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by a religious system of works that
cannot bring us true peace, love, and
forgiveness.
The Seventh-Day Adventist church may
sound very good and Biblical. They use
the Bible to explain many of their beliefs.
There may be some true Christians in the
SDA church, just as there may be true
some Christians in other Christian-based
religions. However, what has been
explained here regarding Sabbath-
keeping,
annihilationism,
and
investigative judgment ought to be
enough to warn you to be careful and to
seek God’s Word. Many people are
attracted to the kindness and teachings of
the Mormons, Jehovah’s Witnesses,
Seventh-Day Adventists, and others.
Satan can transform himself into an angel
of light. We must be careful with any
group that teaches that we are saved by
faith in Jesus, but then must keep that
salvation by works or by following rules,
just as we must be careful about those
religious groups that teach that we are
saved by keeping rules or belonging to a
specific church.
Freedom comes by way of faith in Jesus.
We are truly free when we repent of our
sins, trust in the Savior, and are forgiven
for our sins and adopted into the family
of God. If you become a son or daughter
of the King of Kings, you do not have to
work and keep rules and follow laws in
order to remain a child of the king. Your
faithful life and actions can help to prove
that you have been changed by God’s
Holy Spirit and adopted into God’s
family, but you do not keep your adopted
status based upon your works.
Are you bound in a religious system of
works and rules, or have you found the
peace, truth, and freedom that come
through Jesus Christ alone?
Are you looking for truth? Be careful that
you do not go from one religious system
to another. Go to Jesus alone. Trust in
Him and in the Word of God. Find a
church that teaches the Bible and not
man’s traditions in place of the Bible.
How is it with you? Will you trust in
a church or a religion, or
in Jesus Christ?
CAN BORN AGAIN CHRISTIANS
LOSE THEIR SALVATION?
By Hank Hanegraaff
S
incere believers are sharply divided on this question.
Some say Christians
can
lose their salvation and
subsequently must be born again and again if they fall
away. Others contend that true believers
cannot
lose their
salvation through sin, but they can apostatize or walk away
from their salvation. Still others hold that salvation begins at
the moment of conversion (not death) and continues for all
eternity—I hold this view for several reasons.
First, outward appearances can be deceiving. Consider Judas.
For three years, he was part of Christ’s inner circle. From all
outward appearances, he was a true follower of Christ. Yet,
Jesus characterized Judas as “a devil” (John 6:70). The book
of Hebrews warns us that there were Jews who, like Judas,
tasted God’s goodness and yet turned from his grace. They
acknowledged Christ with their lips, but their apostasy proved
that their faith was not real.
Furthermore, we would do well to remember that everlasting
life means just that—life everlasting. This life does not begin
when we die but when we embrace the Savior who died in our
place. As our physical birth can never be undone, so, too, our
spiritual birth can never be undone. Christ said “Ye must be
born again” (John 3:7), not “ye must be born again and again
and again.” In Philippians, Paul praises God for the confidence
that, “He which hath begun a good work in you will perform it
until the day of Jesus Christ” (Philippians 1:6).
Finally, Scripture is replete with passages that testify to the
security of the believer. John 5:24 assures us that “he who
believes ...
has
eternal life”; 1 Corinthians 1:8 promises that
Christ will “confirm you unto the end”; and Jude 24
guarantees that God “is able to keep you from falling, and to
present you faultless before the presence of his glory with
exceeding joy.” Moreover, Ephesians provides the surety that
“ye were sealed with that holy Spirit of promise, which is the
earnest of our inheritance until the redemption of the
purchased possession, unto the praise of his glory” (1:13-14).
As has been well said, the Lord’s trees are evergreen.
My sheep hear my voice, and I know them, and they
follow me: And I give unto them eternal life; and they
shall never perish, neither shall any man pluck them out
of my hand. My Father, which gave them me, is greater
than all; and no man is able to pluck them out of my
Father's hand. —John 10:27-29
END