are saved you are always saved, and that those who fall away were never saved to begin with.
*If you can lose your salvation* you should always be tarrying to fight the good fight and live a life of repentance, we are not saved by works but by faith, but a sign of a truly new-born believer will have works to match their faith.
*If you can not lose your salvation* Those who walk away from the faith after being born again, were never truly *born again* - that the Elect of Christ at the end of the day, even if they backslide or sin, will eventually always find their way back to God.

I can see the justifications for both camps, but for my own opinion on the matter I do believe one, through their own free will, can shape their end destination. As in many of Gods promises are conditional (He will do this, if you do this) He made us with free-will so all these covenants and promises are a two way agreement! - However, I believe that the foundational message between the two is one in the same, which is a true believer will always find themselves back to heeding the Holy Spirit and being with God, with fruits to show repentance from sins. - There should never be complacency or looking for justifications to live in sin, if one keeps indulging in it without a repentant heart, that person should re-evaluate themselves to see are they truly saved? For one truly saved (Although one can backslide) will ultimately want to please God and not the self.

This has been a long time discussion in Christianity, but the underlying message is that a true believer will want to please God, and ask the Holy Spirit for guidance! Keep reading the word and have the best teacher teach you (Jesus!)

(if you guys want more verses i can supply quite a few I saved on this topic)

This post was edited by jicz on Jun 15 2023 07:52pm

John 8
10 Jesus straightened up and asked her, “Woman, where are they? Has no one condemned you?”

11 “No one, sir,” she said.

“Then neither do I condemn you,” Jesus declared. “Go now and leave your life of sin.”

1 John 5
18 We know that anyone born of God does not continue to sin; the One who was born of God keeps them safe, and the evil one cannot harm them.

Romans 6:1-2
What shall we say then? Shall we continue in sin that grace may abound? 2 Certainly not! How shall we who died to sin live any longer in it?