Whether you are a babe in Christ or have been saved for several years, it is important to be reminded that just as you were not saved (delivered from God’s judgment) by works (doing good things or even righteous things), you are also not kept by works.

God paid the sin debt of the world by the offering of His Son who died in our place and rose from the dead.  He grants forgiveness and eternal life to all who believe on His Son as their only hope of salvation.

The very nature of eternal life suggests that there is nothing that we can add to it. Eternal life is life that never ends.  If it could or did end, it wouldn’t be eternal.  The very fact that eternal life is a gift from God excludes any thought that we could earn it or help pay for it.  Salvation is of the Lord. 

In Galatians 3:3 the apostle Paul questioned the Galatians; “Are ye so foolish?  Having begun in the Spirit, are ye now made perfect by the flesh?”   We are saved by grace through faith (Ephesians 2:8), now we must live by faith (Habbakuk 2:4, Romans 1:17, Galatians 3:11, & Hebrews 10:38 ).

Remember works are symptoms not causes.  Works are evidence of an existing condition.  Faith is “a firm persuasion, a conviction based upon the hearing of the word of God”.  If we are persuaded or convicted that God’s word is true, then that faith produces action or works that reflect the truth of His word.

James says that “Faith without works is dead”.  If you have faith in Christ, there will be works.  Works that follow faith give evidence of spiritual life.  Works that come as a result of being saved are those works that give evidence of walking in God’s will and obeying His word.

Note:  This may surprise you but community service, holding multiple positions in the church and being the pastor of a “super” church will not qualify as works stemming from walking in God’s will, if the motive for doing so is wrong or if priorities are incorrect.

Many a man has built a great ministry to serve God, only to lose his family due to physical and spiritual neglect.  Many a man has given himself to be a bright light in the community, only to have a home that is hell on earth.  

The point is that all of the things folks consider to be good works have no merit for salvation, nor do they count for anything in keeping one saved.  

It is Jesus Christ that saves and it is He who keeps us saved.  

The Lord said in John 10:26-29, “But ye believe not, because ye are not my sheep, as I said unto you.  My sheep hear my voice, and I know them, and they follow me: and I give unto them eternal life: and they shall never perish, neither shall any man pluck them out of my hand. My Father which gave them me, is greater than all; and no man is able to pluck them out of my Father’s hand.  I and my Father are one.”

Salvation results in a relationship with God through his Son, Jesus Christ.  God forgives us and grants eternal life when we accept His provision for our sin.  Jesus Christ is that gift.  To know Him is life eternal.  

If you can lose your salvation, it isn’t eternal and it didn’t come from Jesus Christ.