Week 12 - Sunday

Much More Then

Much more then, having now been justified by His blood, we shall be saved from the wrath of God through Him. For if while we were enemies, we were reconciled to God through the death of His Son, much more, having been reconciled, we shall be saved by His life. (Romans 5:9-10)

The sixth reason why our salvation is secure is extremely important. To demonstrate just how significant it is, Paul begins with the words "much more then". This means that what immediately follows is more important than what he previously said. Paul has just finished telling us that even though we were sinners, Christ died to save us. He didn't do it because we were good people though. Jesus gave His life for us even though we were vile, wretched sinners. He did it because we needed to be saved. He did it because He wanted to set us free us from our sin. But what about after we have been saved. If we sin too much then, can we lose our salvation? Some people think we can. They believe that if we sin too much, God will actually take our salvation away. However in these two verses, Paul says that just isn't possible. If our sin wasn't a big enough barrier to keep God from saving us in the first place, why would it prevent Him from continuing to keep us saved now? This is the main point of this passage. The very reason Paul wrote the first 11 verses of chapter 5 is because he wanted us to know that our salvation was secure. What could it possibly mean to be saved if later on you could lose your salvation. Being saved then wouldn't actually mean you were saved. It would only mean that maybe you were saved. That doesn't even make sense though. It is true that God often punishes believers in this life for their sins, but He will never take their salvation away.

God hates sin so much that all unbelieving sinners are his enemies. Before we were saved, we too were God's enemies. But once we received Jesus Christ, that all changed. At that moment we became members of God's family. (1 John 3:1). Now if God loved us enough to save us when we were His enemies, why wouldn't He continue to keep us saved now that we are members of His own family. Once a person receives Jesus Christ as their Lord and Savior they are justified by His blood. Because Jesus paid the penalty for all of their sins, they are once and forever saved from the wrath of God. If you still have any doubt about that, think back to what you were like before you came to Christ. You didn't love God and you sinned a lot more than you do now. If God loved you enough then to have His own Son die to save you, how much more will he continue to keep you saved now that His Son is alive again (Rom. 8:32). If God cared that much about you when you didn't love Him, won't He continue to keep you saved now that you do?

The fact that we can never lose our salvation doesn't mean that we we can sin whenever we want too. You can't follow Jesus and deliberately, continually sin. If you really loved Christ you just wouldn't do that. If someone lives their life that way it shows they never were saved in the first place. The Bible says that if we truly receive and follow Jesus Christ as our Lord and Savior, we will never be condemned for our sins. Once we are saved, we are saved forever. God is faithful and our salvation is secure. Give thanks to God for His great mercy and kindness to us.

Readings for today: Col. 1:21-22; Rom. 8:1; Phil. 1:6; 1 Thes. 5:23-24