The curious case of losing salvation

Why do we care to remind people that once they are reborn in spirit, unless they follow and obey the will of the Holy Spirit to transform them into new creations in the image of the lord through the spiritual growth process, they can lose their salvation? It is not that we forget that salvation is our helmet against the arrows and the spears of the devil. We do know the fact that even if we sin, we can wash it with the blood of the lord to be saved by grace. This will make the war of the devil void and will protect us from the devil’s plan to entrap us in sin. For faithful, there is no wrong time to do the right thing, after all.

 

There are almost 2 months of fasting from animal products, in the other religions which are not part of the body of Christ. The problem is after fasting for 46 days, if you eat animal products by mistake, say you chew gum with milk, you just lose it and the fasting is void. With grace, however, you wash your mouth, you pray for mercy, and you can fast for the next few days. The grace is to make you fast from sin so the devil cannot make you feel trapped in sin by a pile of sin. It is not a license for sin.  

 

The reason why we insist on reminding people that they can lose their salvation is to remind people that they should spiritually grow in the image of the lord over time. They should not take their salvation as given, no question asked, to be part of the sinful world and to do whatever they want to do. They have to grow over time, otherwise they can lose it. This is a simple truth, but not everyone is ready for it. Education does not only enlighten you but also boxes you. That is why adults are more knowledgeable but less learnable compared to children. It is an old verse a new wineskin thing. But love is more important than truth. Let us stop fighting who knows better, therefore, and let us see the other side from a better angle.  

 

There are two other sides. One side of the other side is the devil’s side, which thinks salvation without the fruit of the spirit is ok. The confused but good other side believes those who did not grow are those who are never born again in spirit. For this side, if you are not growing in spirit and if your life is not transformed into an image of the lord over time, you are fake faithful and you are a counter fit of the devil.

 

Does it matter which side is truthful, among the two good sides? No, it does not critically matter, at least at this time. Both groups demand that people should only take their salvation for granted if there is fruit of the spirit, and both theologies will push people toward a spiritual growth process. For me, it is not an issue of which side is truthful, therefore. What I want is not to make people doubt their salvation, but to let them know that they should grow spiritually to the satisfaction of the lord. Our growth has to satisfy the lord, not us or our assembly of faithful leaders. In the eye and judgment of the lord, we have to spiritually grow in the image of the lord. “Does Jesus approve me?” is the real spiritual question.

 

It is not that the assembly of faithful leaders should approve but that God should approve. It is good to be approved by faith leaders, but it is not sufficient and sometimes not necessary. If the faith leaders are approved by God, their approval is good and necessary but not sufficient. God has to approve you for sufficiency of your approval, as their judgment is human judgment. If the “faith” leaders are not approved by God, however, their approval is neither necessary nor sufficient. After all, Jesus was not approved by the leaders of the temple, either. Yet Paul did have the authority to judge not only faithful but also angels because he had the `seal of God’s approval.

 

What is critical is in the eye of God to grow right toward the image of the lord. Your spiritual growth and being visible toward other fellow faithful are also good and useful. It is important to be ethical, moral, just, and holy not only in the eyes of God but also in the eyes of fellow faithful. God is the ultimate Judge, and the faithful are part of the body of Christ. To unite as one body with perfect harmony, it is important that others also see the fruit of the spirit in our lives as we grow toward the image of the lord.

 

That is why what we do should not be only right but also what builds the faithful. If what is right cannot build the fellow faithful, you have to manage it with care. Jesus did not tell everything to his disciples before his crucifixion and resurrection but what they can understand. What you do should not be only what is righteous, but what builds the body of Christ.

 

This means you should not be the right but also the right part of the body of Christ. You have to be not only the right brick but also the right brick that fits with other bricks in the body of Christ. This does not mean you have to follow the wave as a dead fish, but you have to be the way Jesus wants you to be. If Jesus wants you to rebuke and warn the assembly, rebuke and warn them as that is your place in the body of Christ. If Jesus wants you to build his temples, build his temples, who are the faithful. If Jesus wants you to go home and tell people what God did to you, do that, please. And, whatever you do, do it to build the body of Christ in the image of the lord following the will of the lord.

 

There was a time when Paul went to Jerusalem requesting the approval of the disciples. Yet there is a time when Paul rebukes them because they are inconsistent with the will of God. If God ordered you to rescue a woman from sinking into the sea, the world, this is the order that you have to follow at any cost. Let alone the disciples, even if an angel from heaven preaches a different gospel, you have to know that angel is damned, therefore. Because what Paul preached is direct teaching and commandment of the lord. That is why the assembly of Jerusalem is cut off from the tree of Christ, while the assemblies of Paul ended with us.

 

What does not belong to God will be cut off as it is a barren tree without fruit, and what is fruitful also needs to be pruned from time to time, so it can be more fruitful. That is why not only as individuals but also as an assembly we can die unless we are growing right with the fruit of the spirit and we are pruned from time to time,