I'm preparing to speak at the junior high AWANA club this Wednesday night on the given topic of:
1. Can a born again Christian lose their salvation?
2. How do I know if I'm born again?
2. How do I know if I'm born again?
Goodness, with so many verses that speak to this where do I start? Probably where I normally do, with the confessions, they are a good place usually. And lo, look at question one:
Q. What is your only comfort in life and in death?
A. That I am not my own, but belong—body and soul, in life and in death—to my faithful Savior, Jesus Christ.
He has fully paid for all my sins with his precious blood, and has set me free from the tyranny of the devil.
He also watches over me in such a way that not a hair can fall from my head without the will of my Father in heaven; in fact, all things must work together for my salvation.
He also watches over me in such a way that not a hair can fall from my head without the will of my Father in heaven; in fact, all things must work together for my salvation.
Because I belong to him, Christ, by his Holy Spirit, assures me of eternal life
and makes me wholeheartedly willing and ready from now on to live for him.
Now the bolded part of the answer comes out of Romans 14:7-8 - "For none of us lives to himself, and no one dies to himself. For if we live, we live to the Lord; and if we die, we die to the Lord. Therefore, whether we live or die, we are the Lord's."
In context Paul is talking about how we should not judge one another, because we are owned by Christ. Our life is not ours, therefore since we are lowly, we have no position to judge. But the Heidelberg Catechism takes it and turns it 180 degrees from the thrust of the text. You are not yours, you therefore have no claim, nor power, you are captive. Heidelberg says, you are not your own, you have every claim, all the power, and all the life.
The logical implication of 'you are not you own' is that you are secure in Him.
It seems like no matter which piece of text you pick up there is that doctrine staring at you. Even when it looks like the opposite meaning.
and makes me wholeheartedly willing and ready from now on to live for him.
Now the bolded part of the answer comes out of Romans 14:7-8 - "For none of us lives to himself, and no one dies to himself. For if we live, we live to the Lord; and if we die, we die to the Lord. Therefore, whether we live or die, we are the Lord's."
In context Paul is talking about how we should not judge one another, because we are owned by Christ. Our life is not ours, therefore since we are lowly, we have no position to judge. But the Heidelberg Catechism takes it and turns it 180 degrees from the thrust of the text. You are not yours, you therefore have no claim, nor power, you are captive. Heidelberg says, you are not your own, you have every claim, all the power, and all the life.
The logical implication of 'you are not you own' is that you are secure in Him.
It seems like no matter which piece of text you pick up there is that doctrine staring at you. Even when it looks like the opposite meaning.
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