Is One-time Salvation an Eternal Salvation? (Isaiah 60:19-22)
Rev. Myung-Sin Choi
“19 The sun will no more be your light by day, nor will the brightness of the moon shine on you, for the Lord will be your everlasting light, and your God will be your glory. 20 Your sun will never set again, and your moon will wane no more; the Lord will be your everlasting light, and your days of sorrow will end. 21 Then all your people will be righteous and they will possess the land forever. They are the shoot I have planted, the work of my hands, for the display of my splendor. 22 The least of you will become a thousand, the smallest a mighty nation. I am the Lord; in its time I will do this swiftly.”
Introduction
Today the sermon that I will give will be very important. Don't just finish with this sermon during this time but continue to listen to it over and over again. Last time, we spoke about if it is true if you just accept Jesus once, you will be eternally saved. Today, we will speak about whether if you accept Jesus Christ once, are you truly saved eternally? What is happening in America, Korea, and the entire world, people are saying that if you are saved once, you are saved eternally. This is the tactic of Satan to make you think this way. Some people say that if they are saved and if they kill thousands of people, will I go to heaven? Some people may say that. Or, if you are saved once, then after that, can I stop coming to church since I am saved forever? Since I am saved, can I do whatever I want in life since I will go to heaven when I die. Many people say that these kinds of thoughts are corrupting and wasting the church. These people refer to Philippians 4:3 “And I urge you also, true companion, help these women who labored with me in the gospel, with Clement also, and the rest of my fellow workers, whose names are in the Book of Life.” - When you refer to this, it says that once you receive salvation, your name will be written in the book of life forever. Since our names are written in the book of life forever, does this mean that we can do whatever we want? Philippians 2:12 "Therefore, my dear friends, as you have always obeyed—not only in my presence, but now much more in my absence—continue to work out your salvation with fear and trembling." - Some people say that you have to work for your salvation. If you look at this in a opposite perspective, they refer to Romans 8:1-2 "Therefore, there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus, 2 because through Christ Jesus the law of the Spirit who gives life has set you[a] free from the law of sin and death." - Why is that? The law of the Spirit of life in Jesus Christ has freed you from the law of death. This is the argument that is going on with the theologians and Christian spiritual leaders right now. Through today's sermon, may you gain assurance of your salvation. It will be hard for me to explain all of this in a short period of time. So, I will try to explain to you the fundamental aspects. That is why you need to go home and re-listen to the message.
1. God's Promise
1) The life of the Church
Verses 19-20 - This is speaking about what non-believers need the most when they live on this earth is the moon and sun. Without light, you cannot live. So, what is this passage speaking about? There is a place where we don't need the light from the moon and sun. This is what God is saying. Last week, we spoke about Isaiah and we are continuing to speak about this. God was not speaking about Isaiah but God is speaking about the church. If you think about this from a perspective of a church, then it will be different. What is a church? The church is where God's plan shines and is proclaimed.
Verse 20 - Your sun will never go down and the moon will never wane anymore. This is speaking about God. God within the church will never leave the church and the people within the church. God's presence will be there eternally.
1 Corinthians 3:16 "Don’t you know that you yourselves are God’s temple and that God’s Spirit dwells in your midst? " - We are God's temple and God's church. This means that God's Spirit lives within us. The Holy Spirit is within us. God will never us. God who is the temple of God will never leave us. That is why it says that this is the eternal light. This life within us is eternal. That is why it says our mourning days will end. That is why when God enters inside of us, all darkness, worries, and sorrow will end.
2) Is one-time salvation eternal?
John 1:12-13 "Yet to all who did receive him, to those who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God— 13 children born not of natural descent, nor of human decision or a husband’s will, but born of God." - A church is not built within the hands and actions of man. We became part of the church because we were born within the will of God. When did this church begin?
Ephesians 2:1 "As for you, you were dead in your transgressions and sins." - Before we were born, God prepared everything in advance. God prepared to create us before the beginning of time.
Ephesians 1:4 "Just as He chose us in Him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and without blame before Him in love." - During the time of creation, God planned to make the church blameless and holy. God prepared all of this. In order to raise up the church, God saved you. The reason why God prepared creation was so that we can raise up the church.
John 10:28 "And I give them eternal life, and they shall never perish; neither shall anyone snatch them out of My hand." - Who gave us eternal life? God is the one who gave us eternal life and raised up the church. God is eternal. God gave us eternal salvation so that He can establish the church. Once you are saved, you are eternally saved. It is all part of God's grace that you are sitting here and giving worship to God in this church. It was not mere coincidence that you accepted Christ and came to this church. It was not your pure luck or wise decision. It was all part of God's plan for you to be saved. God is the eternal God and He is Creator. He has given you eternal life.
2. God's Church
1) Those who have become lonely
Verse 21 - God who raised up the church, it didn't just do it but He did it so that we can be righteous. Who are the people of God? They are those who have been made righteous, or justified. Once we are saved, we are called righteous. In other words, once we hear the truth of Jesus, we are given faith to believe. When we hear the truth of Jesus Christ, we receive faith and the heart to want to accept Jesus Christ. This is an important truth. The moment you gain the heart to want to accept Jesus Christ, we experience rebirth. This is the moment you become "born again." Theologians call this "one-time repentance." The moment we accept Jesus Christ, God forgives all of our sins once and for all. This means that our sins of our ancestors and family line all get forgiven. That is why when we become forgiven of our sins, we become righteous. We call this righteousness. What happens to those who are righteous? They will inherit the land forever. This means that when you become righteous, we will gain the adoption of sonship in Romans 15. We gain authority as children of God. The moment we gain the authority as a child of God and the adoption of sonship, we gain authority. A church is the work of God's hands. The church is not a place that was established by the hands of God but completely by the grace of God. We become a new creation, we become part of the church. What is the reason for this? God's glory will be shone through us. God raised us up as a church so that we can glorify God. This was all part of God's plan.
2) Can one who has been justified be forsaken?
Those who gain God's grace of salvation, can you be forsaken by God? Many theologians argue about this. Can your name be erased from the Book of Life? The answer to this, we must hold onto it. Once we accept Jesus Christ, we need to think about what happens. You become righteous once you accept Jesus Christ (justification). We become reborn (regeneration). Once we accept Jesus, we are adopted by God (adoption). School of theology may differ with regards to the order of salvation, but the important point is that salvation is the grace of God that comes upon us. What is more important than all of this is that the moment we accept Jesus, there are two graces that come upon us. The moment we accept Jesus, we gain the blessing of sanctification. Another blessing is the perseverance of saints. Why do we need to be sanctified if we are saved? This is because we continue to carry the fundamental sins. Even though we are saved, we continue to make mistakes and commit sins. When we commit sins, we may face tribulations and problems within our lives. Those who are saved, what will come to us absolutely is that the Holy Spirit will help us realize our sins. What naturally happens to those who are saved is that they realize that they sinned before God and come to repentance before God. The Holy Spirit helps us realize that we have sinned and come to repentance before God. You have the perseverance of saints. This means that our church has endurance. What do we have endurance for? We are in constant battle with Satan and our sins within our lives. Satan continues to try to make us fall down and make mistakes. Whenever this happens, God gives us the power of the Holy Spirit to overcome all of that and win the spiritual battles within your life. If you are truly saved, God works through His word and helps you realize your sins.
John 14:26 “But the Helper, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in My name, He will teach you all things, and bring to your remembrance all things that I said to you.” - The Holy Spirit helps us realize our sins and we gain strength through the word of God. We gain the power of the heavenly throne and the wisdom to solve our problems. We will make mistakes in our lives. We will continue to sin in our lives. That is why God granted us the Holy Spirit to help us realize our sins and repent before this. This is the perseverance of saints. This is how we will grow spiritually. If you say that you are saved but you continue to commit sin and don't repent before God, then this is evidence that you are not saved. These are two things that will occur if you are not saved.
Philippians 1:6 "Being confident of this, that he who began a good work in you will carry it on to completion until the day of Christ Jesus." - Paul said that the good works of God are speaking about how God will continue to work in our lives. God will continue to grant us sanctification within our lives. If God is truly within us, then we will be victorious. Those who are saved, they will be victorious no matter what. If you are truly saved, then God will never abandon you.
Matthew 24:13 "But he who endures to the end shall be saved." - We are speaking about endurance and perseverance. This is the completion of salvation. When we die, we become a glorious body. This is the completion of salvation.
Hebrews 2:1 "We must pay the most careful attention, therefore, to what we have heard, so that we do not drift away." - The word that God gives through the pulpit message is so important. In other words, those who are saved, they will obey God's word. Those who obey God, God will be glorified and glad.
3. The Glory of the Church
1) A little one shall become a thousand
Verse 22 - God saved us and God sanctified us and gave us the perseverance of saints. God did all of this so that He can do world evangelism through us. When the church of Jerusalem, the Early Church, was started, it only started with 20 people. They later on were able to do world evangelism through these 20 people. The plan of world evangelism is God's plan not your plan. Nothing can stop the plan of God. This is because God's plan is to complete the church. That is why God continues to give us power. Then, to do world evangelism, we need to have love for souls. This is because the world is filled with problems.
2) Love of souls is important
Absolute problem: Genesis 3:5 "For God knows that when you eat from it your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God, knowing good and evil. " - All people are bound by this. Even believers are bound by this. We can fall down. But if you fall down, don't be dismayed. Repent before God. If you repent before God, God will be happy. If you repent, God will save you. You need the absolute answer.
Absolute solution: 2 Corinthians 5:17 "Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; old things have passed away; behold, all things have become new." - A church was made by the Spirit of God. We have been reborn through the Spirit of God. Have you failed? God will raise you up again.
Absolute answer: 1 Corinthians 13:13 "And now these three remain: faith, hope and love. But the greatest of these is love." - Our answer lies within this. The most important answer for world evangelism is love and agape love. Hold onto agape love. What is agape love? God will forgive all. Forgive everyone. Forgive everyone no matter what sin they commit. Just like how God forgave you, forgive others. Then, doors will be opened for you. Don't judge others. Pray for people. God is the ultimate judge.
Conclusion
Timothy 2:10 "Therefore I endure everything for the sake of the elect, that they too may obtain the salvation that is in Christ Jesus, with eternal glory." - Paul suffered a lot and had to go through a lot of endurances. All of this happened so that God can be glorified. May this answer and blessing come upon you.
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