Answer to Ron

I recently was sent this question:

I know clearly how to get saved. Romans 10:9, but, what do you have to do to keep yourself saved. Unless it is "Once saved always saved" and no matter how evil of a life you live after that makes any difference.
If that is not the case then how do you know on a day by day, minute by minute basis that you are continually saved.
Ron

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The first things that came to my mind when I read this was "Wow! What a great question! And then I thought: "I wish more people would ask that".

There are too many people in this United States of America and in this world that are under the impression that if they go to church on every Sunday then they are saved and going to heaven. There are too many people who think that just because they repeated a prayer they were told to pray as children that they are saved. These people may indeed be saved but whether they are or not has very little to do with one prayer or an hour in church.


The Gospel of Mathew chapter 7 verse 15 has Jesus saying:

15“Beware of false prophets, who come to you in sheep’s clothing, but inwardly they are ravenous wolves. 16You will know them by their fruits. Do men gather grapes from thornbushes or figs from thistles? 17Even so, every good tree bears good fruit, but a bad tree bears bad fruit. 18A good tree cannot bear bad fruit, nor can a bad tree bear good fruit. 19Every tree that does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire. 20Therefore by their fruits you will know them.
21“Not everyone who says to Me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ shall enter the kingdom of heaven, but he who does the will of My Father in heaven. 22Many will say to Me in that day, ‘Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in Your name, cast out demons in Your name, and done many wonders in Your name?’ 23And then I will declare to them, ‘I never knew you; depart from Me, you who practice lawlessness!’
24“Therefore whoever hears these sayings of Mine, and does them, I will liken him to a wise man who built his house on the rock: 25and the rain descended, the floods came, and the winds blew and beat on that house; and it did not fall, for it was founded on the rock.
26“But everyone who hears these sayings of Mine, and does not do them, will be like a foolish man who built his house on the sand: 27and the rain descended, the floods came, and the winds blew and beat on that house; and it fell. And great was its fall.”


Here we have Jesus Himself telling us that there will be people on Judgment day who will have cast out demons, prophesied, and done "wonders" in the Name of our Lord and yet will still be cast out. So how do we know? That would be the key word there wouldn't it? The word "Know".

Look at verse 23: "And then I will declare to them, ‘I never knew you; depart from Me, you who practice lawlessness!’ The key phrase here is "...I never 'knew' you..." We're back to the Holy Trinity now, God the Father, Jesus the only begotten Son, and the Holy Spirit. They are Omnipotent and Omniscient. They are all powerful and They "Know" Everything. So how can Jesus say Depart from me I never "Knew" you?

John 3:16 says "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."

God "Loves" us. If you love someone what is it you want? You want to be with them all the time. You want to know what they think, what they want, what they need and what you can do to help them. I have counseled a young married woman who asked what do you do if you think you are falling out of love with your husband? I told her Love isn't just what you feel; it's what you do.

My life is all about my Loves. This blog, my work at church, the constant trying to get my life in accordance with God's scriptures is because I Love Him.
My place of employment, the place where I live, even the cars that I drive are because I love my wife. The things I do around the house are because I Love Her.

The time I spend with the kids, the school projects I help them with, is because I love my children. Love is what you do. If you aren't feeling the "love". Try doing more.
How do you know what to do? You have to get to “know” the person you "Love".

God loves us. He has done so many things for us and He keeps doing wonderful things for us. God "knows" everything but He also wants to "know" us in the same sense that we get to know a wife or a husband. Of course I'm not talking about a physical relationship but about a spiritual and mental one.

The Bible tells us we should pray without ceasing. The Old Testament tells of those few individuals who through their whole lives "walked with God". Think of what that means.

Ron asked how do we keep ourselves saved? Honestly I don't know if you can "lose your salvation". My opinion has always been that anyone who has lost their salvation probably never had it to begin with, but that is just my opinion and the scriptures aren't really clear on that point. I do know that if you aren't sure if you're saved, you probably aren't.

God wants a real relationship with you. That would be where you are talking to Him all the time and He's talking to you. It is possible and it will happen if you want it to. It isn't necessarily an audible Voice but you will know when God is speaking to you.

He will direct your life if you let Him but you have to seek Him out. He has gone to all the trouble of sending you a "love letter" how tacky would it be if we didn’t read it? The Bible is the greatest tool we have for coming to Know God -next to prayer. Prayer and the reading of scriptures will do more to change your life For The Better! Your life will be amazingly better when you start spending time with God in prayer and the reading of His word. I promise you.

Please understand, the prophecies and the "works" and the "wonders" they aren't things we do to earn salvation. We can't earn the Love of God. On the other hand when you truly love the Lord these become things you just do naturally. Like the fruit of a tree, it becomes a natural by-product of who we are. We can't be true Christians without doing these things because that's the kind of things we do. Doing those things however, doesn't automatically make us a Christian,

I mentioned that Love is what you "do". It has to be selfless. You do these things for the person you Love or at least want to love. Doing things for someone doesn't mean you love them, but they can help bring you to a place where you can. If you do love someone then you can't stop yourself from doing things for him or her.

All of the above just to get me to this answer to Ron's question:

If all you are after is "Fire insurance" then that isn't salvation. If you are trying to "earn" your way into salvation you can't. You need to Love Jesus.

You can't say you love someone if you don't know anything about them and you don't spend any time with them.

You can't say you love someone if you don't "Know" him or her. This doesn’t mean you have to be perfect.

On the contrary it is quite possible to be quite wicked and still be saved. It is a matter of your “heart”. What do you want to do? And what are you trying to do?

If you are really trying to Live for Jesus and really want to do as He commands then whatever mistakes we make along the way we can be forgiven for as we confess our sins before our maker.

If however you think you can say a quick prayer, get dumped in some water, and then go back to being as wicked as you please without worry of the coming judgment, you are mistaken.

Jesus says "...if you love me you will keep my commandments..." He then gave us this commandment: that we love one another.

If we wish to keep our salvation we need to "know" and love Jesus. If we "know" and Love God then we will also "Know" we have kept our salvation.

Make time in your life. Make knowing God the most important thing in your life. Make a special time for you and Him to be alone and then "Walk" with Him throughout your day. Everyday pray without ceasing.

I hope this answers your question Ron.

Numbers 6:24
Will