This Is The Record
Bro Whitney Belbin

1 John 5:11
And this is the record, that God hath given to us eternal life, and this life is in his Son.

Well then, just how long is eternal?

So there can be no misunderstanding of the word eternal I will give both the English definition followed by the Greek word and definition as used in this verse according to the Strongs concordance.

Eternal - being without beginning or end

Aionios - perpetual, eternal, forever, everlasting

Looks to me that no matter how you write it or in what language it is written it means the same.

The meaning of eternal is forever.

1 John 5:11
And this is the record, that God hath given to us eternal life, and this life is in his Son.

Have you ever, as a child, been given a gift or a present only to be told after you had accepted it, that now because of this gift, you have to do this or that?

You know the old saying You owe me.

Have you ever as an adult received a piece of mail, you know the type, junk mail, where the company promises you a free this-or-that but.... You have to agree to buy...(?) for the rest of your life?

Well what sort of gifts are they?

They are not gifts at all. They are things that you will be working or paying for. Gifts like those I would personally rather not have at all.

What happens if you decide that you really don’t want to do what that person or that company says you have to do?

Do they take the Gift back?
In most cases usually not.

So why is it that some people will not even equate God with sinful man?

So how is it explained away that the gift of God, eternal life, is conditional?

If God reneged on the free gift of eternal life than what else did He GIVE us that he will also take away?

What else did He GIVE us that we have to work for or lose?

My friends, I believe that a free gift from God is just that. A free gift.
There is no condition placed upon it other then to believe what He says through His word.

Remember the verse that most of us probably learned when we first came to the saviour?

John 3:16
For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life.

The words haven’t changed. There are no conditions placed in this verse other then we must believe. In exchange for believing we received eternal life.

There are no buts, or ifs, or have tos at the end of this verse.

Lets look at another verse:

1 John 5:12
He that hath the Son hath life; and he that hath not the Son of God hath not life.

No, I don’t see any new conditions placed on the end of this verse either.
He that hath the Son hath life, only way to get the Son is through belief. Nothing different here. Same promise, same conditions. Eternal life.

1 John 5:13
These things have I written unto you that believe on the name of the Son of God; that ye may know that ye have eternal life, and that ye may believe on the name of the Son of God.

That ye may know.
These things have I written THAT YE MAY KNOW that ye have eternal life.
Not hope so, not had, not may obtain if you do this-and-that, not have but could lose.

That ye may know!
Just believe.

Eternal - being without beginning or end
Gift- something bestowed voluntarily and without compensation.

Friends, as I pointed out from the word of God eternal life is a free gift obtained once we believe.
Once we accept the shed blood of Jesus Christ as our only means of salvation from that point forward God Himself promises us life eternal and a home with him in Heaven.

Jesus didn’t cry out on the cross it is finished but...
He cried out it is finished.

Jesus didn’t tell Nicodemus Ye must be born again and again and again.
Jesus told Nicodemus ye must be born again.

Jesus Christ lived to fulfill the law
Luke 24:44
And he said unto them, These are the words which I spake unto you, while I was yet with you, that all things must be fulfilled, which were written in the law of Moses, and in the prophets, and in the psalms, concerning me.

Jesus Christ died to free us from the law
John 1:17
For the law was given by Moses, but grace and truth came by Jesus Christ.

We are no longer under the Law. Jesus Christ died to give us eternal life FREELY.

By now there are some among you that have probably had figured out that I believe in eternal security.

Once saved always saved.

I believe the word is quite clear on that very thing. We the saved, once we placed our trust in Jesus Christ are sealed and destined to be with God and Jesus either on the day, the very moment, we die or when He comes to take HIS OWN out of the world on the day of the rapture.

Our salvation can never be lost.

Notice I said His own. Not those who profess to be His, but those that are His.

Stay with me now,
Eternal security does not mean that because a person goes forward, shakes the preachers’ hand, and says that he accepts the Lord Jesus Christ as his saviour that that person is eternally safe.

It does not mean that because that person then gets baptized, joins the church and takes part in Christian activities and Christian work that that person is eternally secure.
It does not mean that because a person has certain gifts and exercises them in Christian service that that person is necessarily eternally secure.

Romans 10: 9
That if thou shalt confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus, and shalt believe in thine heart that God hath raised him from the dead, thou shalt be saved.

It has to be done in faith with a pure conscience and heart. Putting all your confidence in Him and Him alone.

Lets look at Matthew seven verses twenty-one through twenty-three:

Matthew 7:21
Not every one that saith unto me, Lord, Lord, shall enter into the kingdom of heaven; but he that doeth the will of my Father which is in heaven.

Matthew 7:22
Many will say to me in that day, Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in thy name? and in thy name have cast out devils? and in thy name done many wonderful works?

Matthew 7:23
And then will I profess unto them, I never knew you: depart from me, ye that work iniquity.

Notice all the works they have done in the name of the Lord.
Notice also what the Lord said to them.

I NEVER KNEW YOU.
Not I used to know you. Not I knew you at one time but you had done such and such so I know you no longer
The Lord said I never knew you.

John chapter 10 verses twenty-seven tells us My sheep hear my voice, and I know them, and they follow me:
Look at the above verse. No matter what profession a man makes if he does not hear the voice of the Lord that’s mans profession is not real. It will not stand. He may follow for awhile but he will eventually go back to his old ways

2 Peter 2: 22
But it is happened unto them according to the true proverb, The dog is turned to his own vomit again; and the sow that was washed to her wallowing in the mire.

The people Peter was talking about in the above passage were never saved.
It was made plain, manifested by their going back to their old ways.
A dog is not a sheep and a clean pig is still a pig.

John 10: 27
My sheep hear my voice, and I know them, and they follow me:

There are a couple of verses I would like to go over tonight that many teach because of that salvation, eternal life, once obtained can be lost.
I don’t believe it for a moment.

I also realize that there is a possibility that some here may hold to that very belief. I am not here to cause division among us.
I am here to present the word the way God had led me to believe it and I make no apologies for it. If I were to present this message any other way then I would be in sin.

Now that being said please have an open heart to Gods word.

Matthew 24:13
But he that shall endure unto the end, the same shall be saved.

Do I believe in endurance? Yes I do. Time will tell if a person is actually saved. If troubles come and that person runs and keeps running from the Lord that person was never saved from the start.
It was not that he was once saved and lost his salvation.
That person went back because he didn’t hear the voice of the Lord.

1 John 2:19
They went out from us, but they were not of us; for if they had been of us, they would no doubt have continued with us: but they went out, that they might be made manifest that they were not all of us.

John 6: 66
From that time many of his disciples went back, and walked no more with him.

The meaning of disciple in the Greek language is a learner, a pupil. They followed to a point. When it came to something they didn’t understand or didn’t like they left.

Many teach that these disciples were Christians as it were. The lords chosen who took them selves out of the hand of the Lord. If that was so then why when the Lord was praying to the Father did He say the following?

John 17:12
While I was with them in the world, I kept them in thy name: those that thou gavest me I have kept, and none of them is lost, but the son of perdition; that the scripture might be fulfilled.
Those that thou gavest me I have kept.
These men were not saved.

John 8: 31
hen said Jesus to those Jews which believed on him, If ye continue in my word, then are ye my disciples indeed;

Friends what is hard to understand here?
Any born again Christian will want to continue in the word of the Lord.
Do you mean to tell me that if we do not continue constantly in His word that we will lose our salvation?
Romans 7:23
But I see another law in my members, warring against the law of my mind, and bringing me into captivity to the law of sin which is in my members.

Did Paul lose his salvation?
I don’t think so.

There are other verses we could go over but it would take too much time.

Tell me, what sins of yours did the Lord Jesus die for when He saved you?
Did he die for just the sins up to the point when you accepted Him into your heart?

Well what about you’re future sins?
Were not all your sins future sins when He died?

We as called out ones will still sin. We are only human. But God no longer deals with us as a judge but as a father would a Child.

Romans 8:14
For as many as are led by the Spirit of God, they are the sons of God.

Romans 8:15
For ye have not received the spirit of bondage again to fear; but ye have received the Spirit of adoption, whereby we cry, Abba, Father.

Romans 8:16
The Spirit itself beareth witness with our spirit, that we are the children of God:

We the saved are the Children of God. Would God withhold a perfect gift from His Child?
It is the Holy Spirit that will finish the work to conform us to the image of the Lord Jesus Christ,

Philippians 1:6
Being confident of this very thing, that he which hath begun a good work in you will perform it until the day of Jesus Christ:

Don’t you believe that the same Holy Spirit that brought you under conviction when you where with out the Lord, who led you to place your trust in the Lord, who gave you witness that you are saved through the Word, Has the power to keep you until the day you are called Home?

There is absolutely no one or nothing that can take you out of the fathers Hands,

Romans 8:38
For I am persuaded, that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor powers, nor things present, nor things to come,

Romans 8:39
Nor height, nor depth, nor any other creature, shall be able to separate us from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord.
And it is God himself that willkeep us there!

1 Peter 1:3
Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, which according to his abundant mercy hath begotten us again unto a lively hope by the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead,

1 Peter 1:4
To an inheritance incorruptible, and undefiled, and that fadeth not away, reserved in heaven for you,

1 Peter 1:5
Who are kept by the power of God through faith unto salvation ready to be revealed in the last time.

Who are kept by the power of God through faith unto salvation

Romans 6:23
but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord.

1 John 5:11
And this is the record, that God hath given to us eternal life, and this life is in his Son.

Eternal - being without beginning or end
Gift- something bestowed voluntarily and without compensation

Friend if you are reading this and have never accepted the Lord Jesus Christ you also have eternal life.
There are two places mentioned in the Bible Heaven and Hell. Jesus Christ had mentioned Hell more then Heaven when He was on this earth. He had come to save those who are lost from eternal damnation and separation from God.

If you are not sure of your salvation, or have never heard of or accepted the free gift of eternal life through Jesus Christ and would like to know for sure that your sins can be forgiven please read "Gods Simple Plan Of Salvation" through the link on the home page or e-mail me. I would be glad to help.