Grace Revolution: Experience the Power to Live Above Defeat (24 page)

Well, what about 2 Peter 2:20? Doesn’t this Scripture say that these people have “the knowledge of the Lord”?

That’s a good question. Let’s take a closer look at 2 Peter 2:20, which says, “For if, after they have escaped the pollutions of the world through the knowledge of the Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, they are again entangled in them and overcome, the latter end is worse for them than the beginning.”

Now, before we dive into this, let me bring up another Scripture, found in the book of Hebrews, that will be useful for our discussion:

My dear reader, as we saw in the previous chapter, it is completely possible to have head knowledge of the Bible and the Lord Jesus, and still reject Him and not value Him as our personal Savior. We looked at the best example of this—Judas Iscariot. He outwardly experienced the favor, protection, and power of the Lord and escaped the pollutions of the world by being associated with our Lord Jesus. He was physically with Jesus and the disciples day and night. He witnessed and even partook of the miracles of Jesus, from the feeding of the five thousand to the raising of Lazarus. He witnessed the healings of the
blind, lame, and demon-possessed (see Matt. 4:24). And yet never once did he acknowledge Jesus as his personal Lord and Savior. He is an example of someone described in Hebrews 6:4–6—one who was once enlightened (he knew who Jesus was), tasted the heavenly gift, partook of the Holy Spirit (even performed miracles by the power of the Holy Spirit upon him, see Matt.10:1–4), and tasted the good Word of God, yet never believed Jesus as his Lord and Savior. His was an outright rejection of Jesus. And as the Scriptures describe, Judas Iscariot suffered an ignoble end (see Acts 1:16–20). It was a sad end for someone who had once enjoyed such physical proximity to Jesus.

Judas Iscariot was one of twelve men who had the privilege of being appointed by Jesus as His disciples. He was one of only twelve men who were Jesus’ closest companions during His earthly ministry. Yet he used his free choice to reject Jesus. So you see, the Scriptures we are discussing refer to
professors
of Christianity who, like Judas Iscariot, were never genuine believers. So it is important that these Scriptures (2 Pet. 2:20, Heb. 6:4–6) should never be used to threaten and bring fear to true believers, scaring them with the lie that they can easily lose their salvation and eternal security in Christ.

Some people point to Judas as an example of a Christian who lost his salvation. But that makes no sense because Judas was never a
born-again Christian
, any more than any of the other disciples were. How could they be when our Lord Jesus had not yet died and the church had not yet been birthed? They might have been disciples, but they were not born-again believers. They had the Spirit
upon
them to perform miracles, but they did not have the Spirit
in
them permanently. So Judas wasn’t a Christian who lost his salvation—he never had it to begin with! Don’t let anyone use Judas to scare you into thinking that as a born-again believer, you can lose your salvation.

My friend, if you have received the Lord Jesus into your life, I want
you to know this beyond the shadow of any doubt: you are born again, you have received the gift of
eternal
life, your salvation is as secure as the promises in God’s Word, and you are safe in the Father’s hand (see John 10:28–30)!

Another Scripture that is commonly used to threaten believers and cause them to erroneously believe that they can lose their salvation is found in the Gospel of Matthew. In this gospel Jesus is recorded as saying:

Notice that our Lord Jesus said, “I
never knew
you.” Now, how can this be applied to believers who have been born again and who have a relationship with the Lord? It is clearly referring to people who never had a personal relationship with the Lord. That is why Jesus could
say to the latter group, “I never knew you.” Again it is clear that this passage is to be used as a warning only to professors of the Christian faith, not to those who have genuinely accepted Jesus as their Lord.

Oh, but Pastor Prince, doesn’t the first part say that only those who do the will of the Father will enter the kingdom of heaven? This means that if you are not doing the will of the Father, you can lose your salvation.

Dear reader, it is important to let the Bible interpret the Bible. If you study the Bible, you will see that the will of the Father is that you believe in the One Whom He has sent and receive eternal life. Jesus said, “For this is the will of My Father, that everyone who beholds the Son and believes in Him will have eternal life, and I Myself will raise him up on the last day” (John 6:40
NASB
). And in John 6:29 (
NLT
) He tells us plainly, “This is the only work God wants from you: Believe in the one he has sent.” That is the gospel. That is doing the will of the Father.

Jesus also said, “Behold, I have come to do Your will, O God” (Heb. 10:9). What was that will that Jesus had to fulfill? It was to die for our sins and to bring us into His new covenant of grace. The same verse tells us, “He takes away the first [old covenant] that He may establish the second [new covenant].”

So what Jesus was saying in Matthew 7 is this: “Not all who call Me ‘Lord, Lord’ in that day are saved, but only those who fulfill My Father’s will, which is to believe in Me.” He is not saying that the moment you make a mistake in thought or deed, He denies you and you have lost your salvation.

Why am I sharing all this with you? It is so you will be established in our Lord Jesus, and not be easily swayed and tossed and turned by
every wind of doctrine (see Eph. 4:14). You are His precious child and your heavenly Father wants you to have a strong foundation built on your secure salvation in Christ. Instead of being confused by obscure passages in the Bible, I want to encourage you to be anchored on certain and clear passages like this one found in John 10:

Now, doesn’t simply reading this promise in God’s Word impart to you confidence, assurance, and security in your salvation in Christ? Let me draw your attention to the word “never.” This is going to bless you. The word “never” here is translated from the Greek particle
ou me
, which is a double negative, strongly emphasizing the meaning of “never, certainly not, not at all, by no means.”
¹
In other words, once you are saved, you will never, by no means, ever perish!

Unfortunately, there are people today who won’t hesitate to cast doubt on a believer’s salvation. I have seen a minister do that and even say that he wasn’t sure if he himself was saved and would make it to heaven. That, my friend, is dangerous talk that does not accurately value the finished work of Jesus Christ on the cross. It actually makes light of what our Lord Jesus suffered at Calvary for our salvation, forgiveness, and redemption.

I don’t know what Bible such people are reading, but my Bible tells me in no uncertain terms that “if you confess with your mouth the Lord Jesus and believe in your heart that God has raised Him from the
dead, you will be saved” (Rom. 10:9). My Bible tells me that “no one is able to snatch them out of My Father’s hand” (John 10:29). My Bible tells me, “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). That’s what my Bible says!

My dear friend, if you don’t feel assured of your salvation in Christ, it will affect how you live life as a Christian. Are you familiar with what happened during the construction of the Golden Gate Bridge in San Francisco? Building this magnificent suspension bridge (costing approximately $35 million)
²
in the 1930s was a colossal task fraught with many dangers. At the top of the list was the possibility of workers plunging to their deaths in the deep, icy water below. In fact, the workers
expected
death, because it was a well-known fact that in their industry, there was at least one death for every million dollars spent.
³

Because of this, Joseph Strauss, the project’s chief structural engineer, made sure rigorous safety measures were enforced and practiced. He insisted on investing in and installing an enormous safety net below the bridge. Costing $130,000 (a massive expense during the Depression era), the vast net was wider and longer than the bridge. The moment it was installed, something happened to the workers. They gained the confidence to move freely and quickly across slippery steel structures. The safety net not only boosted their morale, it also sped up the construction process. One of the workers, Lefty Underkoffler, said in an interview, “There’s no doubt the work went faster because of the net.”
⁴

Now, let me ask you a question. Did the presence of the safety net make the workers careless and irresponsible? Did it make them spend all their time trying out dangerous stunts when they should have been working? Of course not. On the contrary, they became more motivated and efficient in going about their work. It is the same in our Christian walk. When we have the assurance of salvation and know that nothing can pluck us out of our Father’s hand, it gives us confidence and strength to look to the Lord, run the race better, and go from glory to glory.

Assurance and confidence in your salvation through all that our Lord Jesus has done is vital. Imagine if our children believed that we would disown them at the drop of a hat. Imagine if they had no assurance and confidence in our love for them. I think they would grow up warped! As parents you and I don’t find every opportunity to inject doubt, fear, and insecurity into our relationships with our children. If we earthly parents don’t do that with our children, how much more so our Father, Who loves us with an everlasting love?

Some people say, “Oh, Pastor Prince, if you preach like this, people will live licentiously with no regard for God.”

Really? Do you really believe that? Do you really believe that when you tell your children that you will always love them, and that no
matter what they do, they will be your children and nothing will ever change your love for them, your children will leave your house and say, “Yippee! Now I can do anything I want because my parents have said that they will always love me and never disown me”?

I believe otherwise. I believe that children who know they are loved become secure and do better in life. It is the same with Christians who are secure in the Father’s love. Instead of conforming to the influences of the world, they will be transformed by the renewing of their minds with the power of God’s amazing grace. I believe with all my heart that born-again believers established in His grace want to live lives that glorify His holy name. They are not looking for ways to break their wives’ hearts, abandon their children, and run off with their secretaries! That is not the result of being established in God’s grace.

If you know someone who is living like that, let me be the first pastor to tell you that this person is not living under grace. God’s grace produces faithful husbands, loving wives, and children who honor their parents. God’s grace produces strong marriages and healthy families that are anchored in a local church. Why? Because grace isn’t a teaching, doctrine, or formula. Grace is a person and His name is Jesus!

That is why I like to use the phrase, “the person of Jesus.” Grace is personified in our Lord Jesus. You can relate to Him as a person. You can talk to Him, hang out with Him, share with Him your struggles and your challenges, and have really good, honest, and deep conversations with Him. Once you see our Lord Jesus as a person, and you see all His beauty, glory, grace, love, and forgiveness, there is no way you would want to live a lifestyle that does not glorify His holy name. When you value Jesus in your life, you value His glory.

I want to invite you to meditate on this powerful Scripture:

Now that’s the result of being under grace and that is what it means to be a part of the grace revolution! As we behold the person of Jesus, grace teaches us to deny ungodliness and worldly lusts, and we become a people zealous for the glory of our Lord Jesus in our lives and “zealous for good works”!