God is Just and Holy. Therefore, He must judge sin (Is 6:3; Gen 2:17; Ezek 18:4). God is also love. Thus, He takes no pleasure in judging to death those He created to be in intimate relationship with (1 Jn 4:7-8; Ez 33:11). So He sent His Son on a great rescue mission to take on permanent flesh to die in man’s place. God judged sin on His innocent Son so that He could be free to not judge us and, instead of judgment, give us every spiritual blessing, completely restoring us to a perfect relationship with Himself so that we can actually live face to face with Him forever (Is 53; Eph 1:1-14; 1 Pet 3:18; 1 Jn 3:2). The extent of this salvation is so great that it is equally great foolishness for anyone to think that he could do anything to earn it or keep it (Heb 2:3). God freely gives every benefit of Christ’s Person and work to the sinner when he trusts only in Christ for it. Man’s faith or trust is an admission that by his own work (sin) he should be condemned to Hell, but by Christ’s work on the cross and Christ’s resurrection he has been saved.
Before leaving the earth, Jesus prayed to His Father. He said He had completed the work His Father had sent Him to do. Then He asked His Father to keep all those whom He had given Him (Jn 17:4, 11). In response to Jesus’ prayer, God sent His Spirit to dwell permanently within every believer as a seal or guarantee that every believer will be kept saved (2 Cor 5:5; Eph 1:13; 4:30). God is actually permanently dwelling within every believer to keep him saved all through his course in this evil world. God the Son, after leaving earth, lives forever as our great High Priest to keep us saved (Heb 7:25; 1 Jn 2:1). Do you see what is happening here?
God the Father, God the Son, and God the Spirit are all at work to keep you saved. “Is anything too difficult for the Lord?” (Gen 18:14). Of course not! If there was anything, He would not be God. You are safe and secure forever. Notice, also, that none of the work to keep you saved is your work. It is all God’s, just like on the cross. “Salvation is of the Lord ” (Jonah 2:9).
Our salvation is as secure as God is wise, true, powerful, and righteous. It is also secure to the degree that God is satisfied with His Son’s sacrifice and to the degree that God loves His Son. The degree of each of these is infinity, which equates to an eternally and infinitely secure salvation for all who trust in Christ.
This is what I mean: God has revealed His will and declared that He will complete the salvation of everyone who has trusted in His Son Jesus. Everyone who has believed in Jesus will be glorified in heaven forever. God cannot lie. Unlike man, He does everything He says He will do (Rom 8:28-30; Phil 1:6; Heb 6:18). God is true and every man a liar. God’s plan and purpose to save us involved His infinite wisdom. You would have to have an enemy with greater wisdom than God in order to hinder His purpose to keep you saved. His wisdom is so great that His “foolishness” is greater than man’s wisdom. The gulf between His wisdom and anyone else’s, visible or invisible, is as great as the difference between the Creator and the creatures He has created, the infinite to the finite. The cross is the wisdom of God (1 Cor 1:21-31). God stands behind His Word as all-knowing and all-powerful.
Jesus said that no one could snatch you out of His hand, nor His Father’s hand. All the spiritual forces of evil could not keep Jesus in the grave, and none can affect your salvation (not even you) because it is God’s work. Just as He begins it, He also completes it. Jesus is “far above all rule and authority and power and dominion and every name that is named, not only in this age but in the age to come” (Jn 10:28-30; Eph 1:19-21). He is able to “keep you and make you stand in the presence of His glory, blameless with great joy” (Jude 1:24). It is He who is able, not you. The apostle Paul said, “I know He is able to keep what I have entrusted to Him” (2 Tim 1:12). Since God is infinitely more powerful than anyone or anything that exists, no one can prevail against our salvation, and nothing can separate us from His love (Rom 4:21; 8:31-39).
In Romans 3:25-26 and 1 John 2:2 Jesus is called the propitiation for our sins. This big word means that Jesus is the satisfaction of God. His shed blood perfectly satisfies the outraged holiness of God against our sin. We know this because God raised Him and exalted Him to the highest place of authority and honor, His right hand (Phil 2:6-11; Acts 2:22-36; Heb 2:9). Jesus’ death removes every barrier between us and God which was caused by sin. Now, according to the greatness of His love, He freely saves us, blessing us with the surpassing riches of His grace (Eph 1:3-14; 3:8).
In order for God to no longer be satisfied, the shed blood of Christ would have to be un-shed. Thus, it is impossible for God’s outraged holiness to no longer be satisfied because nothing you do or do not do is what satisfies it. Christ alone satisfies— “This is my Beloved Son (Jesus) in whom I am well pleased” (Matt 3:17).
Lastly, seven times in John 17 (verses 2, 6, 9, 11, 12, 20, and 24) Jesus refers to believers as “these Thou hast given Me.” Did you know that you are a gift to Jesus from God the Father?
Stop and meditate on this. You, yes you, are God’s gift to His Son Jesus. Remember this when you feel insecure, depressed, or you are tempted to doubt your salvation. Your salvation, identity, worth, and purpose. are now all caught up in Christ. God will not fail in delivering His gift to His Son Who has perfectly pleased Him to the point of death on a cross. God removes your sin and gives you His perfect righteousness so that you are a perfectly wonderful gift to His Son.
Your salvation is as secure and permanent as the work and Person of Jesus Christ is perfect, that is, His life, His death, His resurrection, and His advocacy and intercession in Heaven as our great High Priest. Jesus became and still is a perfect Savior by His obedience unto death and by His perfect and eternal life being a source of life to all those who believe in Him (Heb 5:9; 1 Jn 5:11-12). To believe is to obey the gospel in which God commands man to believe on His Son to be saved (1 Thess 1:8; Acts 16:30-31; Rom 10:16). Jesus was also a perfect Savior in that He was sinless. Therefore, His life was not under the death penalty for sin. This made Him the only one who could die in our place as a sinless substitute (2 Cor 5:21; Rom 8:33). All our sins, past, present, and future were judged at the cross. Therefore, our salvation does not depend on us not sinning but on Jesus not sinning, and it is impossible for Jesus to sin! He is God (Heb 1:8; Titus 2:3; 1 Jn 5:20; Col 2:9-10). That is great news because God put us in association with Christ. This means we died when He died, and we rose when He rose. “The last Adam (Jesus) became a life-giving spirit” (1 Cor 15:45). By our association with Christ, God’s Spirit quickened us (made us alive) with new life (resurrection life, eternal life). This life is Christ’s life.
Therefore, as perfect and eternal as His life is, is how perfect and forever our new life from above is. Jesus’ life would have to come to an end for our eternal life to be hindered, but He lives forever. Therefore, He is able to save forever (Heb 7:24-25; Col 2:12-13; Eph 2:5; 1 Jn 5:11-12; 1 Cor 1:30).
Notice 1 Corinthians 1:30. It is by His doing you are in Christ, not your doing. Remember, salvation is God’s work, not yours (past, present, and future).
Jesus’ present work in heaven before the Father as our Advocate and Intercessor also keeps us saved. Satan accuses us of our sins before God because he knows that God is Holy and Just. Thus, He must punish sin. But, Jesus is our Advocate before the Father. He is before the Father as the evidence and the presenter of the evidence or proof that every sin Satan accuses us of has already been judged and, therefore, the Holy and Just character of God has already been satisfied. He lives forever to appear in the presence of God for us. Therefore, we are saved forever from the accusations of Satan (1 John 1:1–2:2; Rom 8:30-34; Rev 12:10). As our great High Priest who lives forever, Jesus is continually interceding for us before the Father as He did in John 17 before He went to His Father’s side. This is Jesus praying for us. He perfectly knows our needs. This aspect of Jesus’ work for you may sound strange, but that is just because it is so little taught. Prayers that are consistent with the will of God move the heart of God. Of course, there is an infinitely unique, special, and close love relationship between the Father and the Son. If God says that whatever we ask consistent with His will, will be done by Him, how much more it will be done for His Only Unique Son. At times you will ask other believers to pray for you, and this is a comfort to you. Well, consider that Jesus is praying for you before the Father and be oh so comforted, knowing your salvation is secure.
As long as we are in this corrupt world, He is our Intercessor (Jn 17; Heb 7:23-28; Luke 22:31-34; Rom 8:24). Jesus’ concern and work for us as Intercessor is related to the fact that He has left this evil world, which Satan is the prince of, while we, those He is pleased to call His brethren, remain in it (Heb 2:11). Jesus said to his Father, “Keep them from the evil one ” (Jn 17:15). Jesus Himself also keeps us so that the evil one cannot touch us (1 Jn 5:18).
We are further kept saved by the extraordinary fact that the One who makes the salvation won by Christ on the cross real within us is permanently dwelling in us. This is God’s Spirit! He is our guarantee (Rom 5:5; 8:9). He newly creates us inwardly, making us sharers in the life and, thus, the nature of Christ. Being divine, both are eternal. Therefore, even if we die, we will live. God’s Spirit is yet another answer to Jesus’ Intercessory work (1 Pet 1:3-4; Col 1:27; John 11:25; 1 Cor 6:19- 20; Jn 14:15-17). By association with Christ, we receive every spiritual blessing. His Spirit’s abiding presence within us guarantees we will remain in association with Christ. He seals us in Christ (Eph 1:13-14; 4:30). The strength and durability of the seal is as powerful as God Himself, since the Holy Spirit is the seal and He is God. These are all supernatural acts being described in this letter. None of them can be done or undone by man or angelic beings. God’s Spirit within is also a pledge or down payment which guarantees the completion or the rest of our salvation, including the redemption of our bodies. This is the supernatural change of our bodies into a glorified form like Jesus’ form, one fit for our eternal dwelling place, the new heaven and earth (Eph 1:13-14; 2 Cor 1:21- 22; 5:1-5; Eph 4:30; 1 Cor 15:26-58; Rom 8:23). Then there will be no more sin, sickness, sorrow, or death. God’s Spirit is the first fruits of God’s great salvation (Rom 8:23; Rev 21:1-5).
The quality of the first fruits of a harvest shows the quality of the rest of the harvest. Think of it! God Himself dwelling within us and all the benefits of God’s grace which come with Him is just the beginning of so great a salvation!
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