ETERNAL SECURITY - Once sealed, always sealed!

BURNED JUST ONCE! [Ephesians 1:13,14; regeneration, seal (of Holy Spirit)]

Our church secretary, Patsy McDonald, just informed me CD’s now have a fail-safe feature burned into them preventing more than one copy from being made. The manufacturers and producers do this to prevent the lose on their valuable products. Once is all they allow.

God has likewise burned a fail-safe feature into the spirit of "the redeemed" [Ephesians 1:13]. We are originally created in God’s image, then regenerated by the precious blood of Jesus and sealed for all eternity by the Holy Spirit to prevent the loss of His most valuable possessions. Once saved is all that He requires. Glory to God!


CROSSING GUARD! [John 1:12,13; atonement, redemption, salvation]

When I was a little boy I was instructed in how to cross the street at intersections, with and without traffic lights. My elders told me the signal lights were preset for a minimum number of people; they told me I would have to wait until that many people had pushed the pedestrian crossing button. So we all pushed the button again and again until the signal changed.

I trusted the wisdom of my elders in those days; I really thought, for the longest time, I could make the signal change by pushing that silly button. Nearly wore my index finger out doing it.

I’m sure you’ve noticed, if you’re paying attention, how many people still push the pedestrian button over and over, believing, as I did, they have some control over the lights. What is amazing to me is how many grownups still do.

Grownups really do amaze me, especially concerning changing things. In the same way the pedestrian crossing button must only be pushed once to let the system know we’re there, we must only receive Christ once, in order to cross over, changing our eternal destiny. There’s no way to change the entry made to the system once that eternal button is pushed. There’s no standing on the corner of Atonement Avenue and Redemption Road saying, “Opps! I didn’t mean that.” The signal won’t flash a message back saying, “You started to cross before the light changed, your right to cross is revoked!” Or, “You’re too slow, go back and start over.”

We’ve all heard “Christians” who tell of the many times they’ve received the Lord, as if they had something to do with crossing over. Or they say, “It didn’t work the first time.” We’ve also heard those who tells us salvation can be lost and we must receive Christ again. We must be perfectly clear on this: salvation is of the Lord, it is a gift of God [Ephesians 2:8]. Once God saves a soul that soul is saved for all eternity. Push the crossing over button once, sincerely, that’s all that’s needed.