Chapter 1

PROMISES, PROMISES

1 THE SAVED ARE ALL SAVED THE SAME WAY, AND THE LOST ARE ALL LOST

THE SAME WAY. Romans 5:19

“For by one man’s disobedience many were made sinners, so by the obedience

of one shall many be made righteous.”

Popular Christianity describes some Christians as having experienced a “glorious salvation,” which implies that others were ingloriously saved. Beloved, it took the same amount of blood to wash away your sins as it took to wash away mine. It took the same belief in the resurrection of Jesus Christ to save Saul, the Christian killer, as it took to save you and me. Our glory lies in “the preaching of the cross,” and not in our hang-ups before we were saved. (Rom. 6:21) People who think the redeemed can lose their redemption have illusions that there are many ways of becoming lost. The redeemed are redeemed only once, in the exact same way, and the lost became lost, only once, in the exact same way. (Eph. 1:7)

Through one man’s disobedience everyone became lost. Likewise, “by the obedience of one many are made righteous,” and neither you nor I are that one. (Rom. 3:22) According to Romans 10:9-10, people are saved when they believe Jesus Christ died for their sins and rose for their salvation. Meanwhile, the lost remain lost by refusing to believe Christ died for their sins and rose for their justification. (Rom. 4:25) The born again are not saved any other way, and the lost are not lost any other way. Simply stated, human beings are not lost in various ways! If the redeemed could lose their salvation, this would indicate that people could be lost in ways other than by Adam’s transgression.

2 THE GATES OF HELL CANNOT PREVAIL AGAINST ONE MEMBER OF THE

CHURCH, WHICH IS CHRIST’S BODY. Matthew 16:18

“Upon this rock I will build my church; and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it.”

The Church is founded on the rock of our salvation, Jesus Christ, and not one soul Jesus saves shall ever suffer hell's torment. If the gates of hell claim one member of His Church, then Jesus is a liar. (Eph. 1:22-23) For if members of Christ are inside hell’s gates, they would serve as obvious evidence that the gates of hell did indeed prevail against “the church, which is his body.” (Eph. 1:22-23) Consequently, regarding the Church, Jesus announced, “the gates of hell shall not prevail against it,” not one member of it. Hence, born again believers are fireproof. (John 3:16)

The Apostle Paul established churches and wrote New Testament letters for their instruction. In not one of his letters to the churches did Paul mention the word “hell,” or warn believers of hell. Why? It is because hell is not an option for believers. Remember Paul was chief of sinners, so he knew the gates of hell could not prevail against the weakest or worst saint, because according to Scripture, he was it! (1 Tim. 1:15, Eph. 3:8)

3 IF ONE BORN AGAIN BELIEVER LOST HIS OR HER SALVATION, THE HOLY

SPIRIT WOULD BE FORFEITED TO THE KINGDOM OF DARKNESS.

Ephesians 1:13-1

“After ye believed the gospel of your salvation ye were sealed with the holy Spirit of promise, which is the earnest [down payment] of our inheritance until the redemption of the purchased possession....”

If you were negotiating to purchase a home, the seller would ask you for a down payment commonly called earnest money. If you refused to place earnest on the home, another person can purchase it. However, once you place earnest money with the seller, no one else can buy the house, regardless of how much they offer. But there's a catch. If, after you placed earnest on a home, you discovered structural damage, cracks in its foundation or a leaky roof, and you decide not to purchase it after all. Guess what you lose? By law, you would forfeit whatever earnest you’d offered. Hence, the Latin expression caveat emptor, “Let the buyer beware.”

Scripture indicates that God used His Holy Spirit as earnest for your salvation:

· not after you cleaned up your act and proved yourself to God,

· nor after you established a pattern of good works,

· or even after you died being faithful to the call of God in your life.

The Scripture reads:

“After ye believed, the gospel of your salvation, ye were

[not will be, but were] sealed with the holy Spirit of promise

which is the earnest of our inheritance....” (Eph. 1:13-14)

When you believed His gospel, God pledged no less than His Holy Spirit as the down payment, or earnest, for your inheritance. What is your inheritance? Recall the rich young ruler asking Jesus how he could “inherit” eternal life. (Mark 10:17) Eternal life is the inheritance of the believer that is guaranteed by the down payment of God’s Holy Spirit. If God for any reason decides not to follow through on His promise to grant you eternal life, “after ye believed,” then He, like the man who backs out on his promise to purchase the problem home, would forfeit His earnest ― which in this case is His Holy Spirit! (2 Cor. 1:22)

God is so serious about saving any soul who believes His gospel that He staked His Holy Spirit on it! Therefore, if the Almighty for any reason, refuses to deliver on His promise to save a gospel believer, despite their flaws or cracks in their character, He will forfeit “the earnest of the Spirit” to the kingdom of darkness. (1 John 2:25) With the destruction of one-third of the Godhead at stake, God is not gambling on your faithfulness or unwavering obedience to assist Him in keeping you saved. Too much is riding on the line for God to be depending on you. (Job 15:15) His Holy Spirit remains your earnest until the day of redemption, not until the day you really blow it. The Spirit of God is not trembling in fear of being forfeited to the kingdom of darkness based on any one believer’s actions to invalidate his or her salvation. God's earnest (down payment) says you are sealed till the day of redemption. Now, what do you say? “Let God be true and every man a ….” (Rom. 3:4)

4 ONCE THE BLESSING OF ABRAHAM IS CONFERRED ON SOMEONE IT CANNOT BE RESCINDED. Galatians 3:9

“We are blessed with faithful Abraham.”

The blessing of Abraham is the most powerful blessing that can be bestowed on an individual. When Abraham’s son Isaac mistakenly blessed Jacob instead of Esau with the blessing of Abraham, he could not revoke it, even after this mistake was brought to his attention. (Gen. 27:35, 28:4) Isaac could only grieve at what happened, but had to acknowledge he could not reverse it. Because once the blessing of Abraham is conferred on a soul, it is theirs for life. Isaac’s wife, Rebecca, knew this which is why she orchestrated the deception for this blessing in the first place. (Gen. 27:6-17)

The blessing of Abraham cannot be recalled, revoked, renounced, or repealed. When Isaac acknowledged, “I have blessed him. Yea, and he shall be blessed” he indicated that neither he nor the recipient himself could reverse this blessing — and neither can you! (Gen. 27:33) Isaac, the seed of Abraham, foreshadowed Jesus Christ by showing us that not even the seed of Abraham can abolish the blessing of Abraham from any undeserving soul who receives it. (Gen. 27:33, Gal. 3:16) That’s us!

Regarding the blessing of Abraham, just like Isaac, God, Himself, does not “alter the thing” that proceeds out of His lips. (Ps. 89:34) When a soul receives Christ (the seed of Abraham), this is the blessing of Abraham. (Gal. 3:14) Once Jesus confesses the name of a newly saved believer before His Father amid the rejoicing angels, He does not after a few days or decades later go back later and say, “Father, remember when I confessed so-and-so’s name the other day? Well, He's not working out, so I take it back.” Jesus is not uttering false alarms before His Father concerning any soul’s eternal salvation. (Heb. 5:9, 1 Thes. 1:8)

“God is not a man that he should lie and neither is the

son of man that he should repent. Hath he not said it

and shall he not do it? Or hath he spoken, and shall

he not make it good? He hath blessed, and I cannot

reverse it.” (Num. 23:19-20)

The Word of the Lord is immutable because he “does not alter the things which goeth out of his lips.”

Although Jesus metes out correction, chastisement, recompense, and may even take unruly believers home prematurely, the blessing of Abraham upon them cannot be abolished. (Gal. 3:14-17) Recall that Jacob was chastised for his deception but the blessing of Abraham remained on him. Likewise, from the instant God sent the Spirit of His Son into your heart, you have been “blessed with faithful Abraham,” yea, and you shall be blessed. After God confers the blessing of Abraham on a soul, that soul is endowed with eternal salvation. When the blessing of Abraham falls on a gospel-believing sinner it cannot be abrogated (revoked).

Note: More than once God desired to wipe out Israel, but He could not do so because of this blessing He swore to Abraham and his seed. (Ex. 32:11-13, Mal. 3:6) Even when the Jews ordered the crucifixion of God’s dear Son, the Almighty could not wipe them out because of His oath to Abraham. (Heb. 6:13, Rom. 4:13) Now, we are “blessed” with faithful Abraham and who can annul it? No one!

5 GOD WILL NOT ALLOW HIS ENEMIES TO TAUNT HIM SAYING, “YOU SAVED

THEM ALRIGHT, BUT YOU COULDN'T GET THEM TO THE PROMISED LAND!”

Exodus 32:11, Numbers 14:16

“And Moses besought the LORD his God and said, Why should the Egyptians

speak and say, because the Lord was not able to bring this people into the land,

which he swear unto them, ... he hath slain them in the wilderness.”

Today Moses need not worry about God's enemies saying, “God can save you, but that does not mean you will make it to the promised land,” because many Christians are saying this for them. Many Christians falsely teach that God can save you but there’s still a chance you won’t make it to heaven. Their ignorance is an affront to Scriptural teachings. If one born again believer lost his or her salvation, the world, the flesh, and the Devil could taunt God, saying:

“Because the Lord was not able to bring this soul into

his kingdom after swearing he would, he has slain it

in the bowels of hell!”

Do you think, for one moment, the Almighty would allow Satan with his legions of angels to deride Him by saying:

“BECAUSE THE LORD WAS NOT ABLE . . .”

to deliver what He promised, this “formerly” redeemed soul is in hell today? Worst yet, this would “give great occasion for the enemies of the Lord to blaspheme” by saying that the power in the blood was not able to save a soul from hell and hide a multitude of sin.

At one time, God was going to destroy His chosen people because of their behavior, so:

“Moses besought the LORD his God, and said, why should

the Egyptians say, because the Lord was not able to bring this

people into the land, which he swear unto them, therefore he

hath slain them ....” (Num. 14:16)

For His name’s sake, God will not allow it to be said, “Because the Lord was not able to . . .” For His boast to his friend, Abraham, was “Is anything to hard for the Lord?” (Gen. 18:14)

God has given us a glorious salvation, and He will not allow His glory to be tarnished by taunts and jeers from behind hell’s gates saying, “Because of the flaws in this Christian’s character, the Lord was not able to save him or her.” (Rom. 5:19) God does not grant you eternal salvation on the basis of your character. God grants eternal life to all sinners on the basis of faith in His Son by believing in His death, blood, and resurrection for the precious gift of eternal life. God did not give His enemies opportunity to say “because the Lord was not able …” in the Old Testament. Now, if only His children would refrain from saying this during the New. (1 John 2:25, Jude 24)

6 THE SON OF GOD CANNOT CAST OUT OTHER SONS OF GOD OR HIS

KINGDOM CANNOT STAND. 1 John 3:2

“Now are we the sons of God…”

Scripture records that Jesus expelled demons from the possessed. Yet the natural mind reverses this truth by presuming it has the power to send the Lord packing, when Scripture has never substantiated such a claim. Who is God here – you the believer or Jesus the Christ? Jesus cast spirits out of man, but no man was ever empowered to cast Christ’s spirit out of himself. Furthermore, neither Satan nor his demonic forces can cast the Son of God out of the weakest or worst saint.

Jesus made a profound principle abundantly clear regarding spiritual kingdoms by stating: “If Satan cast out Satan, he is divided against himself; then how shall his kingdom stand?” (Matt. 12:26) Since “now are we the sons of God,” by Christ’s own reasoning if sons of God cast out the Son of God, then how can his kingdom stand? Or, if the Son of God cast out sons of God, he is divided against himself; then how shall his kingdom stand? For this reason Jesus declared He “will in no wise cast out” anyone who comes to God by Him. (John 6:37, 1:12)

Jesus Christ in you has never subjected himself to the will of your flesh, or you would be able to cast the Lord out of yourself at will or whim. Only a spirit stronger than Christ’s can cast Him out of a believer, and there is no such spirit, human, demonic, or otherwise. (Matt. 28:18) Therefore, if you are redeemed, be assured Jesus will in no wise cast you out, and you can in no wise cast Him out. Otherwise, sons of God would be casting out sons of God, and the kingdom of God could not stand. (Matt. 12:26)

7 AS THE RIGHTEOUSNESS OF TEN WOULD HAVE PROTECTED SODOM’S INHABITANTS, THE RIGHTEOUSNESS OF CHRIST PROTECTS EVERY BORN AGAIN BELIEVER.  <Romans 3:10, 5:19

There is none righteous no not one, but by the obedience of one shall many be made

righteous.

Recall how Abraham negotiated with God to spare the city of Sodom if fifty righteous people were found within its borders. He talked God down to forty-five, then forty, and God agreed not to destroy the city for forty's sake. Abraham persisted and pleaded with God not to destroy Sodom if twenty righteous people were found there, and God consented. Lastly, Abraham timidly beseeched the Lord that if ten righteous people were found in Sodom, would He spare the city for ten? God promised Abraham He would not destroy it for ten’s sake. (Gen. 18:17-33) As God promised to spare Sodom for the sake of ten righteous people in it, God spares you, the born again believer, not for ten's sake, but for Christ's sake!

Since “there is none righteous, no not one,” if God evaluated you solely on the merits of your righteousness, He would judge you equal to a Sodomite and pronounce the same doom on you that befell Sodom ― fire and brimstone. (Rom. 3:10) This is why He crucified our “old man,” our unrigghteous human nature, because in the natural realm:

· Your tongue is full of deadly poison. (James 3:8)

· Your heart is deceitful and desperately wicked. (Jer. 17:9)

· In your flesh dwells no good thing. (Rom. 7:18)

· Your mind is the enemy of God. (Rom. 8:7)

· Your eyes are full of adultery and cannot cease from sin. (2 Pet. 2:14)

· Your human nature serves the law of sin. (Rom. 7:25)

· At your best you are vanity (worthless). (Ps. 39:5)

· You are not righteous, not one human soul. (Rom. 3:10)

At the cross, God himself put human nature to death for we were “crucified with Christ.” (Gal. 2:20, Rom. 6:6) According to Scripture, God “crucified” your “old man” in a place “spiritually called Sodom and Egypt, where also our Lord was crucified.” (Rev. 11:8) Now you are instructed to reckon (count) your old man dead by faith, which means the evidence of its death is not seen. The only reason God spares you, the born again believer, is for the sake of one righteous man in you, “Jesus Christ the Righteous,” the hidden man in your heart that will never leave you or forsake you. (1 John 2:1, 1 Pet. 4:18) He is “Christ in you, the hope of glory.”

The only reason you shall not suffer Sodom's fiery fate is because when you believed in Jesus, God planted the seed of Christ in your heart as “the shield of thy salvation.” (Ps. 18:35) As Isaiah prophesied, “Except the Lord of Sabaoth had left us a seed, we had been as Sodom, and been made like unto Gomorrah.” (Rom. 9:29) It is not by your self-righteousness sake that you are saved, because your “self” is not righteous. As the prophet stated, only the righteous seed of Christ in you spares you from eternal torment and grants you eternal life. (1 John 3:9) Now, you are just as saved as Sodom was destroyed: totally, completely, and eternally. (Gen. 19:24) For Christ’s sake, born again believers cannot lose their salvation!

Note: Some ministers preach that if God doesn’t judge America, then he owes Sodom and Gomorrah an apology. This is not true because America has more than ten in her borders who believe in Christ and their faith is counted for righteousness. (Rom. 4:5) America shall bear her judgment, when Jesus Christ judges the sheep and goat nations as mentioned in Matthew 25:32.

8 JESUS CHRIST HOLDS THE KEYS OF HELL, NOT SATAN. Revelation 1:18

“I am alive forevermore, Amen; and have the keys of hell and of death.”

As man have a jail, God has a hell, and Scripture records that hell was “prepared for the devil and his angels.” (Matt. 25:41) Satan has never been to hell, and neither has he ever possessed hell’s keys to cast one soul into its pit. Satan is not hell's keeper. Before Christ obtained “the keys of hell,” He stated:

“... fear him, which after he hath killed hath power to cast

into hell; yea I say unto you fear him.” (Luke 12:5)

Was Jesus commanding you to fear the Devil? No. Before Jesus possessed hell’s keys, did God have to borrow them from Satan to cast a sinner into its pit? No. Then, it’s obvious Christ never wrestled the keys of hell from Satan, because Satan never held them and neither shall you or any other Christian.

Seeing that God prepared hell for the devil and his angels, the Almighty has always possessed hell's keys. God did not prepare hell for Satan's everlasting punishment only to hand him its keys, no more than did the U. S. Government build Alcatraz prison only to hand over its keys to notorious criminals like Al Capone. After His resurrection, Jesus announced, “all power is given unto me in heaven and in earth,” which includes “the power to cast into hell.” (Matt. 28:18, Luke 12:5)

If a believer behaved so badly that Jesus wanted to cast that soul into hell, our Savior would have to amputate that member from His own body, grab the keys to unlock hell’s gates, and then cast this wretched saint into its pit. Then, He would lock the gates of hell upon this soul – a soul to that He’d already granted eternal redemption and said He would never leave or forsake. (Heb. 9:12, 13:5) Casting a believer into hell would make our Lord a liar, because He declared in John 6:37 that “he that cometh to me I will in no wise cast out.” Friend, regardless of circumstance, Jesus declared He would “in no wise cast out” any soul that approached Him for redemption. Jesus is the savior of the body, and believers who are part of His body are never cut off or cast out. (Eph. 5:23)

9 TO END ALL STRIFE AS TO WHETHER THE BORN AGAIN COULD LOSE THEIR

SALVATION, GOD SWORE ON HIMSELF THAT THEY COULD NOT! Hebrews

6:13-16, Galatians 3:17

For men truly swear by the greater: and an oath for confirmation is to them an end of all strife. Wherein God, willing more abundantly to show unto the heirs of promise [believers] the immutability of his counsel, confirmed it by an oath: The covenant, that was confirmed before of God in Christ, the law which was four hundred and thirty years after, cannot disannul, that it should make the promise of none effect. For when God made promise to Abraham, because he could swear by no greater, he sware by himself....

Many Christians “stagger in unbelief” that God swears on His life. Yet, in the holy writ He did this often. Here are some references to God swearing on Himself.

“By myself have I sworn, saith the Lord....” Gen. 22:16

“But as truly as I live, all the world shall ....” Num. 14:21

“As I live, saith the Lord, thou shalt surely....” Isa. 49:18

“Though Noah, Daniel, and Job, were in it, as I live...” Ezek. 14:20

“As I live, saith the Lord, I will even do ....” Ezek. 35:11

“As I live, saith the Lord of host, surely....” Zeph. 2:9

“As I live, saith the Lord, Every knee shall bow....” Rom. 14:11

Almighty God, creator of heaven and earth, has sworn on Himself that if He, for whatever reason, fails to give any heir of promise eternal life, He will self-destruct, and you, I, and all creation itself will shrink into oblivion with Him. Simply put, born again believers cannot lose eternal life, or God loses His. Let’s investigate.

Great men asked God for signs of confirmation of truth. Moses begged God to confirm he would be with him and so did Elisha. Gideon “tried the Spirit” for a sign that God would be with him, while Pharaoh hardened his heart to “the voice of the sign.” (Ex. 4:8) Signs were used to end all strife about an issue. God’s foreknowledge revealed to Him that if He did not give the heirs of promise a sign to confirm that His promise of eternal life was immutable (unchangeable), then there would be strife among heirs of salvation over this issue. (Heb. 1:14) So, what were “the heirs of promise” actually promised? Answer: “This is the promise which he hath promised us, even eternal life.” (1 John 2:25)

God made this promise before the world began, but He was so eager “to show” the redeemed the certainty of His promise that He confirmed it by an oath swearing on the greatest thing He could find.

God swore on Himself i.e., His very life.

In order to give believers in Christ strong consolation that their promised salvation is unchangeable (immutable), God swore on Himself to confirm this. That “after ye believed the gospel of your salvation,” if God fails to fulfill His promise to give you eternal life, He will self-destruct, because in swearing on Himself He laid everything on the line. (Gal. 3:14, 17-18, James 1:17) For this reason, the Scripture states twice regarding this promise that it is impossible for God to lie.

“God, willing more abundantly to show unto the heirs of

promise the immutability of his counsel, confirmed it by

an oath: in which it was impossible for God to lie…” (Heb. 6:17-18)

“eternal life which God that cannot lie promised before the

world began.” (Titus 1:2)

Although He made this promise before the world began, God swore on Himself regarding it in the presence of two witnesses, Abraham and Jesus Christ, four hundred and thirty years before Moses’ Law was given. (Gal. 3:17) Listen to the account.

“For when God made promise to Abraham because he could

swear by none greater he sware by himself.... that we might

have strong consolation.” (Heb. 6:13-18)

“Now to Abraham and his seed were the promises made. He

said not to seeds, as in many; but as of one. To thy seed,

which is Christ. And if ye be Christ’s, then are ye Abraham’s

seed, and heirs according to the promise.” (Gal. 3:16, 29)

“And this is the promise which he hath promised us, even

eternal life.” (1 John 2:25)

God swore on Himself so that we, as heirs of his promise, would have strong confidence (consolation) in His promise to us, regarding eternal life. Therefore, once you believe the gospel of your salvation, if God, for any reason, fails to provide you with eternal life, it would mean His destruction.

Hebrews 1:3 states that God “upholds all things by the word of his power,” and God magnified His word above His own name i.e., authority. (Ps. 138:2) Hence, God’s Word is His Supreme Constitution that He has sworn on His life to uphold, protect, and defend. Therefore, “to end all strife” among “the heirs of salvation” as to whether they could lose His promised salvation, God added an amendment to His constitution in swearing on Himself that they could not. Therefore, if God breaks his word by not saving one soul who believed in His Son for the promised salvation, He will self-destruct and all that His “word of truth” upholds would be disbanded. For “the Word is God.” (John 1:1, 14) Therefore, you know that God’s Word is as reliable as his existence is, for they are inseparable. (John 1:1-4)

“This is the promise which He hath promised us,

even eternal life.” (1 John 2:25)

This is one promise that cannot be broken by God or flesh, devil or demon. You have God’s Word on this. (1 John 2:25) Long live the King!

10 GOD REFUSED TO TAKE AWAY THE MORTAL LIVES OF HIS SERVANTS WHO BEGGED HIM TOO. HOW MUCH MORE SHALL HE NOT TAKE ETERNAL

LIFE FROM ANY OF HIS CHILDREN WHO ASK THIS OF HIM. Jonah 4:3

“Take, I beseech thee, my life from me; for it is better for me to die than to

live.”

When Moses was consumed with worry, he sought death as an escape and prayed for God to slay him. He petitioned the Lord saying, “Kill me, I pray thee, out of thy hand, if I have found favor in thy sight.” (Num. 11:15) Moses was the first of a series of prophets who asked the Almighty to take their lives. God ignored Moses' petition for death.

In the Old Testament, God’s chief prophet, Elijah, became so frustrated that he sat down under a juniper tree and asked God to slay him, praying, “Now, O LORD, take away my life ...” (1 Kings 19:4) Jehovah God turned a deaf ear to this prophet's request. Then, there was Jonah who begged God to take his life, not while he was in the whale's belly, but afterwards. When Jonah became angry at God's grace toward sinners, he screamed, “Take, I beseech thee, my life from me; for it is better for me to die than to live.” (Jonah 4:3) God, of course, disappointed this begging prophet's plea.

Yet, no one pleaded for God to take away their life as earnestly as the perfect Job. While sitting in a pile of ashes, bereaved of his children and bereft health, Job cried out:

“Oh that I might have my request; and that God would

give me the thing that I long for! Even that it would please

God to destroy me; that he would let loose his hand, and

cut me off!” (Job 6:8-9)

God refused to grant Job a mercy killing.

None of these men were born again, washed by Christ’s blood, or sealed by the Holy Spirit. These men ranked well below the weakest saint. (Matt. 11:11) When the dealings of God or the pressures of life made them angry or frustrated enough, they all begged God to take away their lives. But God denied their death wish.

What would you think of a father who would take the life of his own child, if the child asked him to out of anger or frustration? Yet many Christians believe their Heavenly Father takes eternal life from His children under the same circumstances. Would you take the life of one of your children if he or she asked you? I hope not! Now, “if you being evil” would not take the life of your child, why would you think “our Father who art in heaven” would take eternal life from one of His beloved children? (Matt. 7:11) What makes some Christians think that God loves His children less than they love theirs? Only the mythological Greek gods consumed the lives of their children. In contrast, the True and the Living God gives, loves, and protects the eternal life of His children. Since God would not take natural life away from His servants of old at their request, neither will He take eternal life away from you at yours.

Note: Our Father loves his children even when we become angry or disillusioned with Him. God loves His children more than we love ours. (Rom. 5:8) For God is love.