Christ Saves the Born Again Believer and He Keeps Them Saved

When Christ changes us into a new creation it is He that does it not ourselves. He changes our nature entirely, the old nature is gone. We can never go back to the old nature again.

Hebrews 12:5-7 "…5 And you have forgotten the exhortation that addresses you as sons: “My son, do not take lightly the discipline of the Lord, and do not lose heart when He rebukes you. 6 For the Lord disciplines the one He loves, and He chastises every son He receives.” 7 Endure suffering as discipline; God is treating you as sons. For what son is not disciplined by his father?"

God promised that we are eternally saved, that means forever when we become born again.

There are no scriptures that say the Holy Spirit Who resides in the born again believer ever leaves us.

"Make sure that your character is free from the love of money, being content with what you have; for He Himself has said, “I will never desert you, nor will I ever abandon you,”

He told us that we are His for eternity.

Ephesians 1:13-14
"13 In Him, you also, after listening to the message of truth, the gospel of your salvation—having also believed, you were sealed in Him with the Holy Spirit of the promise,
14 who is a first installment of our inheritance, in regard to the redemption of God’s own possession, to the praise of His glory."

The scriptures that say someone walks away from God are clearly those who have never been changed by Christ, they decided on their own without trusting in Him to join the "Christian" group wanting to come in their own way. These are those who are described in Matthew 7:21-23 where God says; "I NEVER knew you."

Matthew 7:21-23 "21 “Not everyone who says to me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter the kingdom of heaven, but the one who does the will of my Father who is in heaven. 22 On that day many will say to me, ‘Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in your name, and cast out demons in your name, and do many mighty works in your name?’ 23 And then will I declare to them, ‘I never knew you; depart from me, you workers of lawlessness.’"

Most people in our day who would say they are Christians are pretenders who have never been born again. Those who walk away do it because they do not have the strength of the Holy Spirit to follow Him, they are walking in their own fleshly way without Christ.

Christ paid it all on the cross for us, we have no part in our own salvation except to agree with God that we are sinful and desire to be changed by Him.

Hypocrites Abound in Our Culture Today

It is important that we do not become hypocrites. A hypocrite is one who judges others for doing what the hypocrite is doing themselves but those they judge are not doing it.

 
Our modern world calls this projection; when someone accuses us of what they are doing and we are not.

 
A woman found out that I corrected a sinning brother in Christ and told me that I should not correct others as she was correcting me for correcting others.
Not only was it not Biblical to pressure others to never correct our siblings in Christ, it was hypocritical because she was doing what she told me not to do.
There are many such ideas floating around in the churches that are not Biblical but are commonly repeated as though they were straight from God.

The hard part is when we correct someone Biblically who claims to be a Christian and they refuse to hear God's Word because they like the unscriptural concept everyone else is repeating.

 
The modern church is full of stubborn hearts who refuse to be taught or listen to Biblical instruction except when they like what is being said.

 
2 Timothy 4:2-4
"…2 Preach the word; be prepared in season and out of season; reprove, rebuke, and encourage with every form of patient instruction. 3 For the time will come when men will not tolerate sound doctrine, but with itching ears they will gather around themselves teachers to suit their own desires. 4. So they will turn their ears away from the truth and turn aside to myths."

The modern church has been tainted severely with the problem of "people pleasing" having changed the word of God, adding to it and subtracting from it to justify keeping people happy, in the pews and the money rolling in to pay the pastor's salary.

It is a conflict of interest in my opinion, that the pastor is paid a salary while protecting that salary by carefully crafting their words and personality to please the people in the pews. Many pastors have become actors entertaining the flock while also robbing them, not only of the truth but of their money too.

 
Many Scriptures have been misunderstood because of the problem of snatching one sentence out of its passage to make it say whatever the reader desires to believe. This is so common now that very few people understand the Bible correctly concerning any principle of God.

1 Timothy 4:1-2
"Now the Spirit expressly states that in later times some will abandon the faith to follow deceitful spirits and the teachings of demons, / influenced by the hypocrisy of liars, whose consciences are seared with a hot iron."

When we discover someone is not interested in what God has to say in His word then is the time to walk away and leave them to God.

Acts 20:29-30
"I know that after my departure, savage wolves will come in among you and will not spare the flock. / Even from your own number, men will rise up and distort the truth to draw away disciples after them."

God instructs us to test all things for this very reason.

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Cultural Christian or Born Again?

Many who say they are Christians have never been changed by Christ into a new creation, they have no fruit of the Spirit of God. They only claim they are Christians, determined to get to heaven their own way without Christ. They want all His perks, blessings, and heaven but they don't want Him.

 
We know this by their arrogant and angry reaction to being challenged to follow the Word of God.

 
Matthew 7:15-20
You Will Know Them by Their Fruits
15 “Beware of false prophets, who come to you in sheep’s clothing, but inwardly they are ravenous wolves.
16 You will know them by their fruits. Do men gather grapes from thornbushes or figs from thistles?
17 Even so, every good tree bears good fruit, but a bad tree bears bad fruit.
18 A good tree cannot bear bad fruit, nor can a bad tree bear good fruit.
19 Every tree that does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire.
20 Therefore by their fruits you will know them."

The Fruit of the Spirit of Christ:
"Galatians 5:22-23 - But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control; against such things there is no law."

There are those who care more about appearing special and superior to people than they are about seeking Christ to cleanse their hearts. They do not care about holiness, only that they do enough in their own power to be seen by men as good people.

Legalism is following man's rules God never made, based on man's thinking and not God's principles and commands. Pretenders operate from rules more than love.
Holiness can only come through confessing sin to be cleansed as God tells us in 1 John 1:9. Those who are prideful place all their trust in their own deeds determined by them, rather than on Christ Who transforms hearts.

 
Those who are stubborn and legalistic always act superior to others, hoping that they can perform better to elevate themselves. This is someone who has not been humbled desiring to be changed by Christ. They remain fixated on their appearance without conviction of the sin of pride. They grow worse over time as the heart hardens there is an inability to repent. But the good news is if they do become weary of the emptiness they have inside they can repent and be cleansed and transformed by Christ.

 
Their heart remains hard and staunch as they seek to expose flaws in others without evidence of wrongdoing. They call things sin that are not sin making up their own rules, even twisting the Bible to fit their rules. The aim of such people is to remain loftier than everyone else.

 
The fruit of the Spirit are the character qualities of Christ that reflect an inner heart of love, the actions are more than just deeds, they flow from the heart of Christ, the first of this fruit is LOVE.

Those who attempt to have the actions without the fruit operate from the standpoint of arrogance without love. The rules are more important to them than the love of Christ.

 
Matthew 22:36-40
36 “Teacher, which is the great commandment in the Law?”
37 And he said to him, “You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.
38 This is the great and first commandment.
39 And a second is like it: You shall love your neighbor as yourself. 40 On these two commandments depend all the Law and the Prophets.”

When love is first in our hearts then everything else, words, and actions flow out of that love. When there is no love then the words and actions depend entirely on the emotions in the moment, without accuracy and purpose other than elevating self.
May each believer evaluate their own heart to see if it lines up with the loving principles of Christ in all things. Picking and choosing scripture to follow while ignoring other scriptures is not an option for the one who loves Jesus Christ.

 
Matthew 22:37 "And he said to him, “You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind."

It is not possible to love God with all your heart while ignoring the scriptures we don't like and taking out of context the ones we do like. This is lying against God steeped in dishonesty.

 
My prayer is that many "pretenders" will repent and become saved. The churches are full of cultural Christians who have never been transformed but believe they are going to heaven.

 
I do not want pretenders to hear this from the Lord; "I never knew You."

Matthew 7:21-23 “Not everyone who says to me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter the kingdom of heaven, but the one who does the will of my Father who is in heaven.
22 On that day many will say to me, ‘Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in your name, and cast out demons in your name, and do many mighty works in your name?’
23 And then will I declare to them, ‘I never knew you; depart from me, you workers of lawlessness.’"