Memorise: Ye therefore, beloved, seeing ye know these things before, beware lest ye also, being led away with the error of the wicked, fall from your own stedfastness. 2nd Peter 3:17
Read: Ezekiel 33:12-20 (KJV)
12 Therefore, thou son of man, say unto the children of thy people, The righteousness of the righteous shall not deliver him in the day of his transgression: as for the wickedness of the wicked, he shall not fall thereby in the day that he turneth from his wickedness; neither shall the righteous be able to live for his righteousness in the day that he sinneth.
13 When I shall say to the righteous, that he shall surely live; if he trust to his own righteousness, and commit iniquity, all his righteousnesses shall not be remembered; but for his iniquity that he hath committed, he shall die for it.
14 Again, when I say unto the wicked, Thou shalt surely die; if he turn from his sin, and do that which is lawful and right;
15 If the wicked restore the pledge, give again that he had robbed, walk in the statutes of life, without committing iniquity; he shall surely live, he shall not die.
16 None of his sins that he hath committed shall be mentioned unto him: he hath done that which is lawful and right; he shall surely live.
17 Yet the children of thy people say, The way of the Lord is not equal: but as for them, their way is not equal.
18 When the righteous turneth from his righteousness, and committeth iniquity, he shall even die thereby.
19 But if the wicked turn from his wickedness, and do that which is lawful and right, he shall live thereby.
20 Yet ye say, The way of the Lord is not equal. O ye house of Israel, I will judge you every one after his ways.
Bible in one year:
1st Chronicles 23-25,
Acts 20:36-21:16,
Hymn:
Sing hymn 12
Message:
Yesterday, we started reflecting on the doctrine of eternal security. We considered what this false doctrine teaches and the character of its teachers. Today, we will be looking at the truth of what God’s word says in contract to this doctrine.
If there was no possibility of falling away and losing one’s inheritance in Christ, the Holy Spirit would not have given the counsel we have in today’s memory verse. In fact, the Holy Spirit in 2nd Thessalonians 2:3 also warns:
“Let no man deceive you by any means: for that day shall not come, except there come a falling away first, and that man of sin be revealed, the son of perdition;”
Only those who occupy a high position need fear a fall. The “falling away” in this scripture therefore refers to the falling away from grace to those seated with Christ in heavenly places. The possibility of a saved person falling is registered in these scriptures and in several others (Galatians 5:4, Revelation 2:5). Also, in today’s Bible reading, God Almighty told Prophet Ezekiel the truth which disproves the doctrine of eternal security. The Lord is therefore warning everyone who chooses to live a godly life never to depart from the path of righteousness, or else his or her past righteous deeds will not be remembered on the day he or she departs to do evil.
Some people argue that nobody sends his child away to the lions because he or she sins, and so God will not judge His children for their sin. What such people don’t seem to understand is that you cannot equate the ways of God with that of mere mortal men. They fail to recognise that a person who continues to live in sin after being saved does not have the nature of God and is therefore not a child of God. This is made clear in 1st John 3:8:
“He that committeth sin is of the devil; for the devil sinneth from the beginning. For this purpose the Son of God was manifested, that he might destroy the works of the devil.”
Furthermore, while forewarning us of things to come in Matthew 24:12-13, Jesus Christ said:
“And because iniquity shall abound, the love of many shall wax cold. But he that shall endure to the end, the same shall be saved.”
In other words, the global increase in iniquity will not exonerate a backslider on the Day of Judgment. This is a lesson for those who think that because the world is changing, God should also change His standards (2nd Timothy 2:19). Beloved, it would be immoral for God to accept from us what He did not accept from those who ran the Christian race before us. Don’t be deceived; there is no eternal security. The wages of sin is death: this is the truth of God’s word that is forever settled.
Prayer Point
Father, Please uphold me to the very end, and keep my heart away from false doctrines in Jesus’ Name.
Open Heavens Daily Devotional Lessons was written by Pastor E.A. Adeboye, the General Overseer of the Redeemed Christian Church of God, one of the largest evangelical Church in the world and also the President of Christ the Redeemer's Ministries.
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