They teach the blood has no significance in itself. Others teach take the view that the blood of Christ has special significance because the New Testament speaks of Christ's blood being offered for our redemption and that blood played an important part in the Old Testament sacrifices which pictures Christ's sacrifice for our sins.  

          The extreme position is that the blood of Christ was taken to heaven and is applied to all who believe and that Christ will bring it back when He returns. I take the view that the blood of Christ has special significance because of the verses which mention it as follows:

1 Corinthians 10:16 The cup of blessing which we bless, is it not the communion of the blood of Christ? The bread which we break, is it not the communion of the body of Christ?

Ephesians 2:13 But now in Christ Jesus ye who sometimes were far off are made nigh by the blood of Christ.

Hebrews 9:14 How much more shall the blood of Christ, who through the eternal Spirit offered himself without spot to God, purge your conscience from dead works to serve the living God?

1 Peter 1:2 Elect according to the foreknowledge of God the Father, through sanctification of the Spirit, unto obedience and sprinkling of the blood of Jesus Christ: Grace unto you, and peace, be multiplied.

1 Peter 1:19 But with the precious blood of Christ, as of a lamb without blemish and without spot:

1 John 1:7 But if we walk in the light, as he is in the light, we have fellowship one with another, and the blood of Jesus Christ his Son cleanseth us from all sin.

1 John 5:6 This is he that came by water and blood, even Jesus Christ; not by water only, but by water and blood . And it is the Spirit that beareth witness, because the Spirit is truth.

Revelation 1:5 And from Jesus Christ, who is the faithful witness, and the first begotten of the dead, and the prince of the kings of the earth. Unto him that loved us, and washed us from our sins in his own blood

          Honestly, I do not fully understand the matter and doubt whether others fully do either, but I know that is through Christ's shed blood man can be saved if they believe. I simply believe what the Bible says about the matter and know that I will understand fully when I get to heaven.  

          I think it is wrong and serious error for men like MacArthur to speak so emphatically that the blood only refers to Christ's death, making little of the statement itself and God's emphasis on it. If God choose to use the statement that salvation is through the blood of Christ....then He had good reason to do so and no Bible teacher or preacher should try to explain it away or down pay its significance. If it has no special significance then why is it so prominent in the Old Testament sacrifices? When the sacrificial animals were killed their throats were cut and their blood pour out. The blood of the lamb was sprinkled on the door posts at the Passover. Further, the Jews were prohibited from eating blood. I think we best believe God's word and literally take the Word of God for what it says, the shed blood of Jesus Christ has special significance to God...and it ought too for us also.

That is one reason the concept of grace plus works is in error. Grace is not grace that has to be earned or merited in any way. God freely, by His own will and design, offers mercy, forgiven for sin and eternal life to all who will by faith receive it. To earn it or work for it or do some religious ceremony nullifies grace and changes it from a free given gift to something merited. That's why Eph. 2:8--9 is so important to understand.

God tells us in the verse that "For by grace ye are saved" meaning we are saved by God's unmerited or earned love and benevolence to us. God then makes the statement stronger by saying, "through faith, it is the "gift" of God. It is hard to misunderstand this, because He says salvation is a gift. Gifts are not earned. However, if I try to earn God grace it is not grace any more, but merited payment or reward for some action. God does not reward us for our good works by forgiving our sins. Man is a sinner and totally unable to save himself being guilty of sin. God says, "Not of works, least an man should boast." I cannot see how anyone can miss what the passage is saying, ...salvation is by God's unmerited favor and gift to all who by faith will believe and receive it. It is not a reward, or something earned or worked for....therefore no man can say (boast) he earned any part of his salvation. Christ paid the whole sin debt of man....man as a sinner under the penalty of sin....with no righteousness and has nothing to offer for sin.

That's what Rom. 4:5 says, "But to him that worketh not, but believeth on him that justifieth the ungodly, his faith is counted for righteousness."

Note what Paul wrote Titus, Titus 3:5 "Not by works of righteousness which we have done, but according to his mercy he saved us, by the washing of regeneration, and renewing of the Holy Ghost."

Note the principle of righteous as stated in the following verses:

Romans 3:22 Even the righteousness of God which is by faith of Jesus Christ unto all and upon all them that believe: for there is no difference:

Romans 3:25 Whom God hath set forth to be a propitiation through faith in his blood, to declare his righteousness for the remission of sins that are past, through the forbearance of God;

Romans 3:26 To declare, I say, at this time his righteousness: that he might be just, and the justifier of him which believeth in Jesus.

Romans 4:6 Even as David also describeth the blessedness of the man, unto whom God imputeth righteousness without works,

Romans 5:17 For if by one man's offense death reigned by one; much more they which receive abundance of grace and of the gift of righteousness shall reign in life by one, Jesus Christ.)

Romans 5:18 Therefore as by the offense of one judgment came upon all men to condemnation; even so by the righteousness of one the free gift came upon all men unto justification of life.

Romans 6:18 Being then made free from sin, ye became the servants of righteousness.

Romans 10:10 For with the heart man believeth unto righteousness; and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation.

1 Corinthians 1:30 But of him are ye in Christ Jesus, who of God is made unto us wisdom, and righteousness, and sanctification, and redemption:

1 Corinthians 15:34 Awake to righteousness, and sin not; for some have not the knowledge of God: I speak this to your shame.

Galatians 2:21 I do not frustrate the grace of God: for if righteousness come by the law, then Christ is dead in vain.

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:

However, being saved does not eradicate the old nature to sin. John says speaking to Christians, "If we say that we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us." (1 John 1:8) In the next verse he states God's provision for overcoming sin in a Christian's life. "If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all righteousness." (1 John 1:9) Because a saved man believes in Christ, he has a new nature which convicts him of any sin in his life. The Christian therefore is to confess his sins and the process of admitting sin and confessing it will work (with God's help) to cleanse that sin from his life. But if, when a Christian sins, he does not confess it God will chasten him, even as a parent will chasten their child to correct it. (Please read Hebrews 12:4-17) If God's chastening fails to turn his child from sin, God will make his sick as part of his chastening and if that fails God will take that Christian's life.

"But let a man examine himself, and so let him eat of that bread, and drink of that cup. For he that eateth and drinketh unworthily, eateth and drinketh damnation to himself, not discerning the Lord's body. For this cause many are weak and sickly among you, and many sleep." (1 Corinthians 11:28-30) These verses explain that a believer who does not "discern" the Lord's body will receive the sharp chasten hand of God. To not discern the Lord's body means to live in unrepentant sin which makes light of Christ's suffering for that person's sin. The one who is not discerning of the Lord's body is one who willfully, blatantly and uncaringly makes little of Christ's suffering for them. John also speaks of sin that will lead to a believers death. (1 John 5:16)

A man who professes to be a Christian, and yet lives an immoral sinful life and is not being chastened by God according to the Bible is not a child of God. The lack of chastening is evidence that person has not truly believed in Christ as their Savior. The Book of Hebrews says, "But if ye be without chastisement, whereof all are partakers, then are ye bastards, and not sons." (Hebrews 12:8)

Note what the Bible says:
"For if by one man's offense death reigned by one; much more they which receive abundance of grace and of the gift of righteousness shall reign in life by one, Jesus Christ" (Romans 5:17).

In Colossians 1:28, the Apostle said, "Whom we preach, warning every man, and teaching every man in all wisdom; that we may present every man perfect in Christ Jesus" (Colossians 1:28) Surely, no man on this earth is perfect and in himself can ever be perfect. Yet, God declares us perfect in His sight through Jesus Christ. It is a judicial act of God in redemption to forgive those that believe and declare them totally justified. ( Rom. 3:24, 28; 5:1; 8:30; Gal. 2:16-17:Titus 3:17;1 John 2:2)

Paul also address those who try to attempt to substitute their own righteousness for God's: "For they being ignorant of God's righteousness, and going about to establish their own righteousness, have not submitted themselves unto the righteousness of God." (Romans 10:3)

If your question is about reward in heaven the answer is "yes" Christ does give reward for good works! (I am not saying that being in God's presence is a reward. Salvation is not a reward, but the gift of God freely given to those who will receive it. But believers will receive rewards once we get to heaven based on our obedience to the Lord)

Note what the Bible says:

"10 According to the grace of God which is given unto me, as a wise master builder, I have laid the foundation, and another buildeth thereon. But let every man take heed how he buildeth thereupon.
11 For other foundation can no man lay than that is laid, which is Jesus Christ.
12 Now if any man build upon this foundation gold, silver, precious stones, wood, hay, stubble;
13 Every man's work shall be made manifest: for the day shall declare it, because it shall be revealed by fire; and the fire shall try every man's work of what sort it is.
14 If any man's work abide which he hath built thereupon, he shall receive a reward.
15 If any man's work shall be burned, he shall suffer loss: but he himself shall be saved; yet so as by fire. (1 Corinthians 3:10-15)

This is called the "bema" judgment of God. It is not a judgment of condemnation, but like the "bema" of Greek Olympic games was a place of degrees of reward. The "bema" judgment in the Olympic games is the place where athletes receive their metals or rewards. Those that lost in the games are not at the "bema." Only believers are at this judgment. The Bible explains that the believer's works will be placed in a fire. Their works are described as being like unto gold, silver, precious stones, wood, hay, and stubble. A Christian's faithful works for the Lord are liken unto gold, silver and precious stones which the fire will not destroy. However, in believer's life are works done in the flesh, not none in faith and in God's will, thus these will be consumed in the fire. Verse 15, says there will be some who have no works, and that person will suffer loss, but they themselves will be saved.

Other Scriptures speak of crowns that believers will receive. For references to these passages see: 1 Cor. 9:25, 1 Thess. 2:19, 2 Tim. 4:8, James 1:12, 1 Pet. 5:4, Rev. 2:10, 3:11, 4;4,10.

The Bible tell us that Jesus Christ alone is the way of salvation, is truth and is life. . . there is no other way. Jesus did not say I am "a" way or one of many ways....He said I am "the" way and so there would be no misunderstanding, the verse ends with ". . .no man cometh to the Father, but by me." This is God's plan for man's redemption. This is the truth that the Bible calls the "Gospel" with means "Good News." Note what the Bible says is the Gospel: "Moreover, brethren, I declare unto you the gospel which I preached unto you, which also ye have received, and wherein ye stand; By which also ye are saved, if ye keep in memory what I preached unto you, unless ye have believed in vain. For I delivered unto you first of all that which I also received, how that Christ died for our sins according to the scriptures; And that he was buried, and that he rose again the third day according to the scriptures." This is the message that the Apostle Paul, preached and that men believed and were saved and received eternal life.

First, all men are sinners...that means you and I. "As it is written, There is none righteous, no, not one: There is none that understandeth, there is none that seeketh after God. They are all gone out of the way, they are together become unprofitable; there is none that doeth good, no, not one." (Romans 3:10-14) This describes the state of men....lost in sin!

Further God tells us in Romans 6:23, "For the wages of sin is death; but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord." In other words the result of our sin will bring death. Yet, the verse also says the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord. Note how eternal life is available...it is through Jesus Christ our Lord.

God explains how the "gift of salvation" is received. "That whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have eternal life. For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life. For God sent not his Son into the world to condemn the world; but that the world through him might be saved. He that believeth on him is not condemned: but he that believeth not is condemned already, because he hath not believed in the name of the only begotten Son of God."

The verse explains how a person is saved....by belief in Jesus Christ, it also explains why men are condemned...they do believe on the name of the only begotten Son of God.

God's tells us over and over in His word that salvation is through Jesus Christ and Him only.

Here is the problem. People like Mahatma Gandhi do admirable things for their country and people. But Mahatma Gandhi was a Hindu who denied Jesus Christ was the only begotten Son of God. He was a great political leader and he sacrificed greatly to free his people from British rule, but spiritually he was a failure. As a Hindu, he only believed that Jesus was a good teacher or prophet. He did not accept Jesus Christ as the Savior and of God's only begotten Son. Gandhi rejected Jesus Christ as his Savior and believed that by doing good works in this life he could earn the right in the next life to be someone greater than he was here. He believed in reincarnation which teaches a man comes back to earth after life and that a man can merit or earn by good works a better existence. Hindus believe a man can come back as a cow, tree, or anything living. What he is reincarnated to is determined by how he lived his present life. The problem with all this is that it is just not true. If you follow Gandhi does he point you to the true Gospel or to the vain ideas of a man. If you follow his teachings which deny Jesus Christ is God incarnate in flesh and the Savior of the world how can following Gandhi's creed point your to God's plan of salvation? What following his creed, as all the creeds of man, will do is lead a person away from God, Truth, and salvation.

God tells us: "For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God: Not of works, lest any man should boast." (Ephesians 2:8-9)

No one can merit salvation or earn it. We are sinners under the condemnation of our sin, yet the Lord Jesus Christ came to the earth and He paid our sin debt, the debt we could not pay. If a man will believe and accept this truth, that he is a sinner and that Jesus Christ paid for his sin by His death on the Cross...if any man will repent of his sins and ask God in belief to forgive him....God gives the free gift of salvation. This is the only way forgiveness of sin is received and eternal life....by belief and trust in Jesus Christ alone.

God tells us every man will be judged by whether we believed and accepted Jesus Christ as our Lord and Savior or not. Each man comes before God condemned or saved by one question. Did the man received Jesus Christ by faith or did he reject God gift of salvation.

Revelation 20:11-15, describes the judgment of all who try to earn their salvation by good works and being a wonderful person. Because these lost people rejected God's plan and substituted their way, their names were not written in the Book of Life, they all will be cast into the eternal Lake of Fire. The only way to get one's name recorded in the Book of Life is to believe, repent of one's sin and accept Jesus Christ as Savior.

It is OK to admire great men in history and their accomplishments. But they do not provide the way of salvation. Only God can give that because He is our only Creator and God. He provided salvation for us....all we must do is to believe God...and accept his forgiveness and salvation.

I hope that you will seek God's truth. I suggest that you read the Book of John and Romans. Read them carefully and see what God has said. It will also help you to find a good Bible believing church, such as we Independent Baptists. There you can hear God's word explained and get help in finding Jesus Christ as your Savior. If you would like I will recommend a good church in your area to attend. (Student from Emery University)

The answer is absolutely YES, you can be saved. The very fact it matters to you shows the Holy Spirit is working in your life. If He were not working in your life you would not care about salvation and if you did not believe you would not fear eternity without Christ.

Salvation can be an emotional and for most of us it is. However, receiving salvation is not a matter of some feeling or emotion...it is a matter of believing in the Lord Jesus Christ and putting one's faith in Him. The Scriptures teach over and over that salvation is a matter of belief, of accepting by faith God's free gift of salvation. (Ephesians 2:8-9)

It could be that your problem really is in understanding the assurance of salvation. Most Charismatic groups teach one can lose their salvation.....which is absolutely a false doctrine. Many people honestly and sincerely believed in the Lord Jesus Christ and were saved, having repented of their sins, but later when temptations came or spiritual failure occurred...they doubted whether their salvation was real or not. It is normal to think this if we do not fully understand salvation. It is then a matter of know what God has said about assurance of salvation...of knowing that we are saved.

You cannot base assurance of salvation on how you feel. Suppose one day you feel really great that the Lord is near and close.....you feel truly saved and a child of God. Suppose the next day you are tired, sick, someone hurts you, you sin, etc.....you then are disappointed in yourself and because of the problems do not feel like you are saved. And this happens often to us all. How do you really know then? Are you saved or not?

The answer is simple. Did you believe, repent our your sins and ask the Lord to save you? Do you honestly and sincerely believe that Jesus Christ died for your sins and that He and He alone paid your sin debt? Have you then trusted in Him for your salvation realizing that you cannot save yourself? If the answer is yes, then it is God, not our feelings, that affirms that we are truly saved and a child of God. If we truly believed, then we are saved whether we feel like it or not. God has not forsaken us. He is still there seeking to help. The problem is that we have taken our eyes off Him, come under false teaching or let circumstances discourage us and bring confusion to our lives. What we need to do us to put our eyes back on Him and live trusting in His love for us and His provision.

"That if thou shalt confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus, and shalt believe in thine heart that God hath raised him from the dead, thou shalt be saved. For with the heart man believeth unto righteousness; and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation"(Roman 10:9-10).

God cannot lie and if He says if we believe in the Lord Jesus He saves us....then that is true and we can be fully assured we are saved. Our assurance is then based on His word to us, not on our feelings that vary from time to time.

However, what about when we doubt......? The answer is the same. If I truly believed and God saved me....then my doubts are not founded in fact, but in my feelings. God has not changed. If God says we are saved, that should settle the matter and we should then go about living for the Lord in that knowledge.

What if I sin? The answer is found in 1 John 1:8-10, " 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."

God knows that we will sin. He does not take away our salvation because we fail. We could not save ourselves nor can we keep ourselves saved....that is God's work and is His promise to us. We are humans with a carnal nature and will fail, but God wants us to overcome our sin whatever it is. His provision for us is to tell us to confess it in prayer to Him. He says, He forgives and will also remove or cleanse us from that sin. That means He will help us to overcome it so we do not repent it over and over. Each time we sin....God's says bring it to me....let me help you overcome it. The Lord says in 1 John 5:13, " These things have I written unto you that believe on the name of the Son of God; that ye may know that ye have eternal life, and that ye may believe on the name of the Son of God." God want us to know....and then live in the reality of His salvation.

God wants us in a good Bible believing church with brothers and sisters who truly love the Lord and a pastor who teaches God's truth. I would suggest that you seek to find a good church in your area, preferably and Independent Baptist church where you can have the support of others and learn the Word of God. I can recommend a church in your area if you let me know where you are. I only need to know the town and state, nothing more as I respect and assure your privacy.

I have an message at http://bible-truth.org/assuran2.html that teaches what the Bible says about assurance of salvation.

Other messages can be found at the following addresses which can help you:

http://bible-truth.org/Sermons.html#06
http://bible-truth.org/Sermons.html#018
http://bible-truth.org/Sermons.html#014

My heart goes out to you and I will do all I can to help you come to the assurance of your salvation. Please write again with any question you might have and also to let me know if what I have written has helped.

I have prayed that the Lord would help you through this and that you will come to His peace and the joy of salvation.

God bless you as you find the Lord.

Public profession of one's faith in Jesus Christ is important and is commanded by the Lord. The example in the New Testament was that those that believed, publicly declared their belief and trust in Jesus Christ and were baptized to obey the Lord and to publicly identify themselves with Jesus Christ and a local assembly of believers.

However, I do understand that it could be possible for a person to be saved and not to remember when it happened. Let me explain:

I was saved for a number of years and was asked when did it occur. I had to go back and do some research and was able to find the date. I had forgot the month and year. I must add that I vividly remembered the event and circumstances of the day I was saved, but had forgotten the time.

My father said from his earliest recollections he believed in Jesus Christ as His Savior and all his life could not remember a time when he did not believe. He made a public profession of faith in 1952 during a revival meeting at our church, but he told me he always had loved the Lord and was led to the Lord by his mother who brought him up loving the Lord. He had always lived a godly life even before this time. He died last September and if there was a man that loved the Lord with all his heart . . . it was my father.

I have a good friend who is 92 years old and says his mother also taught him to love the Lord Jesus. He says he cannot remember when he didn't believe in Jesus Christ as his Savior and does not remember the day he was saved. He has as good testimony as any Christian I know and truly does love the Lord and is trusting in Him.

I had a couple in the first church I pastored who were faithful members of our church and showed a clear a testimony of loving the Lord. They were spiritually discerning and lived godly lives. After I left that church they started attending another church and the preacher there taught them if they could not give the date and time they were not saved. So they went forward and publicly professed Jesus Christ as their Savior and were baptized....and now they had a date and time. It was a very serious matter for them and they loved the Lord so much they wanted to be sure.

All this adds up to my belief that it is possible for some that they do not to remember the day and time one was saved.

What is vital is that now.... is that do you presently truly believe, knowing you are a sinner and are you presently trusting in Jesus Christ as your Savior. If you truly are from your heart (Rom. 10:9-10) then you are saved according to God's word. If not, God's will is also clear that He would desire that all men repent of their sins and come to Him. Only God knows your heart, but it is possible to have only a head knowledge of the Lord, but not be fully trusting in Him alone. The proof of our faith is the fruit of our lives. He one is truly saved then without question Christ in our lives will produce fruit. In either case now is the time to settle the matter with the Lord.

The question then is this: Do you presently believe in Jesus Christ as your Savior and are you trusting in Him alone for your salvation? It is assuring to know the very moment we trusted in Christ, but it is not vital for salvation.

The question that you should ask is that did you not only receive Christ as your Savior, but did you also publicly profess Him as your Savior and have you been Scripturally baptized? That means have you publicly professed Jesus Christ as your Savior and were baptized by immersion in a Bible believing church.

Often in my ministry I have found people who were saved but because of being in churches which did not teach or follow the teachings of the New Testament were not Scripturally baptized. Most of them I had the privilege to teach what the Bible says about this subject, see them want to obey the Lord and then Scripturally baptize them.

If the answer is that you have not publicly professed Christ, been Scripturally baptized and joined a sound Bible believing church, then I would urge you to take care of that matter now and follow the Lord in baptism as He instructed and become a member of a good Bible believing church. Most Independent Baptist churches, as you attest too, love the Lord and teach His word.

I would ask you to talk with your pastor about it as he could help your with this.

As stated earlier, a public declaration of our faith in Jesus Christ always follows salvation and if you have not done this....why not do it now. It would be an act of obedience and testimony to others of your genuine faith in Jesus Christ. There is no question that this is what the Lord tells us in His word to do.

"Falling from grace" is in truth a contradiction of terms and totally unbiblical. Think about this: Why is grace necessary or needed? Answer:
because men sin and need to be forgiven. Where there is no sin there is no need of grace or mercy. Do you see the contradiction? How could a Christian fall from grace because he sins, when the very existence of grace is made necessary because man sins. Grace has no meaning if there is no need of it, therefore it is impossible to fall from grace.

We are saved by God's grace when we believe and receive it which is freely offered a part from our works. A better term would be that believers can fall from "fellowship" or "communion" with the Lord. We are told in Ephesians 5:18, "And be not drunk with wine, wherein is excess; but be filled with the Spirit." The verse is saying as wine controls the person who drinks it so we should let the Holy Spirit direct and control our lives. It tells us that we can take control ourselves and not be led of the Holy Spirit and thereby separate ourselves from God's fellowship.

A good illustration would be a parent who loves his child and always seeks its best interests. The parent wants to have a loving and close relationship with the child. But suppose the child disobeys, ignores or treats their parents with dissrepect. The relationship suffers because the child is not allowing the parent a close relationship. The fact the child is the son or daughter is not in view. No matter how disobedient the child is he or she is always a son or daughter, but the parent child relationship will suffer or be lose if the child will not allow it. Further the parents cannot bless the child who refuses to accept their fellowship.

A person to whom God saves is eternally saved will always remain a child of God, but we can grieve the Holy Spirit and thereby not let God direct our lives (Eph. 4:30). A believer can sin against God and God in love will chasten him, even to the point of taking his life if he refuses to repent. (see the these verses which address God chastening His children. Heb. 12:6-13, 1 John 5:16-17, 1 Cor. 11:27-32)

1 John 1:9 is written to believers and tells us to confess our sins that God may cleanse us from repeating that sin...cleanse meaning to take it way. Verse 8 and 10 says that we all sin. Verse 6 is the key passage and says, "If we say that we have fellowship with him, and walk in darkness, we lie, and do not the truth." The verse is saying that if a Christian claims to be in fellowship with the Lord meaning living an obedient life that pleases the Lord, and is living at the same time is sin....he is a liar. In other words the sinning believer is not in fellowship with the Lord. The context of this passage tells us this is written to saved people and is addressing sin in their lives, thus the Lord is saying sin hinders our fellowship with the Lord and deprives us of His blessings. Therefore verse 9, tells us how to restore the fellowship....confess our sins and repent of them (turn from them).

"For if any be a hearer of the word, and not a doer, he is like unto a man beholding his natural face in a glass: For he beholdeth himself, and goeth his way, and straightway forgetteth what manner of man he was. But whoso looketh into the perfect law of liberty, and continueth therein, he being not a forgetful hearer, but a doer of the work, this man shall be blessed in his deed" (1 John 1:23-25).

The answer is then "no" a true believer cannot fall from grace because God is ever extending His mercy and is ready to restore us to fellowship, but a Christian can fall from fellowship if he allows unconfessed sin to remain in his life and thereby puts himself beyond God's blessings.

This is referring to a Christian who lives in unrepentant sin and shows no regard for the sufferings of Christ for his sins. The key phrase in the passage is "not discerning the Lord's body" which is referring to the suffering of Christ on the cross. This is a person that is willingly and knowingly sinning against God but will not repent. (See 1 Cor. 10:13) This verse says that God chastened these believers in the church at Corinth who were in gross sin by making them sick and others He had taken their lives. God chastened them as a parent chastens their children to teach them that what they are doing is wrong and destructive and seeks to get them to do what is right.

Hebrews 12:6-11 explains the chasten of God's children. The passage says that God chastens all His children, but does not chasten the unsaved who belong to Satan. It also teaches that if one "professes" to be a Christian and is in unrepentant gross sin and there is no chastening from God...that person is not saved because God chastens all His children.

1 John 5:16-17 also address this matter. This verse shows the seriousness of a Christian who willingly sins and does not repent. God says if you see someone sinning this way....not to pray for them. We are to pray for those we see who sin that is "not unto death." This shows the nature of the sin that is unto death a being one of blatant disregard for the Lord and gross disobedience. Verse 17 says there is sin that does not lead to death. The sin unto death is gross public sin or grossly destructive sin that not only effects the person sinning, but others as well. Basically, the sin unto death is one that a Christian commits who will not repent even after God chastens him seeking to restore the sinner to fellowship. It a Christian refuses...after God's chastening, God will even take his life. . . especially when the sin is one that is done in public and dishonours the Lord and hinders His work. God does this as an act of mercy to stop the destructive actions of a wayward Christian by taking him to heaven.

1 John 1:8-10 explains "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." Our action should be to confess our sin to the Lord when we sin. God says that all of us sin, but gives us the means to restore fellowship and overcome the sin by confessing them to the Lord which means to admit it to Him and ask Him to give us the strength to overcome it. That is what God means by saying He forgives us our sins and cleanses us from all unrighteousness. As Hebrews 12:10 says this is for our "profit" or benefit. Unrighteousness simply means sinning or not doing what is right. The chastening of God comes in to play when we blatantly continue to sin and refuse to repent. Repent means to turn and go the other way. Hebrews 12:11 tells us, "Now no chastening for the present seemeth to be joyous, but grievous: nevertheless afterward it yieldeth the peaceable fruit of righteousness unto them which are exercised thereby." Thus God's purpose is plainly stated, He chastens that we it might cause us to have the "peaceable fruit of righteousness."

Salvation comes when a person realizes he is a sinner and in faith (belief) in Jesus Christ asks for forgiveness of sins and eternal life. Many misunderstand repentance to mean just to feel sorry. Feeling sorry for past sins is part of salvation because when we believe God we realize what sin truly is and we are sorry we sinned against God.

However, biblical repentance is more and that is what is in view in the Bible telling us to repent. The word "repentance" means to "turn and go the other way." The person who truly believes in God and by faith received Jesus Christ as their Savior will turn from their sin. Thus repentance is the result of being saved and of accepting Jesus Christ as our Lord. The true believer will turn away from sin.

This is why we teach repentance....because repentance means to turn from sin. Repentance does not save....only true faith in Jesus Christ saves, and then the now changed and born again believer will turn from sin.

Too many churches and preachers are teaching that repentance is not a part of salvation saying that we only need to believe. However, they ignore and confuse people by this teaching and by not explaining that repentance is the result of salvation and if there is no repentance...there is no true belief in the Savior.

2 Corintians 5:17 'Therefore if any man be in Christ, he is a new creature: old things are passed away; behold, all things are become new."

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         Adam's sin is referred to as the "fall of man."  Romans 5:12 explains: "Wherefore, as by one man sin entered into the world, and death by sin; and so death passed upon all men, for that all have sinned. . ."    Adam's sin made him a sinner and he lost the innocence in which he was created.     He, on rejecting God instructions, became  corrupt and that included his very nature.    His disobedience brought his corruption on his children...and to all mankind.   However, we are not judged by Adam's sin, but for our own. Revelation 20:12 "And I saw the dead, small and great, stand before God; and the books were opened: and another book was opened, which is the book of life: and the dead were judged out of those things which were written in the books, according to their works."     Because all men are born with the "carnal" nature...which is the nature to sin, they will sin.   But God offers us complete and absolute  forgiveness for our sins..... if we will receive it.    That is why in Genesis 3:15 God promised one who would come and undo the work of Satan in the Garden of Eden.    God promised a Savior and that Savior came....the Lord Jesus Christ.   

         He did not make it hard for us to overcome sin and death that the fall of man brought, but made is simple.....all we have to do was believe the truth...put our faith in Him and repenting of our sins receive forgiveness of sins and eternal life and go to heaven when we die.    He did not require that we earn it or merit it by doing good works, He Himself came to earth, God incarnate in the man Jesus Christ and He paid for our sins debt....because we could not do it for ourselves.   He suffered and died for us paying the penalty for sin that we could not pay.      

         God loved us. . . died for every person born on earth (1 John 2:2), and revealed Himself to every man (Romans 1:18-23) so they might be saved.    John 3:15-19 reveals solution and the problem....    Verse 19  says, "This is the condemnation, that light is come into the world, but man loved darkness rather than light, because his deeds were evil."  

         So man can easily be forgiven of His sins if he will accept God's forgiveness.    Problem is that most men do not want to believe in God, or they want a god they can manipulate and basically control themselves.    However, our Creator, Almighty God, will not be subjected to man.  If He did...what a tragedy that would be that sinful men would be put in such a position!     Romans 1:18-32 reveals that God shows Himself to every man, but sadly most men refuse and reject God.    They make unto themselves gods like men, animals, etc....instead of accepting our true God and Savior.    This is man's problem....he loves sin and refused to accept God's rightness (righteousness).    Think....would not the world be a wonderful place if men would not lie, cheat, steal, kill and hurt one another.  Would not the world be better if man truly loved each other and as God does... and seek the best for others?      What has rejecting God and refusing to believe in Him done for man?     Well, the answer is.....the cut themselves off from God grace and the benefits of doing what is right.  Man is rejecting God sets his course for destruction.      Sin is doing what is wrong....and God seeks to warn us of this and extent to us eternal salvation....