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Hey, what's up guys? So today I'm going to be talking about once saved, only saved, and is it biblical? And I'm actually joined with an expert in this subject matter and his name is Pastor Jonathan Shelley. How you doing? Doing great. I would hope that everyone that's saved is an expert on this issue because it's a really clear doctrine of the Bible. Yeah, and it seems to be incredibly simple, but a lot of people, they disagree with it and they say, it's not biblical. So can you prove that once saved, only saved is true? Absolutely. The Bible is really clear on this issue. And in fact, almost every verse that talks about salvation in the context of going to heaven, in fact, is using a past tense saved. It's not saying you're going to be saved. It's saying that you already are saved. I think of Acts 16 verse 30 and 31 where the apostle Paul is being asked, serves what must I do to be saved? And they said, believe on the Lord Jesus Christ and thou shalt be saved. So they didn't say you would be in a process or it's going to take a long time. They just say very declarative, hey, if you believe on Jesus, you're saved with a D at the end, meaning it's done. Of course, when we compare that with the most famous verse in the Bible, John 3 16 also says the same thing where it says for God to love the world that he gave his only begotten son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life. So the most famous verse in the Bible tells us if we believe in Jesus Christ, we'll have everlasting life. Let me stop you right there, pastor. What does it mean to believe? Because a lot of people seem to think that means something different. What does it mean? Obviously, the word believe could be used in a few different contexts. And in our modern context, you could use the word believe like acknowledging someone's existence such as acknowledging someone that is alive or someone you believe exists. And I usually use an analogy when out talking to people about the gospel. You know, I believe police officers exist, but that doesn't mean that I trust every single police officer. So there's a difference between believing someone exists and believing in someone or believing on someone. So when the Bible says to believe in Jesus or to believe on Jesus, it's saying you need to trust him. And that trust is defined in the scripture as putting 100% of your faith in his death, burial and resurrection as the only payment for your sin. So if I believe that going to heaven is also going to church, getting baptized, being a good person, then I'm not trusting only in Jesus Christ's death, burial and resurrection. I would also be trusting in myself. And often when you ask someone who's not saved what they have to do to be saved, they'll say something like, go to church, be a good person. You have to turn away from your sins. But that evidence is the fact that that person's not believing that Jesus Christ paid all their sins for them. They think they must do something, repent of something, change something in order to be saved, showing they don't believe only in Jesus, they're believing in themselves. And to be saved, they would have to change their mind, which is the biblical word repent, and put 100% faith in Jesus, which is what it means to believe in him. So repent means to turn from your sins, right? That's what they all say. I think even some dictionaries might give that definition. However, the Bible uses the word repent in a lot of contexts. Sometimes it does use it in the context of turning away from sin, but you'll never find that in relation to salvation or going to heaven. Repent simply means turn by itself. Right. Now I was talking to Pastor Robinson last night, and he had a great point. He was saying, because these people like Ray Comforts and these false teachers, they'll say that you need to repent, which means to stop sinning, right? To turn from your sins. Basically that's saying that you were trusting in your sins to go to heaven? Yeah. I mean, obviously it's a category issue because some people say you have to repent of your sins and turn toward the Savior. Well, no one was trusting their sins to save them. So it's not like you have to change your belief and your sins getting you to heaven and then believe in Jesus. You know, a lot of times they're trying to say you have to stop sinning or give up sin, which sounds great, but it's impossible, number one. And then number two, that wouldn't make salvation a free gift. That would make it some based on works or how you live your life. Yeah, of course. And of course, a reward that no one could ever pay for because no one can ever turn from all their sins. Exactly. Now, do you have anything else to back this up? Of course, number one, the Bible never uses the phrase repent of your sins. If you're using the King James Bible. Doesn't it say God repented like 40 times or so as well? Yes. And of course, in the Old Testament, the Bible, even in Jonah chapter 3, will say that God repented of the evil that he was going to do under the Ninevites and did it not. And of course, that's not saying that God repented of his sins against the Ninevites. It's saying he decided not to destroy Nineveh because they ended up turning from their sins. And what God said is when they turn from their sins, he saw their works, which of course, turning from sin is work. Of course. And when it comes to physical salvation, I do believe it has a connection to your works. You know, of course, God wants us to live a holy life and often he's going to save us from physical destruction because we do write, turn away from sin. But going to heaven is not based on our works whatsoever. Ephesians 2, 8, 9 says, for by grace are you saved through faith and that not of yourselves. It is the gift of God, not of works. Okay. Now, is there anything else you have? Yeah. And of course, we're thinking about eternal security. It's important to realize the Bible teaches that we have to be born again. And Jesus brought this up. The Bible says in John 1 12, but as many as received him to them gave you power to become the sons of God, even in them that believe on his name. So the Bible is saying the moment someone trusts in Jesus Christ, they become a child of God. And this is a really easy way for people to understand how salvation works, because just like you were born physically and it was a free gift to you, but your mother did all the hard work is similar to your second birth, where you get another free gift and Jesus did all of the work. So, and the moment you're born physically, you can never change who your mother is. You can never change who your father is. Of course, you could have a good, bad relationship. You can be pleasing to them, but the fact that you're a son of your mother is locked in permanently. It can never be changed. My mom's already passed away, but she's still my mom. If I died, my mom would still be my mom. So nothing can change that fact. And the same as with Jesus, when someone believes in the Lord Jesus Christ, they become a child of God. And no matter how good or bad, no matter what happens to them, they'll always be a child of God. That does not mean that they shouldn't follow their parents' rules or God's rules. Of course, we should. It just doesn't get anybody into heaven. Right. So if your kids are behaving badly, do you just put them in the oven? Absolutely not. But even if someone were to destroy their own children, it wouldn't change the fact that they were their children. Right. And, and I actually, if you want to finish that, I had another point or somebody asked me this, or they mentioned this as far as losing salvation. They said, well, you can't lose it as in God can't take it, but you can forfeit it. Yeah. I've heard a lot of people tell me this. They say, you know, God's not going to necessarily take it from you, but if you just give it back or hand it back, somehow you could lose your salvation. Well, number one, I can't hand back the fact that I'm a child of my parents. You know, even if I go sign a paper that says I'm not their child, that's not going to change it. But also the Bible makes it clear that all of your sins are forgiven at the moment you trust Christ. So even if I commit a sin in the future, that's already been paid for. Cause it says all. Exactly. Not just the ones from before. Exactly. Also I'm given everlasting life. So for me to receive a gift that is forever means that if I lost it, I never really had it because it's inherent that it's going to last forever. And the Bible tells us in Titus one, two, that God cannot lie. So of course, if God promises anyone who believes in him will have everlasting life, then you would have to contradict so many different verses that are so clear on that particular issue. The Bible also says, there's a verse that I thought of in Ephesians four. It says, and grieve, not the Holy spirit of God whereby you're sealed unto the day of redemption. So the Bible says the moment you believe on Jesus, the Holy spirit comes inside of you and you're sealed with that Holy spirit. And the Bible says that I will never leave thee nor forsake thee. And while you can grieve the Holy spirit and the Bible tells us not to do it, it says, no matter what though you're sealed unto the day of redemption. The redemption is the day when Christ will change our vile body into a new glorious body. Meaning that no matter what I do, the Holy spirit's already sealed me. I've already been purchased with an earnest down payment and he will make sure to fully purchase that in the day of redemption. Now, what if somebody says, well, once saved only saved is just a license to sin. Sure. This is an argument a lot of people say, but number one, everybody was doing pretty good at sinning before they were saved. So I don't think they needed a license. And additionally, if someone is saved, it doesn't mean that they won't sin. We're all going to sin. And someone would say a license. Well, number one, God hates sin no matter if you're saved or not. And he's going to punish sin, even if you're saved or not. The difference really is how you're going to be punished. So for someone who's saved, they're going to receive all their punishment in this life. And it's similar to a parent who, who will chase in and scourge their child. God will chase in and scourge his physical children. So if you sin, you will receive a punishment for that. The reality is though you won't receive a punishment in hell because Jesus Christ has paid that penalty for us. So we don't have to go to hell, but if you lie, steal, cheat, commit adultery, or do anything wicked for sure, you're going to reap what you sow. And I always give this analogy. You know, the Bible says not to print marks on your body, which would be similar to like a tattoo. If someone believes in the Lord Jesus Christ, but they had previously gotten a tattoo, it's not like the tattoo is going to disappear. They're still going to have the tattoo. They're still going to suffer the consequences of that particular sin. Or I thought about this, let's say you were doing something you shouldn't and the boss found out and you know, you're going to get fired today, but you know, the, the, the boss is going to wait until the end of the day. And somehow through lunch or something, someone gives you the gospel and you get saved that day. Well, it's not like the boss isn't going to still come at the end of the day and fire you for the mistakes you had made in the past. You're going to still suffer the consequences of all of your actions. It's just that you're not going to go to hell. Yeah. That's, that's what we're talking about. And of course, you know, people like to play word games here, but the Bible's crystal clear. You have everlasting life. You're sealed. You're a son of God. You, all of your sins have been washed in his blood. So even the big ones. Absolutely. I got saved and I went and killed someone a week later. Am I still going to heaven? Absolutely. Now, of course you would suffer severe consequences on this earth. Just like if I went out and committed murder, my mom and dad would be my mom and dad that nothing changed. And the same as if I have believed on Jesus Christ and I become a child of God, if I commit murder, even though that's a very grievous sin, arguably the worst sin I would still go to heaven. That does not mean though I wouldn't suffer greatly on earth, go to jail, get the death penalty. A lot of bad things can happen to me. So there's no reason to commit murder, but at the same time, there's no way to lose my salvation. And I think sometimes taking to these extremes is important just to show what we're actually saying. We are saying, and I do believe you could commit any sin and still go to heaven when you're saved. It's just that you're going to suffer here on earth rather than going to hell. Okay. So another thing I wanted to mention is I had a buddy of mine and what he said was that he thinks that you can either forfeit or lose your salvation by practicing iniquity. Now, a lot of times people use that phrase because they're using a modern version of the Bible. The King James Bible doesn't give any kind of indication like that. Usually it's coming from 1st John where a lot of the modern versions will say that if you are saved, you're not going to practice sin or practice iniquity, but the King James Bible actually says that you will do no sin. You're not going to sin at all. He that believeth on him sinneth not. So it's impossible to sin if you're saved in your new man, which there's a distinction between our flesh and what's born again inside, which is our soul and spirit. So our soul and spirit born again could never sin. And the apostle Paul explains this in Romans chapter number seven, that there's a war between the flesh and the spirit. We're supposed to try and walk in the spirit, which is a new creation and only wants to please God. Whereas the flesh only wants to sin and only please itself. So no matter what my flesh does, it cannot forfeit the salvation I've received in my spirit and soul because they're different from one another. Right. Now, here's another one. Okay, so say for example, I'm living with my girlfriend or I like to drink a lot. Can I still get saved or do I have to stop living with my girlfriend? Do I have to stop drinking? So of course, you know, when we talk about going to heaven, you don't have to stop any sin. So if someone believes in the Lord Jesus Christ, no matter what area of their life they're in at that moment, they're going to be saved. I think of the woman at the well that Jesus speaks to in John chapter number four. She's currently in the situation you kind of described as living with a certain man that's not even her husband. She's been divorced several times. So she's in a state of adultery or fornication. Just it's kind of hard to even describe because it's so confusing, but it's definitely bad. But in that moment, she ends up realizing who Jesus is, asks for the water of life and gets saved and even goes out and preaches the gospel to others and gets them saved. And there's no indication in the story that she left the guy that she was staying with or wasn't going to continue even living in that lifestyle. Now, of course, should she get right with God? Yes. Should you stop drinking? Absolutely. It's going to ruin your life. Should you commit fornication? No. God's killed people in the Bible for committing fornication. But at the same time, salvation is not by our works. It's not by the righteousness that we have. It's by His mercy that He saved us. So if God kills me for doing a certain sin, am I still going to heaven? If you believed in Jesus, yeah. Okay. And the next one here I want to talk about is suicide. If somebody commits suicide, are they still going to heaven? Absolutely. And again, I personally believe that murder is worse than suicide because you're not just taking someone's life, you're taking someone else's life. And murder would be taking someone's life that's innocent. Whereas suicide is taking your own life. Very grievous sin, very bad. But we have a few examples of people that even took their life, King Saul, and we also have Samson who both ended up taking their own lives in kind of a desperate situation. Both of them were fearful of dying, being mocked because Samson was being mocked by the Philistines and so was Saul afraid of being mocked. And so they were tempted to actually commit suicide. And you know, Christians can be tempted to commit suicide. But number one, we've already learned that Jesus already paid all of our sins, past, present, future. Number two, if you're a child of God, you can't change who your parents are. Number three, if you've been sealed with the Holy Spirit, you're sealed into the day of redemption. So while suicide's a selfish sin, it's a terrible sin. And really you're just losing out on all rewards and God even being pleased with you. You can't change the fact that you are a child of God. And you can only destroy your flesh. You can't destroy your soul and spirit. So I can't commit suicide spiritually in my soul. So you can't be unborn again. Absolutely. Yeah. So once you're saved, there's not a sin you could do to unsave yourself. Okay. So do you have proof that Saul's in heaven? Now, when it comes to proof, I mean, the Bible does have a story where he brings up Samuel. And Samuel even tells him that he's going to be with him and the Lord the next day. With his sons, right? So, yeah. So I mean, you either have to believe that the Lord ends in Samuel or in hell or something waiting for King Saul or that he went on with them. Also, the Bible talks about how King Saul slept. And I believe that, you know, slept with his father. So anytime the Bible uses this phrase of sleeping or slept, it's almost always a euphemism for someone who's saved in heaven. Because technically when you, and we use the word die, like die physically, you didn't actually die in your spirit and soul. You just left your body. Your flesh. And yeah, you left your flesh. And so you're not actually dead. The state of being dead means you're in hell. So that's why Jesus even said like, whosoever liveth and believeth me shall never die. What he was meaning there is not that you wouldn't leave your physical body, but that you would never go to hell. And so, you know, and also Jesus made it clear that he's not the God of the dead, but the God of the living. And so people that are in heaven are actually alive. But of course, I believe that King Saul is saved. You know, he was used by God. The spirit of God came upon him several different times. And the story would make no sense why God would use this unsaved guy to be the first King of Israel. Exactly. And another, I have a couple more actually for you. So people say that, you know, if you do a bad enough sin, you know, if you just backslide enough, you're going to lose your salvation. So King David conspired to, he committed murder. He had the husband of Bathsheba killed. And he committed adultery. So why didn't he lose salvation? Well, again, David was a great man used by God. The Bible makes it clear he believed in Jesus, even in Romans chapter number four, the Bible talks about how David says that salvation is without works. So even David knew the gospel at his time that salvation is a free gift. And David did commit grievous sin. He killed Uriah through the hands of the enemy. He obviously committed adultery with his wife Bathsheba. And those were very grievous sins. But, you know, he prays in the book of Psalms about this. And he asked the Lord to restore the joy of his salvation, but he doesn't ask to get saved again. He's just saying like, can I get right with God again? And, you know, the Lord ends up putting, you know, David's sin away. And some people would say, oh, it's because he repented of his sin that he got saved again or something. But that's not true. David just always saved once, you know, he had trusted in Christ and you can't change that no matter how grievous of a sin that you commit. I mean, frankly, most of the people in the Bible commit really bad sins. Moses killed someone. He was a murderer. David committed murder and adultery. Solomon committed adultery. Samson and Saul committed suicide. I mean, if you have to not commit any of these bad sins that go to heaven, no one's going to be in heaven virtually. Yeah. And I was going to say next, so King Solomon, who actually wrote three books that are in the Bible, you know, he was really backslidden toward the end of his life. You know, he had all these wives and concubines and he was building altars for these false gods. And, you know, he was worshipping them or maybe it was just because the wives were in concubines. He didn't really believe it, but he was building these altars. I mean, that's pretty bad. Am I wrong? Well, again, Solomon's life at the end is terrible. He obviously had a lot of wives. He had 700 and 300 concubines, so basically a thousand women. Additionally, towards the end of his life, the Bible says that he's, you know, for lack of a better word, complicit in his wives offering his children and sacrifice in a Molech. So I don't believe the Bible explicitly says that Solomon did that. It's not like he necessarily did that. Maybe he participated. It's unclear, but he at least was allowing his wives to do some very wicked things and worshiping false gods. And of course, again, very grievous sin, very foolish actions that he took, but he didn't change his salvation. You know, of course, Solomon's one of the wisest men to ever live, according to the scripture. And, you know, Solomon is just like anybody, really any normal man that's put in a position where they're given all this wealth, all this wisdom, all this women, all this stuff. I mean, they're going to fall very easily. And so I think that some people have a high view of themselves like, oh, I'm so righteous. But if you give somebody unlimited power, wealth and women and all this stuff, it's like, they're going to probably just game over, game over. I mean, any man is going to just fall into that. Right. And it's mind blowing to me that people would say that, well, Solomon lost his salvation. So God's going to have an unsaved person write three books in the Bible. Yeah. And I mean, really, you'd almost have to believe that children don't get saved because honestly, almost anybody that gets saved at a young age, their worst sins are always going to be post getting saved rather than when they were young. It's, you know, when they're young, it's like, I stole cookies out of the cookie jar. But it's like, when you actually become a young adult, you go to college or, you know, later in life, you can end up committing some really bad sins. And yeah, the Bible makes it clear you can be saved as a child. You know, the kingdom of heaven is given unto the little children. Timothy, it's very clear in the Bible, was saved at a very young age. So if you can be saved at a young age, you know, of course, you're most likely going to commit the worst sins later in life as opposed to earlier in life. But that doesn't change your salvation whatsoever. Okay. Do you have anything else to back this up? Well, you know, once saved, only saved? Again, I think that some other key verses to think about, Romans chapter number three, I really like, and you can read a lot of verses here, but, and I just kind of wanted to show a couple, but the Bible says in verse 22, even the righteousness of God, meaning specifically the righteousness of God, which is by faith of Jesus Christ unto all and upon all them that believe, for there is no difference for all of sin and comes short of the glory of God, being justified freely by his grace through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus. So the Bible says that we're saved and justified freely, meaning we didn't pay anything. We didn't deserve it through his grace, meaning we didn't deserve it. And it's through Christ says in verse 25, whom God has set forth to be a propitiation through faith and his blood to declare his righteousness for the remission of sins that are passed through the forbearance of God to declare, I say at this time, his righteousness, that he might be just and the justifier of him, which believeth in Jesus. So according to the Bible, what justifies me is Christ's righteousness, that we're bragging about his righteousness, that we're giving glory to his righteousness. So it's, it's not by works of righteousness, which we have done, but by his mercy saved us. So if it's only his righteousness, then once I've trusted in that, that's the only thing that got me saved and is going to keep me saved until the end. And the Bible even says a little bit later, it says, where is boasting then? Like, well, then how, how can we brag? Like people say, Oh, I'm so good. I do this. I do that. It is excluded. And it says just like, there is no boasting. It says by what law of works, nay, but by the law of faith, therefore we conclude that a man is justified by faith without the deeds of the law. So if you look at it just from an Albatric conception, you know, you have faith and our works and the salvation. Well, the, the works is just marked out in the equation. The only thing left is just, is just faith. So if you placed faith in Christ, it doesn't matter what you did in your life, good or bad, it's not added to the equation. It's taken out of the equation. And so therefore you're saved. There there's other great verses that talk about kind of these concepts too. John chapter number 10, Jesus says, and I give them the maternal life and they shall never perish. Neither shall any man pluck them out of my hand. My father, which gave them me is greater than all. And no man is able to pluck them out of my father's hand. So the Bible says, once you've trusted in Christ, there's kind of a picture of Christ and the father, both holding you by the hand, and that no one can take you out of his hand. And the similar analogy would just be if a parent is walking across a dangerous street and they're, they're holding their child's hand. Well, it doesn't matter how much that child resists. The parent will never let go because they don't want that child to get destroyed. And they're going to get that child across the street. Cause they're stronger than that child. And the same exists with us in our salvation that even if I resisted a little bit, even if I try to get backslid, and even if I try to get away from God, God won't let me get away from him. And in regards of salvation, he's going to drag me across that street and I'm not going to get hit by any cars. And it doesn't matter how strong I am or how much I will to, to not serve the Lord. I can be saved. And of course, that's why we see some people resisting his will that are saved in the Bible. And they struggle and they have problems. I mean, Jonah resisted God's will. Did he go to hell? No, he got thrown into a well's belly, but he didn't go to hell. And of course, you know, even Paul talks about people, Demas hath forsaken me, having loved this present world. So there is going to be Christians that totally just decided just I'm done with Christ. I'm done with going to church. I'm not going to read my Bible. And they just live selfish. And it doesn't mean that they're going to go to hell, but of course they're going to be punished on earth and they're going to lose out on reward in heaven. Just like Lot. Lot's basically the most worthless Christian in the Bible. I mean, I always ask people like, what did Lot ever do that's good? But the Bible says he was a just man. Well, when did he do anything just? He just believed, right? Of course, that's the only thing that would give him justification, number one. And the Bible, you know, he was with Abraham. Of course, Abraham called upon the name of the Lord. I believe in the Bible, it says that Lot also had called upon the Lord. It was with Abraham when they did that. Therefore he would have believed on Jesus. He got saved, but you know, Lot is kind of a terrible Christian. He goes to Sodom and Gomorrah. His wife is terrible. He loses his wife to Sodom and Gomorrah because she loves him so much. And you also have his daughters end up being impregnated by their own father while he got drunk. I mean, what did Lot do that was good? I can't think of anything. Yet I believe Lot's in heaven. And so again, you know, the Bible is a deep book. There's a lot of passages to talk about how to live our lives and the importance of serving God and following his commandments. And those are great. But when it comes to salvation, the Bible is crystal clear. It's a free gift. It's just by faith. And once you're saved, you're always saved because you have become a child of God, because all of your sins are paid for, because you've been sealed with the Holy Spirit, because God has you by his hand and he'll never let you go. And honestly, there's probably 10 more reasons, but if you're not going to be convinced by the first four, you probably aren't going to believe. Sure. And again, I think a lot of people that are not saved or confused on this will bring up that verse, faith that works is dead. And you know, when someone brings that up to me, I say, amen. I believe that verse, but just because something's dead doesn't mean it doesn't exist. So for an example, my mom is dead, but you know what? She's still my mom. If I died, I would still be my mom's child. Okay. And of course the Bible even said, I read in Romans chapter number three, that faith without works, you know, is going to save you. So therefore we include that a man is justified by faith without the deeds of the law. So actually faith without any works is what actually gets someone saved. So I don't have to have any works. Of course, if I do, that's great. But the point of James two, he's talking to brethren, you know, if you look at the context, um, additionally, of course, the Bible has tons of instructions for us to follow the commandments. And that's important. You know, my mom gave me a lot of rules when I was young, but it wasn't so that I could be her son. It was so that it'd be a good son and God gives us commandments and rules. So that would be good children, not just children. Um, and of course, if we only believe in Jesus and we decide not to serve God, that's not going to profit anybody, anything, just like if I'm dead physically, I couldn't talk to you. I can't profit you in any way. So if I'm a Christian, I believe in Jesus, but I don't do anything for God. It's not going to profit me. It's not going to profit anybody, anything. Therefore, James is ripping on a bunch of lazy Christians profiting. Yeah, of course. Right. Exactly. Yeah. Cause only God can see our faith. A man cannot see our faith. That's why it's telling us to do works. Correct. Well, I believe that of course, you know, if I'm going to test whether or not someone saved, it's really based on what they, what they say. I don't really, I don't really judge it based on what they do entirely as far as going to heaven or hell. But at the same time, like I'm going to judge your Christianity by your works. So I might judge like how faithful of a Christian you are or how much you believe, you know, certain aspects of the Bible. But you know, I think that the whole point of James 2, it's kind of twofold. It's number one is trying to motivate Christians to do works. But then secondly, it explains that by doing works is what's going to justify you as be called a friend of God. Cause Abraham's not just saved. Abraham is called the friend of God. And the Bible says, you see then how that a man is justified not by works or not by faith only. So the Bible is clear that when Abraham believed in God, he got saved. But the only reason Abraham's considered a friend of God is because he's willing to offer his son Isaac on the altar. Right. Which is the ultimate sacrifice. People think that he got saved by doing that actually. Well, then no one saved cause who's, he didn't even do it. He was only willing, you know, but how many people have actually, I mean, I guess Jephthah is the only person that ever got saved. Cause the only person that were sacrificed a child, I, you know, that's, that's a ridiculous standard that no one could ever meet. Um, James 2 is very clear that if we follow God's commandments, he can be pleased with us and he may consider us a friend. But I say this salvation is a free gift. Friendship's not. Yeah. And it's funny because Romans chapter four immediately says, if Abraham were justified by works, he would have the glory, but not before God. Absolutely. For man. You'd have to, you'd have to think that the Romans four and James two are contradicting each other, but it's, they're not, they're just simply talking about two different subjects. But even if we go to James two and I like to do this, James two teaches salvation is by faith alone because it talks about Abraham being saved. And if you look at verse uh, number 23 and the scripture was fulfilled, which saith Abraham believed God and it was imputed unto him for righteousness. So, so the Bible is really clear. Abraham just believed God and that's what considered him righteous. It didn't say here, Abraham served God or had works and is considered righteous. It says he just believed and that's what gave him righteousness. But then it says, and he was called the friend of God. So he's not just saved. He's not just righteous. He's also the friend of God. Well, being a friend is not automatic. You know, the, the King Saul was actually considered an enemy of God at one point in his life because he was fighting against him. And then it says, you see then how that by works, a man is justified and not by faith only. I don't know if I had quoted that accurately last time, but it's saying, you can see how if you do works towards God, you can be considered or justified as being God's friend and not only saved because if someone's saved, they're not just automatically a friend, just like you and I, I'm not just automatically a friend. You would only want to be my friend if I'm nice to you. If we hang out, if I do things that you like, that's what makes someone a friend and the same as with God, I'm only going to be God's friend. If I follow his commandments and I, and I talk to him by praying and I have a relationship with him. And so of course, salvation is a free gift. Friendship is not right. And another thing I was going to say was, once I think of it, you're like a machine, dude. It's like crazy. Oh, oh, okay. So what I was going to say was if people were trying to say that your salvation is based off of your works, like maintaining it, right? Because they'll say that you're saved by faith alone, but if you're truly saved, you'll have the works, right? So in the end, how many works do you need? What if somebody only does a little bit of works and this person does all these works? And then this other person over here is this obedient, then this person is this obedient. I mean, what's the standard then at that point? Absolutely. If works were necessary salvation, the most important question would then be how much? And no one can ever quantify that. Of course, because a lot of churches, I believe, have a false teacher or preacher as their pastor, they have to lower the bar of works so far down that not only is it that they say you don't even have to have it, you just have to be willing to do works, essentially. That's what they usually boil down. And it's like, well, how willing do you have to be? But of course, what are all these verses saying? You have to be willing, how much works. And of course, it's really a work salvation appeals to the area of pride. You have to be prideful to believe in that because you have to believe you're better than other people and you're trusting in yourself. And salvation is a moment of humility. It's where you decide it's not what I did or will do that saves me. It's what Jesus already did, putting all your faith in him. And then God gets all the glory. Jesus gets all the glory for our salvation. I didn't do anything to deserve my salvation and there's nothing I can do to keep it or lose it. It was a free gift once imparted unto me. And once I'm saved, I have the Holy Spirit. I'm a child of God. I have everlasting life and I cannot come into condemnation. The Bible says in John chapter number five, that might be another good verse to think about or to quote, because the Bible is saying that even when I sin in the future, while I might suffer consequences on earth, I can't go into hell for that sin because the Bible says, verily, verily, I say unto you, he that heareth my word and believeth on him that sent me hath everlasting life and shall not come into condemnation, but is past from death unto life. And again, all of this is in past tense saying it's, I'm already passed. Once I believed, I have everlasting life in the present tense. I'm already passed from the death unto life. And I can't even come into future condemnation because I'm saved. You know, the Bible makes it very clear that it's a transaction that's already happened. And I was just going to say this, John chapter 14 verse 16 says, and I will pray the father and he shall give you another comforter that he may abide in you for ever the Holy Spirit. Great verse. Yeah. The Holy Spirit is going to, once he dwells inside of us, like the Bible said, he'll never leave us or forsake us. Yeah. So, you know, and that's, that's the good news. You know, we talk about salvation as being good news. The good news is once you're saved, you're always saved. The good news is that Jesus did the hard part. Jesus paid it all. We trust in him. We become a child of God. You can't lose it. I mean, what could be better news? And it really makes it clear how much God truly loves us that he was willing to make salvation so easy, so simple. It's a one-time trusting in Christ. And, you know, of course we should go to church, read the Bible, try to follow the commandments. And God wants us to do that, but we just have to understand the proper context of these passages. And we need to go to the passages in the Bible that are talking about salvation. You know, James 2 is not talking about salvation. And it's, and it's like these people that try to say you can lose it. The verses they bring up are not even talking about losing salvation, and they have to repackage it their way to scare you and the saying you can lose it. I mean, do these people just wake up in the morning like, I'm gonna do these works so I don't lose my salvation today? Yeah. Well, the Bible says, as a thorn goeth into the hand of a drunkard, so is a parable in the mouth of fools. So someone that's not saved, someone that's doesn't even want to be saved, the Bible will make no sense to them. Therefore, they always go to the parables. They're going to stories. They're trying to use human logic to prove how you can lose your salvation. Or, you know, Calvinists will often say weird things about, well, Jesus already paid all of your sins, and then someone still has to go to hell in that double jeopardy. But, you know, it just shows that they're trying to rationalize the Bible with human understanding, which is never going to happen. The Bible is a spiritual book, and we have to be born again of the spirit. You know, Nicodemus is confused about salvation because he asked Jesus if he has to go back into his mother's womb to be born again. You know, what a silly idea. You know, the Bible is not a carnal book. The Bible is a spiritual book. You know, the Catholics, they think they have to literally eat Jesus' body in order to have salvation. But what he was meaning there is that you have to take the words of God and eat them spiritually, and you have to believe the gospel, and that's what gives you that everlasting life. That's what gives you the bread of life and gives you salvation. It's not an actual physical process. It's a spiritual process. Right. That all makes perfect sense. Well, do you have anything else to add to this that might just affirm people's belief? You know, the Bible does say, I think a concluding verse would be pretty good, is in 1 John 5, verse 13, the Bible says, These things have I written on you that believe on the name of the Son of God, that you may know that you have eternal life, and that you may believe on the name of the Son of God. So God wants us to know that we're saved. He doesn't want us to guess or hope. He wants us to know 100% certain. And the Bible says you can know that you have eternal life. And the only way we could know is because Jesus already paid it all. And if you've believed in him, you can know you have eternal life. If it was based on my works or continuing to be faithful, I couldn't have certainty. Because we've seen so many great people in the Bible screw up and go bad at the end of their lives. No one can know for sure that they're going to continue to be a good person and go down the right course. But what I can know is I have eternal life, because I've already trusted in Christ, and nothing can change it. Oh, I really appreciate it. Yeah, that sounds amazing. And you really touched on that well, because if salvation was based on your own effort, like, say, once you get saved, how do you know that you're still saved? How do you know that you're doing enough? I mean, that's just ridiculous at that point. And yeah, God doesn't want us to be confused, running around, oh, am I still saved or not? That's just ridiculous. Yeah, and if you are uncertain about your salvation, then you're going to always strive for that primarily. Because going to hell is such a horrible evil that no one wants to go to hell. So if there was any chance I wasn't saved, that would be the only thing I would focus on and pay attention to. But God wants us to focus on other things. He wants us to focus on our marriage and focus on our children and focus on serving Him and doing a lot of other important tasks. And the only way we can move on from salvation is once we've already locked it down and realized it was a free gift, I already accepted it. And God wants to comfort us and give us the good news that, hey, you're saved, and you're a child of God. Start acting like a child of God. Exactly. Well, hey, I appreciate your expert opinion, Pastor Shelley, and I'm definitely going to have you on again. Thanks so much for having me, and I hope everybody is an expert on this subject. I hope so now after watching this. I mean, look at this. You're like a machine just spitting it out. Well, you know, I love the Bible, and I hope everybody can use the scripture to have confidence in their salvation. Now, where can these people find you? Steadfast Baptist Church. You can email us at steadfastbaptistkjv.com. Also, you can get us on YouTube, Rumble. We're on Twitter. Usually you can just put in steadfast, and it's the older spelling, S-T-E-D-F-A-S-T. And we also have a new platform, godresource.com, that we try to put our videos and sermons, and there's a lot of cool information you can find on there as well. Okay, awesome. Thanks again. Appreciate it. Have a good day.