You might be surprised at the number of times I have been asked if I believe that you can lose your salvation. Even though we are saved by grace through faith, many Christians seem to be bound and determined that they can save themselves. Well, they don’t put it that way and they don’t even intentionally claim that they can really do it. However, their reluctance to accept salvation as a gift from God inevitably leads them down the path of attempting to establish their own righteousness through their works.

Now, some of you are probably wondering if I am suggesting that you can live like the devil now that you have been saved by grace. Actually, to some degree, you can, but there are consequences. I’m sure you have heard that you reap what you sow. That’s still true. You do not attain or lose your salvation based on your works, but your quality of life now and in eternity are both affected by your behavior. If you have confessed Jesus as Lord, and you believe that God raised him from the dead, the scripture states that you are saved. That’s it! It’s final! It also says that since God has recreated you spiritually, your nature has been changed. You are righteous. Yes, that’s what I said, righteous. You are holy. Your holiness is not determined by your behavior. If this were not true, it would be impossible for you to behave in a holy manner. You see, we often get things backwards. Instead of trying to obtain holiness by doing the right things, we need to realize that we have been made holy, therefore, we should change our behavior accordingly. If we have truly accepted Jesus as the Lord of our lives, we must do our best to live like him.

We are able to live holy lives because we have a new nature. Yet, since we are still human, we do not always live up to that new standard, even when we really try to do so. God understands our situation. He does not continually remind us of our failings. If you are constantly being beaten down because you sometimes fall short, remember that the devil is your personal accuser! He’s the one who loves to remind you of your past sins. The holy spirit can, and does, bring your sins to mind when you need to make some lifestyle changes, and perhaps for other reasons, but be careful not to fall into the trap of letting the devil smack you in the face with past sins which God has already forgiven.

God and Jesus Christ have given everything for us! We should be thankful and focus on loving one another rather than on hating ourselves.

There are times when we put forth great effort to do a job or help someone, and
our deeds seem to be taken for granted. Does anyone appreciate our work?

It is pleasant to have our works acknowledged and appreciated by others, and it is good to be thankful and express your appreciation to those who show you generosity and kindness. But even when everyone else fails to notice, God sees, understands, appreciates and rewards us openly.

But thou, when thou prayest, enter into thy closet, and when thou hast shut thy door, pray to thy Father which is in secret; and thy Father which seeth in secret shall reward thee openly.

Matthew 6:6

When I consider the gross abuse of power currently taking place within our government, from the president on down, I can only conclude that God is still blessing those of us who love and attempt to follow is ways. Without his grace and mercy, I doubt that we would still have freedom and prosperity in this great nation.

We have a president who supports the Muslim Brotherhood. This group is a band of extremists who support violence and oppose every appearance of Christianity. We have a president who also supports total chaos with regard to immigration.

We have a congress which is largely contented to remain divided along party lines with no concern for principle. I trust that there are men and women on both sides of the aisle with godly convictions and standards, nevertheless, very few are willing to stand up for the truth.

We have men and women in the media who intentionally present incomplete and biased stories with the goal of deceiving their readers into believing their lies.

Given the nature of my previous posts, you may be very surprised by this one. However, there are times when it is necessary to openly oppose evil. Too often, Christians tend to shy away from judging things. When people do good things, we should openly commend them. When they do evil things, we should openly oppose them.

One thing which is not different about this post is that I truly believe in the goodness and kindness of God. I also remain committed to continue in prayer for our leaders and our nation. We are still one of the greatest Christian nations in the world, and I pray that we will recommit ourselves to the wholesome values and actions which have made us great throughout the years. Our freedoms are constantly under attack! Nevertheless, as long as we trust and seek to follow God, he will continue to bless us. We can not afford to allow evil to advance unabated.

I exhort therefore, that, first of all, supplications, prayers, intercessions, and giving of thanks, be made for all men;
For kings, and for all that are in authority; that we may lead a quiet and peaceable life in all godliness and honesty.
2 Timothy 2:1-2 (KJV)