Hebrews 4:10-11, “For he that is entered into his rest, he also hath ceased from his own works, as God did from his. Let us labour therefore to enter into that rest, lest any man fall after the same example of unbelief.”
Humbly, how much can a person be deceived and still be saved? Answer: To the limit that you ADD something more than faith alone in the Gospel (Good News) of Jesus Christ crucified, buried and risen.
Salvation can NEVER be lost. Once saved, always saved! Can a person think that they can lose God's salvation, if they live in willful sin? No, because they are adding to God's grace. Pentecostals and Charismatics commonly believe that salvation must be maintained, that you CAN lose it by going into gross immorality, but that is unbiblical. What saith the Scripture? Romans 5:20-21, “Moreover the law entered, that the offence might abound. But where sin abounded, grace did much more abound: That as sin hath reigned unto death, even so might grace reign through righteousness unto eternal life by Jesus Christ our Lord.”
No one is saved who thinks that they must DO SOMETHING to keep their salvation. In fact, it is God's gift of salvation. It is not OUR salvation. Salvation is of the Lord. We are saved solely by GOD'S RIGHTEOUSNESS. We don't have to be good do go to Heaven, we've got to be 100% perfect! Obviously no one is perfect.
A sincere religious man recently asked me if he was saved when he used to be confused. He admittedly that years ago he was in a bad church, and at the time he was trying to be "perfect" to get to Heaven, which he naively thought was part of proving his faith. He said eventually that he heard Pastor J. Vernon McGee (1904-1988) preach on the simplicity that is in Christ and got straitened out doctrinally. I kindly replied and answered the confused man's question, teaching him from the inspired Holy Bible that he in fact WASN'T saved back when he was “trying to be perfect.” That is works! Pastor J. Vernon McGee wonderfully preached in the preceding video link:
Christianity is NOT a ceremony;Christianity is NOT even the Church;Christianity is NOT a system;Christianity is a person,and that Person is the Lord Jesus Christ,and it's Who He is, and what He has done.THAT'S CHRISTIANITY, and nothing else is Christianity.Oh, how we need to get back to HIM—the Lord Jesus Christ!!!
Kindly said, Pentecostals and Charismatics are NOT saved, those who are attempting to live above sin lest they lose their salvation. That is not the righteousness of God, which is through faith alone in Christ; but the righteousness of the law, which is by the works of the law (i.e., trying to be perfect).
In fact, if you are so confused about salvation that you still think YOU must DO SOMETHING to maintain or prove that your faith is legitimate, you aren't saved. Salvation is not a reward for the righteous; it is a gift for the guilty! The true Gospel always points you to CHRIST; a false gospel always points to YOU. Salvation is not doing your best, it is having Christ's best put to your account through receiving Him by faith. Turning away from sinful ways would be a work.
Faith puts all of the merit where it belongs, on the object of our faith, Jesus and His work. If to “repent” means to forsake our sinful ways TO BE SAVED, but Jesus already paid for our sins by dying on the cross, then what are we repenting from? We must stay true to the simplicity of the gospel!! Repentance regarding salvation is a change of mind from unbelief to belief, nothing less or more. We must earnestly contend for the faith (Jude 1:3).
I kindly explained to my friend, who asked if a person could be confused but still saved, that it wasn't until he finally understood the Gospel, when Pastor J. Vernon McGee showed him the truth, and he finally trusted in Jesus Christ alone, that he was saved. But don't take my word for it. What saith the Scripture? Hebrews 4:10-11, “For he that is entered into his rest, he also hath ceased from his own works, as God did from his. Let us labour therefore to enter into that rest, lest any man fall after the same example of unbelief.” Notice that only those who have "ceased from their own works" have entered into God's rest, that is, God's salvation.
Philippians 3:9, "And be found in him, not having mine own righteousness, which is of the law, but that which is through the faith of Christ, the righteousness which is of God by faith:" Notice that we are saved by God's righteousness, which is through the faith of Jesus Christ; and not by my own righteousness, which is of the law (trying to be perfect). Although it is possible to be confused about some doctrinal issues and still be saved, it is not possible to be so confused that you are still trusting in yourself in the slightest degree. Works have no place in God's simple plan of salvation. Jesus paid it all!!!
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