If We Hold Fast

     "Now I make known to you, brethren, the gospel which I preached to you, which also you received, in which also you stand by which also you are saved, if you hold fast the word which I preached to you, unless you believed in vain." I Corinthians 15:1-2

      "Take care, brethren, lest there should be in any one of you an evil, unbelieving heart, in falling away from the living God. But encourage one another day after day, as long as it is still called 'Today,' lest any one of you be hardened by the deceitfulness of sin, for we have become partakers of Christ, if we hold fast the beginning of our assurance firm until the end;" Hebrews 3:12-14

      In my previous post regarding apostasy, I said that my next post would be about salvation being conditionally based on our continuing in the faith. As you know, if you have read the posts that followed, my plans were interrupted. I have been dealing with other issues, but I am ready to return to this very important topic once again. There are a few more scriptures I want to share with you on the topic of OSAS, just to be sure you understand that the scriptures abound with warnings to believers that we must continue in the faith in order to be saved.

     There is a parable that Jesus told that gives us a picture of what happens when different people hear the word of God. It is commonly called the Parable of the Sower and is found in Matthew 13:3-23, Mark 4:3-20, and Luke 8:5-15. I would encourage you to read the whole passage in all three of these gospel accounts. In this parable the seed is the word of God, and the soil is the heart of man. In all three accounts, after telling the parable, Jesus says, "He who has ears to hear, let him hear." Not everyone responds to the preaching of the word in the same way. Some people hear the word, but their heart is so hard that it goes in one ear and right out the other. It does not take root at all, and Satan snatches away what was sown in their heart. Another group of people hear the word and receive it joyfully. Luke tells it this way,"And those on the rocky soil are those who, when they hear, receive the word with joy; and these have no firm root; they believe for a while, and in time of temptation fall away." Luke 8:13. Mark 4:17 says of the same group, "they have no firm root in themselves, but are only temporary; then, when affliction or persecution arises because of the word, immediately they fall away." A third group hears the word, but "the worries of the world, and the deceitfulness of riches, and the desires for other things enter in and choke the word, and it becomes unfruitful." Mark 4:19 The last person in the parable is "the one on whom seed was sown on the good soil, this is the man who hears the word and understands it; who indeed bears fruit, and brings forth, some a hundredfold, some sixty, and some thirty." Matthew 13:23 This parable teaches us that not everyone who initially receives the word of God continues to follow after Christ. I definitely want to be in that last category, don't you?

          There are other scriptures that tell us that we must endure to the end in order to be saved. Paul tells us in I Timothy 4:1, "...the Spirit explicitly says that in later times some will fall away from the faith, paying attention to deceitful spirits and doctrines of demons." Jesus, when speaking of the last days, told His disciples, "And at that time many will fall away and will deliver up one another and hate one another. And many false prophets will arise, and will mislead many. And because lawlessness is increased, most people's love will grow cold. But the one who endures to the end shall be saved." I Timothy 6:10 speaks of those who have "wandered away from the faith," and I Timothy 6:21 speaks of those who have "gone astray from the faith." What does that mean? I think I will play it on the safe side and believe it means just what it says. I do not want to be found anywhere but IN the faith when I come face to face with Jesus! I hope that is your goal also, so keep on keepin' on! Don't get sidetracked! Don't let Satan trick you! Listen to the Holy Spirit, and be obedient. It will all be worth it some day!!!!