Welcome back everybody to another mini episode.

I'm here with Rod Smith from the Millennial Mustard Seed podcast.

Hey, Rod.

How's it going, Pete?

It's going well.

And this one, we decided we are going to try to bookend this series, but we've got a decent bit of ground to cover.

And So what I think we're going to try to do is just blaze through all of the stuff that we have.

And whether that makes two or three mini episodes, we're just going to keep the microphone rolling and split it as it makes sense to split it.

And then when we get done with this, put these all together with the previous five minis and call it one large series in one episode as a bonus episode on rethinking eternal security.

So lot to cover, but we prayed.

The words are going to be salt, right, Rod?

Shout out to your book title.

And yeah, so looking over the things that we have yet to cover, we did not get into all of the verses that seem to point to why the believer cannot lose their salvation.

And I want to lift up my buddy Kevin Thompson over at Beyond the Fundamentals, and one of his free files that you can get at his website of the same name has an Eternal security 3 or 4 page PDF with a lot of good verse references.

And kind of the premise that I felt like God prompted me to start this series with Rod was the idea that all of these verses can still be true.

And yet someone who can someone can profess faith and yet not enter heaven.

How is that possible if all of these promises for the believer are true?

How can someone not enter heaven if they're a believer?

Well, what if they don't stay a believer?

These are reasons why the believer cannot lose salvation.

But in my opinion and please, prayerfully and scripturally you guys out there, check this.

I'm not teaching something that I think is 100% factual, correct.

I want you to check this and be a good Berean.

The believer cannot lose salvation, but any person can.

What does that mean?

It's kind of like an indestructible bus on its way to heaven.

We have a guaranteed destination as long as we're on that bus, but in this life we still have a choice to jump off or stay on.

If you stop having the faith, which is the means of appropriating the grace of salvation, then you stop having the grace.

One of the most famous verses comes from Ephesians 2.

I'm sure all you guys are familiar with it.

2 Verse 8.

For by grace you have been saved through faith and this is not your own doing.

What's the this the saving?

The saving is God's doing and how does he manifest it?

What is the means of appropriating that grace through faith?

And Rod, you asked me earlier, when we look at through what to meet, what do we mean do it?

Do we mean like I, I just walked through a crowd?

No, it means by means of right.

I'll pass it to you for a second just to just to comment on that because I that is a key point of what that that through means.

It's kind of like a plug and a cord, and that plug and cord is plugged into the power source.

Yeah.

I mean, my critical thinking about that verse arise that question, you know, from outside of the box kind of looking in and trying to understand, well, how would the younger me, I've wrestled with that versus how I view it now?

And how does my neighbor see that regardless of where they're at and their education of the Bible or relationship or anything, right?

Like how are people really resonating with what they're reading when they're trying to understand where where you're at, where's your eternal security at right.

And so that question obviously, as you highlighted, was my way of kind of pointing out, are we leaving anything off the table with just glancing at that scripturally brushing the the top of your book off and flipping through?

Are we really getting to the crux of the issue?

And So what I walked away from our pre air conversation with that question that you you brought up a minute ago that I asked, what does it mean to go through?

Let's define that.

And it's by means of which means what has been denoted and created is the only way to access it.

So it's, it's God's created gift to us.

It's the narrow plank that they can feel like a plank sometimes that you're working on.

And and there's no other way.

Only a thief would take a different way.

So I'll pass it back to you as just kind of a brief comment on that was a really good part that we maybe we should have captured.

Unfortunately that one didn't get on the mic, but we tried to bring in some justice here.

Yeah, yeah.

And that's the key thing.

I know in in some circles people can accuse others of saying, well, if the faith is yours, then that's a work and now you're taking credit for salvation.

Well, I've said this many times when it comes to sort of that Gnostic determinism of, you know, the idea of, of being saved because you're elect.

If I'm in a 50 foot hole and I've got a 5 foot rope, I can't get out.

But if somebody comes along with a 50 foot rope and they throw it down and once I get to the top, I don't pat myself on the back and say, boy, was I smart to grab that rope.

No, I think the guy for the rope, the rope was the means.

It was through that rope that I was saved.

The person at the top gets all the credit.

And so we give we give God all the credit for our salvation, but he has made a way that narrow way, which is through faith.

And it to me, it's really like that a power cord plugged into a wall, you know, keep yourself plugged in, abide in me.

We're going to look at that, that verse talking about abiding in me.

The means of appropriating that grace is through faith.

So eternal security is absolutely true in the sense that God is not going to reject us as long as we have faith in Him.

We are.

We are declaring our allegiance to Him.

We are saying we are loyal to Him.

Ups and downs, yes.

Sin abounds, yes.

But rejecting Him, No.

No, we are confessing Him before men and He will confess us before His Father.

So let's look at some of these eternal security so-called proof texts and see how all of these things can be true for the believer but are conditional upon faith.

And again, they are for the believer.

If someone ceases to be a believer, then these promises are no longer for them, they are for the believer.

Just like in Ephesians, Paul says predestined to be conformed to his image.

We are on that bus and the destination of the believer is to be sanctified.

So, Rod, do you want to just go through a few of these verses that we have, especially the ones that are maybe highlighted or in bold, and I'll jump in with a few of them that I think are are powerful.

The believers in Christ it talks about Romans 8 one first Corinthians 130 and many other verses and the believers known knows Christ that's second Timothy 219 John 17 three the believer is part of the body of Christ.

This is reference many places First Corinthians 1212 through 13, Ephesians 412.

I mean just thinking about the body of Christ, all of those members being unified and God giving us the subscription of like we were in him, he's in US, He's it's made by him and for him Jesus is the eternal being.

John 858 says Revelation 1/8.

Nothing can separate the believer from the love of God.

Romans 838 through 39 says, which means that the believer will never be subject to God's wrath.

The believer's life is everlasting.

John 316 and 1st John 513 talk about and the believers chosen and this is one that we know.

There's certain denominational preferences out there that will run with this isolated concept and let it supersede all the other Scriptures.

I think those of you may kind of know what I'm talking about.

I'm not going to bash them, but what we will do is acknowledge that there's reverence to Ephesians 1/4 and 2nd Thessalonians 213.

We have so much favor and acceptance in Christ.

You know, the believers called the elect according to the foreknowledge of God in first Peter one and two and the verses go on and on.

I just skimmed through a couple to give you guys that reference point to, you know, to start looking.

This is in a eternal security perspective in him there.

There's nothing we can do outside of it ourselves.

There's nothing we bring to the table there.

There is no righteousness of our own.

You know, before I pass it back to you, Pete, I am triggered about Revelation the sheep and the goat nations, which Dan Deval wrote a really good book on that that I've interviewed him on.

And we might have talked about this before.

So forgive me if I'm repeating myself minutely, but the separation is based on the goats are saying we did this.

We cast out demons in your name.

We healed the sick.

And then there's these sheeps that are like, when did I do something, Lord, like I, I've been trembling and I, I kept getting it wrong.

I, I didn't always understand.

And so I mean, I pass it back to you with the concept of it either is from him, through him, by him, or it's nothing of ourselves.

That's right clear.

I'll add a few more from the list here from Kevin Thompson's PDF.

Excellent list.

There is no condemnation for the believer.

Romans 8 one First Thessalonians 59 and 10.

The believer has the righteousness of Christ.

2nd Corinthians 521.

The believer is a Son of God.

John 112 Galatians 4-5 and six.

The believer is secured by God's greatness and knowledge despite serious doubts of the heart.

First, John 319 through 21.

Let that be an assurance for so much of you guys out there.

And I know people in my family grew up this way too.

Where you'll hear this message all the only thing good about you is God and otherwise you're just a wretched Sinner.

You're an awful worm, you know, and and God had to practically plug his nose to build like a stinky diaper to pick you up out of your sin.

And that is not how he sees you before or after salvation.

You know, we're made in his image.

But even more so loved is the believer who now has the righteousness of his very own Son on us.

But even before.

I mean, yeah, that kind of language takes the truth of the ugliness of sin and makes us pushed down to the dirt to try to make God look more glorified.

I, I don't think God would ever want to push us down to get more glory for himself.

He doesn't act like that.

But that's just a little bit of a sidebar.

So we see all these verses about eternal security and this is God holding on to us, right?

This is to assure us that having faith in him and we don't have time to unpack what that looks like believing in him.

The difference between even belief and faith.

You know belief comes from beloved that when we believe on Christ it we're saying he's our beloved.

We treasure him and we do.

Our actions follow, you know, one that we have love for, right?

But even with that in mind, the difference between intellectual belief only, which is where the Scripture says even the demons believe in God and shudder, right?

The devil believes in God, he's not going to heaven, right?

So it's not mere intellectual ascent, but that's I think for you guys to continue to press in and understand what does it mean to be connected to God through faith?

As long as you are doing that and it's not works, then you're saved and you remain saved and God's not kicking you out.

That part is absolutely secure, but it's conditional upon faith.

You got to keep the plug in.

If you cease to be a believer, you forfeit those promises.

It's kind of like if my team is heading to the playoffs, we get through the playoffs, we're headed to the championship, and for whatever reason, I decide to quit the team.

My team goes to the championship, wins the game, gets the trophy, gets the rings.

I'm not getting one because I quit the team before the game, right?

So all the promises that God has is when we stay on the team.

And I'm not about to say you have to do a minimum amount of works to get there because that's workspace salvation.

But if you have none, Book of James might say, do you actually have faith?

I think that's something worth wrestling with.

Paul also says test yourself to see if you are in the faith.

We ought to test ourselves, hold ourselves up to Scripture Rod right and go, am I in alignment with this?

Yeah, I mean maintenance.

There's no piece of equipment that you'll just run and not give its due maintenance.

Even your body can only handle so much before you need to sleep.

Rehydrate intermittent fast the same as it is with our walk with the Lord.

That's why the Sabbath's are commanded.

It's in the Big 10.

It's not a recommendation.

And so we should be checking our faith.

And just like the word says, you know a man who looks into the mirror and doesn't remember who he is.

Well, when we look into the Word of God, we should see him in US through a long form development in relationship where it's just like Paul said, he's like, who can save me from this wretched flesh?

Isn't that interesting how he isolates the flesh out of his trifold nature?

You know, he's like, who can save me from this wretched flesh, right?

I go to do the thing which I, you know, wish not to do.

I end up doing that right?

And it's not a license to sin, but it is the reality that there's a deeper part of us that resonates with who the Spirit of God is and that we're willing and and submitted to him, moving and working through.

It's not many times the image of the flesh that God will use to do miraculous things.

It's sometimes it's the psyche of the man.

Sometimes it's the act of simple generosity, compassion, humbling yourself.

Just as the word says.

If you want to turn away wrath, give a soft answer, takes your tongue and your heart and your mind to be in union to do that.

That this is the deeper part of us that I believe accepts and presses into the Lord and holds on and we go through the way that He is made.

Just as you mentioned earlier, Pete, you're climbing out of the well.

You came equipped with A5 foot rope in a 20 foot well.

So everything you brought to the table, it ain't working.

But when he's in us, there should be fruit.

And we're always going to have a bad day.

All right, If you cut somebody off in traffic 5 minutes ago as you're listening to this driving your car and you thought why I ought to, it's the flesh.

Don't be so hard on yourself, but what me and Peter are really trying to do here is, is bring the understanding and the questioning forward.

We want to get you guys to think about this because I know what it feels like for somebody to not get me to critical think to just sit down, shut up, be a good little boy and nod your head when I speak that that's been enough.

We've had enough of that.

It's really time for us to open the can of worms of have we wrestled with this, dealt with it and considered in the deep inner part of us.

And that's exactly what we're doing right here.

You know, Pete, I'm going to pass it back to you and where we go from here, You know, and and the climax that has already been built over this however many parts series, we're getting to a scriptural dominance, right?

Like the scripture has the final say.

It's unarguable.

We just need to make sure that we're in agreement.