davidbowerkingwood

OSAS

OSAS is an acronym for once saved always saved; the popular expression for the eternal security of the believer. Christianity teaches that the sacrifice of the Lord Jesus Christ dying on the cross provides an eternal, unalterable salvation for the one who accepts the finished work of Christ as the payment for their sins.

This very simple concept is amazingly difficult for many Christians to believe and accept. I find it saddening that so many who should be rejoicing with confidence in their salvation are afflicted by doubt and uncertainty when it comes to the security of their position as members of God’s family.

There seems to be a feeling that some sins are just too bad to be so easily forgiven by simple belief in the Lord as one’s Savior; certainly, they think, some sins are so hideous that some sort of special penance or additional payment is required for God to forgive those sins.

Notice particularly that I selected the word feeling because these ideas come from our own feelings of unworthiness. There are times when all of us are disgusted by memories of our failures and feel unworthy of salvation; feelings that God should just send a lightning bolt down from heaven and obliterate us giving us what we truly deserve.

GOD KNOWS US BETTER THAN WE KNOW OURSELVES

As painfully aware of our failures as we might be, God knows our failures even better and in spite of all of them has sent His Son to die in our place and pay for all of our sins past, present and future.

In Romans 5:8 the apostle writes: “But God commendeth his love toward us in that, while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us.” It is at this point that the confusion about sin begins in the minds of many.

When we think of being sinners our minds review the committed sins of which we have been guilty during the course of our lives. The knowledge of those sins can all too easily haunt us as our minds replay those events of rebellion and transgression against God.

Is this the sort of thing the Holy Spirit had in mind as He inspired Paul to write those words? I think not because a few verses later He inspired Paul to explain the primary reason Christ died on the cross.

THE FEDERAL HEADSHIP OF ADAM

Mankind truly has a big problem with sin, but it is not the sins of commission or omission which so quickly come to our minds; it is rather the sin of being a human being; it is the sin of being a descendent of Adam.

In Romans 5:12 the apostle writes: “Wherefore, as by one man sin entered into the world, and death by sin, and so death passed upon all men, for all have sinned.” In the following verses Paul goes on to explain what is called the doctrine of the federal headship of Adam. Adam, as the first man had within him all who would be born subsequently into the human race. When Adam sinned against a direct command from God, he died spiritually and all who would be born of his seed died at the same time.

What this teaches is that both you and I and everyone who was to later be born died spiritually in Adam in the Garden of Eden! This is God’s primary charge against the human race and the main reason Christ died on the cross.

There is absolutely nothing you can do or undo that would change that one fact, you are a human descendant of Adam’s race and you spiritually died in Adam in the Garden.

TWO DISTINCT TYPES OF HUMANITY

The earth today is inhabited by two distinct types of human beings; those who are spiritually alive, and those who are spiritually dead. Spiritual life comes only by faith in the Lord Jesus Christ as one’s Savior. In Ephesians 2:1 Paul writes: “And you hath he made alive who were dead in trespasses and sins;” spiritual life came with salvation and only salvation can provide spiritual life.

These then are the issues at play when one accepts the saving work of the Lord as their payment for sin. The Lord Jesus Christ as our kinsman redeemer has paid the price necessary for our redemption from Adam’s transgression. We have received the gift of spiritual life in Christ Jesus, our Lord.

Where then does personal sin enter the picture? With regard to the believer’s eternal place in God’s family it is irrelevant; with regard to the Spirit led life it is critical. In I John 1:8-10 John writes: “If we say that we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us. If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. If we say that we have not sinned, we make him a liar, and his word is not in us.”

The good news there is that God hears us when we confess our sins to Him and is also faithful and just to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. Confession of our sins before God restores the power of God the Holy Spirit in our lives and permits us the privilege of enjoying the fruit of the spirit as described in Galatians 5:22f.

The motivator for resisting sin should not be fear of losing our salvation which is impossible, but rather our devotion to and love for the Lord Jesus Christ and our sincere desire to please the one who died in our place!

With regard to our salvation there is nothing whatsoever that can separate us from the love of God; in Romans 8: 38-39 Paul writes: “For I am convinced that neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither the present nor the future, nor any powers, neither height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord.”

With this you, as a born-again believer in the Lord Jesus Christ, can know beyond any doubt that your place in God’s family is preserved eternally by the mighty power of God. Rejoice in your good fortune and give thanks to your Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ.