In Touch Ministries

Guest (Male): Salvation is all of God and not of man. Somebody says, "Wait a minute, I've got to do something." No, what you and I do is we respond to the wooing of the spirit. All the work is his doing. The very nature of salvation is that God is the one who forgives. God is the one who calls. God is the one who delivers. God is the one who calls us home. God is the one who's provided heaven for me. He said, "I'm going away to prepare a place for you, and if I go and prepare a place for you, I'll come again and receive you to myself, that where I am, there you may be also." It's all of God and none of us.

Guest (Male): Have you ever reached a point where you just didn't feel saved anymore? Should that emotion cause you concern? Today's edition of In Touch, the teaching ministry of Dr. Charles Stanley, points us to the only sound measure of eternal security: God's Word. Stay with us to hear four unchangeable reasons for believing that salvation is forever. Let's join Dr. Stanley for his message.

Dr. Charles Stanley: The Bible says, "For by grace you saved through faith and that not of yourselves, it is the gift of God, not of works lest any man should boast." There's some verses about the grace of God that most of us know by heart and probably don't give enough real thought to what he means when he talks about grace. But all of us know that it's the grace of God that has provided every single thing we have. That is his goodness and kindness toward us without regard to merit and worth on our part and in spite of what we deserve. That's what the grace of God's all about.

On the other hand, there are many warnings in the word of God to believers, not just the lost people, but also to believers. Warnings lest we carelessly and indifferently allow our Christian life to slide or to drift. Tonight, I want to lay down the reasons why we do not have to worry about being saved and being lost. I want us to look in Hebrews chapter one, and there'll be lots of scriptures here, so I want you to move right along with me. Beginning in the first chapter and the first verse, the scripture says:

"God, after he spoke long ago to the fathers in the prophets in many portions and in many ways, in these last days has spoken to us in his son, whom he appointed heir of all things, through whom also he made the world. And he is the radiance of his glory and the exact representation of his nature." There's nothing different between Jesus and God. Now, while Jesus was walking on earth, he was walking in human flesh, not in sinful flesh, but human flesh, and he says he is the exact representation of his nature and upholds all things by the word of his power.

When he had made purification of sins, he sat down at the right hand of the majesty on high, having become as much better than the angels as he has inherited a more excellent name than they. Here's what you find: if you're a believer, you've got it better than the lost people. That's why the book of Proverbs, for example, and Psalms say, "Don't look at the wicked and envy them," because what you're seeing is what's on the outside. What you cannot see is this: you have eternal security and they don't.

What difference does their money, their prominence, their prestige, their position, what difference does all of that make when their body is lying in a casket? They're going to leave it all behind. And so, we're not to envy anybody. We have it better than the world has it. They may appear to have something outwardly, materialistically better than we, but all that's going to be ashes one of these days. What you and I have, nobody can take away from us. Listen, death can't destroy it. Nothing can take away from us. And so he says we have a better position and a better system, a whole better life than the world.

Now, divine election. Let's go back to Romans chapter eight for a moment. Romans chapter eight, verse twenty-nine. Listen to what he says in this passage. He says, "For whom he foreknew," that means that he knew us before we were ever born, "he also predestined." He made a decision about us before we were ever born. He made a decision that all of us who would trust him as our savior would become conformed to the image of his son. He didn't say we might. He didn't say if we behaved. He didn't say if our conduct was a certain way.

He didn't say it would happen to some of us, not all of us. He said every single believer would be conformed to the image of his son, that we might be the firstborn among many brethren. And he says, "and whom he predestined, these he also called; and whom he called, these he also justified," declared righteous, "and whom he justified, these he also glorified." That is, in the mind of God, we've already made it there. God is not in heaven wringing his hands, hoping you and I are going to make it to heaven.

In his eyes, it's a done deal because he sees from the beginning and beyond the beginning, and to the end and beyond the end. So therefore, he sees your whole lifespan in one glance. He's not worried about whether you're going to make it or not. God's concern for your life and mine is that we don't lose all the reward that he has in store for us over here at the end. So it's not an issue of whether we're going to make it or not because he says he predestined us to be there.

Look in Ephesians chapter one, a very important passage here in this first chapter, and look if you will in verse three. He says, "Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places in Christ." Now look at this verse four. You might want to underline some of these phrases, but you want to get these scriptures down. "Just as he chose us in whom? Christ, before when did he choose us? Before the foundation of the world, that you and I should be holy and blameless before him in love."

He predestined us to adoption as sons through Jesus Christ to himself, according to the kind intention of his will. That is, what motivated God to choose you? Love. He said the kind intention of his will. He didn't say, "I'm going to choose you because of your conduct, because of your behavior, because of this, because of that." He said he chose us in Christ before the foundation of the world. He chose to predestine us to be conformed to his likeness. He chose to put us in his family and he says he did it according to the kind intention of his will.

You and I are eternally secure by divine election. Look if you will in Ephesians chapter two, look in verse ten. He says, "For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared when? Beforehand, that we should walk in them." Listen, he chose us before the foundation of the world, predestined us to be conformed to his likeness, he chose to put us in his family, and he chose the works that you and I should carry out.

So all of that is divine election. These are all decisions that God has made based, he says, on the kind intention of his will, not based on anything that you and I do. Look if you will in Second Timothy chapter one, look if you will in verse nine. He says, "in the power of God who has saved us and called us with a holy calling, not according to our works, but according to what? According to his own purpose and grace, which was granted to us in Christ Jesus from when? From all eternity."

So what did you have to do with it? You didn't have anything to do with it. You just responded to the call and the wooing of God. You responded to God's grace and goodness and mercy and choice and predestination in your life. Then if you look in First Peter chapter one and look in verse two of that. He says, writing to those he says who were aliens, verse one says "who are chosen according to the foreknowledge of God the Father, by the sanctifying work of the spirit, that you may obey Jesus Christ and be sprinkled with his blood; may grace and peace be yours in fullest measure."

So he says we were chosen according to the foreknowledge of God the Father by the sanctifying work of the spirit, that you may obey Jesus Christ. There's the Trinity right there. Somebody says, "Well, do you believe in the Trinity?" Absolutely. There's several places in the scripture you're going to find it, but here's one of them. So reason number one that you and I know that we're set forever in eternity is divine election. Divine election is that choice God made in your behalf and my behalf before the foundation of the world. You and I have simply responded to the love and the grace and the goodness and the mercy and the wooing of God.

It has absolutely nothing to do with our worth, but all the kind intention of his will. Now, have you got that one down? Now, how many of you think you could tell somebody else that? Sure you can. You can take the Bible and take those verses, you can explain those because they're really simple. Well, they're simple in one way, but not all that simple. But at least you can do that. What I want you to be able to understand is what do we mean by divine election here?

What we mean by divine election is what you and I just read in all these verses. That is, God chose before the foundation of the world, predestined, put us in the family, made us his children, and we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus, he says, for his purpose. Now somebody says, "Well, you know, if you believe in divine election, then why worry about trying to get folks saved?" That's not what the Bible says.

The Bible says that you and I have a responsibility because every single one of us got saved by either reading the word of God or somebody told us. Somebody told me how to trust the Lord Jesus Christ as my savior. You say, "Well, you could have been saved without that." Well, I might have, but what you have to ask is what's the plan of God? The plan of God is that he put together his church and he gave us his word, sent us apostles, gave us teachers down through the centuries in order to educate us, to inform us, to enlighten us, to work in our hearts so that you and I could share and spread the awesome message of God's divine election that he has chosen to save us.

So therefore, one of the reasons I know we're eternally secure—what's the first reason? Divine election. All right, the second reason. The second reason is the completeness of Christ's work of redemption. It is the completeness of Christ's work of redemption. That is, this isn't something he started, this is something he started and absolutely completed. We've already been divinely elected, but the completeness of Christ's redemption.

Hebrews chapter one, look in verse three. He says, speaking of our Lord, he said, "And he is the radiance of his glory, and the exact representation of his nature, and he upholds all things by the word of his power. And when he had made purification of sins, he sat down at the right hand of the majesty on high." Why did he sit down? Why'd he sit down? In other words, if you work eight hours, then you sit down, what does that mean? You're finished. Jesus on the cross said, "It is finished."

So Jesus has completed the whole plan of redemption on the cross, through the tomb, and in the ascension, and then he sat down at the right hand of the Father to do what? Forever intercede, make intercession for us, answer our prayers, work in our life. And so his whole redemptive plan is complete. So then when we talk about the fact that we are divinely elected, we have been divinely elected and the plan by which to make that divine election complete was what? The cross, the resurrection, the ascension, sitting at the right hand of the Father forever making intercession for all of us. So therefore, his plan is complete.

Third one is this. I'm going to give you these scriptures, jot this down. Ephesians 2:8-10, Philippians 2:12-13, Titus 3:5. And here's the reason: salvation is altogether of grace. Salvation is altogether of grace. One of the reasons you and I know that we're eternally secure, it's all grace. It has nothing to do with behavior. That does not mean behavior is not important. It does not mean that our conduct is not important, our conversation, our character. It's all important.

It's important in the expression of Christ, but it does not make me a Christian. All right, now look at this. Let's go with Ephesians 2:8-10, and some of these scriptures you know by heart. Let's turn to them anyway because everybody does. Look at this. In the eighth verse of Ephesians chapter two, he says, "For by what have you been saved? Grace." Now let me ask you this. Can anybody in here tell me, and I've told you a thousand times, give me a definition of grace?

Here's what the grace of God is. It's the goodness and kindness of God without regard to our worth or value, and in spite of what we deserve. It's the goodness and kindness of God without regard to our merit or value, our worth, and in spite of what we deserve. Philippians chapter two and look if you will in verse twelve and thirteen. "So then, my beloved, just as you have always obeyed, not in my presence only, but now much more in my absence, work out your own salvation with fear and trembling, for it is God who is at work in you, both to will and to work for his good pleasure." It's God working in us. It isn't something that we have done. It is God working in us. We are his workmanship. It is by the grace of God that you and I have been saved.

All right, also turn to Titus chapter three, verse five. That's back towards Hebrews over just a couple of books there. Titus 3:5, and he makes it very, very clear here. When somebody says to you, "Well, I just don't feel saved, and I just don't feel like I'm doing what I ought to do." Well, so what? Look at this verse. He says, verse five, Titus chapter three, he says, verse five, "He saved us, not on the basis of what? Deeds which we have done in righteousness, but according to his what? Mercy, by the washing of regeneration and renewing of the Holy Spirit." Plus all my good works, is that what it says? No.

He says he saved us not on the basis of deeds which we have done. So listen, if it's not on the basis of deeds which we've done, it then is salvation by what? Grace. Now, can you have grace and works at the same time? Listen, Paul said if it's works, it's not grace. If it's grace, it's not works. That is, if you give me a gift, if you offered me something freely and then I had to work for it, then what? I earned it. If I have to work for it, it's not a gift.

If you give me a gift, I don't have to do anything for it. If you put any attachments on it, then it's not really a free gift. A free gift says I give you something—no attachments, no expectations. If I have to do anything to work for it, it ceases to be a gift. Right then it's no longer grace. The goodness and kindness of God, he says, without regard to merit or worth on our part and in spite of what we deserve. It has nothing to do with what I do. It has to do with the fact that it is something God does for us.

So when we think in terms of the goodness of God and the love of God and the mercy of God, it is something that he's doing in our behalf, not something we are doing. So he says salvation is altogether of grace. Therefore, I can rest in my eternal security because I know that my salvation is something he did and not something I did.

Fourth reason is the nature of salvation. One of the reasons for believing in eternal security is the very nature of salvation. He says, "For God so loved the world that he gave his only begotten son that those of us who believe in him would not perish but have everlasting life." All right, Second Timothy chapter four. Look at that. Second Timothy chapter four and look in verse eighteen. The very nature of salvation. Paul now is writing out of a prison and look at this eighteenth verse.

He says, "The Lord will deliver me from every evil deed and will bring me safely to his heavenly kingdom." Who is doing the bringing? God. Salvation is all of God. Somebody says, "Now wait a minute, now wait a minute, I've got to do something." No, what you and I do is we respond to the offer. What we do is we respond to the wooing of the spirit. All the work is his doing. The very nature of salvation is that God is the one who forgives. God is the one who calls. God is the one who delivers. God is the one who calls us home.

God is the one who's provided heaven for me. He said, "I'm going away to prepare a place for you, and if I go and prepare a place for you, I'll come again and receive you to myself, that where I am, there you may be also." It's all of God and none of us. And it's amazing how often subtly a lot of preaching, if you analyze the sermon, it's probably more works than grace because somehow that sounds good. The problem is that's not what God says. It's grace, grace, grace, grace all the way through, it's grace.

And somebody says, "Well, but that means I can just go out and sin like the devil." Does that sound like anything, is there anything in these verses that want to motivate you to go out and live like the devil? Absolutely not. What it want to motivates me to do is to get on my face before God and absolutely praise him and worship him and adore him that he's so good and so kind and so gracious and so absolutely beyond my comprehension that he could look down at a sinner such as I and save me in spite of everything he saw.

And remember when he looked at you, he saw past, present, future. Can you imagine him seeing us with all the things that we would do wrong all of our life and saying, "I'm going to save him anyway." How many of us would have done that? You see, here's the wonderful thing about the grace of God. There's no other religion that has this kind of theology. Every single religion in the world, it's all works. But this is not a religion, this is a faith, this is a way of life. It is God in Christ Jesus redeeming the world unto himself. You and I are eternally secure. What does that motivate me to do? Motivate me to want to be obedient to God, worship God, praise God, give to God, share the word of God. It has nothing to do with living in sin. It has to do with being the persons God calls us to be.

Guest (Male): You're listening to In Touch, the teaching ministry of Dr. Charles Stanley. If you're a Christian and you've struggled with the certainty of your salvation, thank Jesus for his sacrifice on your behalf and rest in the assurance that he accomplished the means of your salvation on the cross. We'll hear more reasons for believing in eternal security tomorrow. And visit intouch.org to find resources that can help you be assured of your salvation. Or click the link to today on radio and you can hear this message again. And if you go to the bookstore page, you can order a copy of today's complete message, "Reasons for Believing in Eternal Security." You'll find these resources and more at intouch.org or call or text us. The number is 1-800-IN-TOUCH. To write to us, address your letter to In Touch, Post Office Box 7900, Atlanta, Georgia 30357. The best gift to give a child is something they'll remember for a lifetime. Keep listening for today's moment with Charles Stanley.

Guest (Male): In Touch Plus is streaming on Local Now, featuring all the best of Dr. Charles Stanley. In Touch Plus, your streaming network for quality Christian programming 24/7. In Touch Plus, streaming free on Local Now.

Dr. Charles Stanley: Let your time and your schedule and everything about you revolve around this: that you and I are to develop and continue to develop this ongoing, intimate, wonderful, exciting, satisfying, indescribable, wonderful, incomparable relationship with a personal God.

Guest (Male): Dr. Stanley devoted his entire life to helping us get closer to Jesus, as we all want to do. You can learn how at charlesstanleyinstitute.org.

Guest (Male): You're listening to In Touch. There's a lot of competition for a child's heart and attention. In today's moment with Charles Stanley, learn how to make Christ the most appealing gift a child could ever want.

Dr. Charles Stanley: The first thing you do is you talk not necessarily to them, but in their presence and sometime to them. You talk about how God's working in your life because there's nothing so stimulating to a child as to hear that "My dad talks to God and my mother's talking about listening to God." What happens is the Holy Spirit takes that and creates this godly curiosity within them.

In other words, as you share with them and talk with them about what God's doing in your life and encourage them. And here's what to encourage them. They come home school and everything was just a mess. I mean, it was just bad, somebody said something ugly to them, whatever it might be. Then that's a time to say, "Well, how would God look at that? And let's get the Word and see what he says." Or you may say to them, "Tonight before you go to sleep, why don't you just get down by the bed and just lay this out before God and tell him your feelings are hurt. You didn't like it and the truth is you're a bit angry and you want him to show you how to respond to that."

Think about this: here's this infinite God of the whole universe who's willing to speak to a little child. And I was in a book signing and this lady said, "I turn on the TV on Sunday mornings," and she said, "My child says, 'Mother, are we going to listen to Dr. Charlie this morning?'" And she says, "Well, yes we are." Now he's four years old, and she started listening before he was born and watching. And in his high chair eating breakfast or whatever it might be, now he's four years of age and he's expecting to watch me. And you think about how God creates in a little child a desire and a hunger for something. God is so awesome that he can speak to the heart of a little child and then we're so busy, we don't want to listen to him.

Guest (Male): Learn more about the believer's life of faith at intouch.org. And if today's program has motivated you to obey God in a new way, we'd love to hear from you. Tomorrow on In Touch, we'll hear about three more unchangeable reasons for believing that salvation is forever. That's Friday on In Touch, the teaching ministry of Dr. Charles Stanley. This program is a presentation of In Touch Ministries, Atlanta, Georgia, and remains on this station through the grace of God and your faithful prayers and gifts.