Can a saved person ever be lost? That depends on who does the saving. If God does the saving, then of course if God fails, the salvation is lost. If God is faithful and does what He promises, then one who trusts in Him will not become lost. But if a man does his own saving by his good works, then when man quits working he is lost. And if he does "hold out faithful," if he does "endure to the end,"... and if he does "go through with God," then of course his salvation is by human works and not by God's unmerited grace.
But that is an absurdity, for Ephesians 2:8, 9 says:
"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."
The clearest doctrine in the Bible is that no man deserves salvation and that only God's grace, his unmerited favor, His mercy on Hell-deserving sinners, can keep any of us from eternal destruction. - John R. Rice
[Romans 4:5-8] Iniquities forgiven! Sins covered! Righteousness imputed to us without works!
The Lord Jesus was counted bad when He was good. Now, thank God, since He paid our debt for us, we who were bad may be counted good. And better still, He places in us His goodness, and His righteousness is imparted as well as imputed, and we will end up in His likeness! - John R. Rice
I heard the beloved Dr. H. A. Ironside, eighteen years pastor of Moody Church and now with the Lord, tell of a time when he played "bear" with one of his little boys. I smile as I think of the portly Dr. Ironside, as I knew him, with a big fur coat on and down on all fours galloping from room to room after his five year old boy! The little fellow screamed with excitement and delight until Dr. Ironside, the "bear," cornered the little fellow in the kitchen and snarled and growled. The little fellow's excitement became fear, then hysteria, and finally he cried out, "You're not any old bear! You wouldn't hurt me! I'm your own little boy!" and fell sobbing into his father's arms. Dr. Ironside said that he laid aside the fur coat, took the little one in his arms, walked to and fro and said, "Why, of course I wouldn't hurt you. I'm your own daddy. I love you. We were just playing. I'm not any old bear."
And Dr. Ironside said he remembered how once he felt that God was running after him, a poor, wicked sinner, with a sword of vengeance. the fear of judgement was upon him, and when he could find no way of escape, he turned and fell into God's arms and found that God did not hate him, but loved him! God did not want to condemn him but forgive him.
So, dear sinner, take your place as a sinner and walk into the open arms of Jesus for forgiveness. All your sins are paid for! - John R. Rice
We ought to read the whole rich story in Isaiah 53. How amazing that here is the Gospel of the atoning death of Jesus as clear as any New Testament book! I do not wonder that sometimes this has been called "The Gospel of Isaiah," and how it proves the Bible and proves the deity of the Lord Jesus, that all this should be so meticulously written down over seven hundred years before it came to pass- the story of the Saviour's love, His atoning death, His being made a sinner for us, and the fact that through His stripes we are healed, and that He would make intercession for us, the transgressors! - John R. Rice
Oh, the way to have peace is not striving for salvation, not in "holding out faithful," not in vainly trying to earn salvation. Oh, no. The way to enter into rest is to cease from all works as far as salvation is concerned and take the free gift of God. For this salvation is "not of works, lest any man should boast." One who sees he cannot earn salvation and lets Jesus Christ do all the saving and gives Him all the glory, has entered into this sweet rest when he ceases dependence upon his own works and merits and trusts wholly and simply in the price Jesus has already paid! - John R. Rice
Once men made great threats against me. I wondered what would happen if I didn't go along with the denomination and boost the program. So I went to the Bible and began to consult with the prophet Daniel. I said, "Daniel, what about it?"
And Daniel said, "John, these lions' dens are greatly overrated. They are not so bad." God can handle all the lions in the world. A wonderful thought, isn't it? - John R. Rice
You can see that it is a foolish and wicked scheme of the Devil to get people to disregard the Word of God. Any man who throws away part of the Bible is a kind of modernist and is not to be trusted. If one man has a right to disregard the command of Jesus Christ about baptism, other men have a right to disregard the teaching of Jesus on any other matter. As for me, I will have a whole Bible, inspired of God, all of it authoritative and reliable, or I will have no Bible at all. - John R. Rice
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