Timely Insights into God's Word from Khandielese Reyes

The Gospel of our Lord is very clear in the area of the “gift” of Salvation.   We know that it is indeed a gift that cannot be earned through works of the flesh.  We know that it can only be obtained through faith in The Son of God, Jesus Christ our Lord.   And, we know that before anyone can truly receive this gift, one must first repent of his/her sins as forgiveness comes through confession of the mouth and repentance of the heart.  How can one be forgiven unless they first ask?   

Over the years I’ve often had the question asked by some “can a person lose his/her salvation?”  For many are under the illusion that once they’ve repeated a simple prayer of “acceptance” of The Lord Jesus, then their eternal fate is forever sealed no matter HOW they live their lives.  They believe they shall indeed spend eternity with The Father. So, is it possible for one who has confessed Jesus as Lord and Savior to end up spending eternity NOT with God The Father, but eternal damnation?  The answer is YES, but rather than give my opinion on the matter for my opinion is worthless and of no value at all, let’s examine THE WORD OF GOD where there IS VALUE and TRUTH.   

Rather than ask the question “can a person lose his/her salvation”, instead let us ask the question “ARE YOU TRULY SAVED” for one cannot lose what they’ve never had to begin with.  So let us examine individually our lives, NOT what we have spoken when we prayed a prayer of confession and acceptance, but how our lives have been transformed through the blood of the sacrificial LAMB OF GOD.  So let’s begin with the culprit sin which is the enemy of our soul. 

According to scripture “All have sinned, and come short of the Glory of God” (Rom 3:23) thus there is not one who can boast of perfection except the King of Glory Himself, Yeshua.  There is not ONE who can say that through their own sinlessness, and righteousness they’ve earned a place in the kingdom of Heaven for by one man’s disobedience (Adam) sin and death entered the world which spiritually separated mankind from Yahweh.  Thus, it took one man’s obedience (Yeshua) to provide reconciliation of mankind back to Yahweh.  Therefore, it is determine that sin separates man from God and if any man/woman be in sin, he cannot have The Father.  Our Father cannot look upon sin for it has NO place with Him as he could not even look upon His own Son whilst He carried the weight of the world’s sins upon His shoulder.  For that moment, The Lord of GLORY experienced what many shall experience for eternity namely separation from The Father, and he demonstrated the agony of that brief moment through crying out “My God, My God, why hast thou forsaken me”.  Because of the faithfulness of our beloved Adonai, Yeshua The King of kings and Lord of lords, mankind now has opportunity to be reconciled back to The Father.   However, reconciliation does not come automatically, there is something WE must do to receive this reconciliation.  God has provided a way THROUGH the blood of His Son, Jesus to receive forgiveness of sins, and eternal life with Him (something that was intended for mankind upon the first creation of man, Adam before the fall).  Now, here’s where most err and believe a simple prayer and nothing more would seal their fate.  Being taught confession alone is enough, many believe that since Christ has already paid the price for their sins, all that’s needed from them is a “thank you” and a “weak I’m sorry”, then a confession of faith in Him as being the Son of God, and the belief that he died for our sins and was raised from the dead by the power of God.   There, that’s it!  Now, this would all be fine except its missing one vitally important thing….REPENTANCE!   The prayer alone is not enough if one continues living the life he lived prior to the confession.   Because Christ died for our sins does not give us the right to CONTINUE in sin and thus shame the gift of reconciliation through continual disobedience and attempting to take advantage of the grace of our Father.   If we are continuing to live the lives we lived prior to our confession of “faith”, then we must re-examine ourselves for truly we have yet to receive the gift of salvation through Christ Jesus our Lord despite the prayer we’ve prayed.  Because with the acceptance of this gift, comes CHANGE WITHIN!  NO man is the same as before.  It is IMPOSSIBLE to receive this gift, and yet afterwards STILL desire your old life! One cannot taste the Love of The Father in such an awesome and profound way THROUGH The Son and yet still say YES to the world!  One cannot say YES to The Lord and YES to the world, it is virtually impossible for you cannot serve BOTH!   If after your confession and belief that you’ve been saved, you are STILL able to continue living your life of sin and recklessness WITHOUT conviction to REPENT, you have never truly received fully and completely salvation through Jesus Christ our Lord and are subject to eternal damnation.  Repentance is from the HEART, not from the mouth!  Repentance is to turn your back on your old sinful nature, the life you ONCE lived, and begin living your life for the Lord.  Not serving the flesh, but serving God as one who serves his flesh cannot please God.  “Because the carnal mind is enmity against God: it is not subject to the law of God, neither indeed can be.   So then they that are in the flesh cannot please God. But ye are not in the flesh, but in the Spirit, IF so be that the Spirit of God dwell in you.  Now if any man have not the Spirit of Christ, he is none of his.  And if Christ be in you, the body is dead because of sin; but the Spirit is life because of righteousness.  But if the Spirit of him that raised up Jesus from the dead dwell in you, he that raised up Christ from the dead shall also quicken your mortal bodies by His Spirit that dwelleth in you.  Therefore, brethren, we are debtors,   NOT TO THE FLESH, to live after the flesh.  For if ye live after the flesh, ye shall die: but if ye through the Spirit do mortify the deeds of the body, ye shall live.  For as many as are led by the Spirit of God, THEY are the sons of God.” (Rom 8:7-14) 

 “Therefore if any man be in Christ, he is a new creature: old things are passed away; behold, ALL things are become new.  And all things are of God, who hath reconciled us to himself by Jesus Christ, and hath given to us the ministry of reconciliation; to wit, that God was in Christ, reconciling the world unto himself, not imputing their trespasses unto them; and hath committed unto us the word of reconciliation.  Now then we are ambassadors for Christ, as though God did beseech you by us; we pray you in Christ’s stead, be ye reconciled to God.” (II Cor 5:17-20)

When we come before the Lord in TRUE repentance of heart seeking his forgiveness, and accepting the gift of reconciliation to the Father, change instantly begins from within.  We suddenly have no desire to fulfill the lusts of our flesh as we once did prior to coming to Christ.  Our hunger begins to change from once hunger for the things of this world and the evil of our flesh, to the righteousness and things of God and the power of His Word.  When sin tries to creep back upon us through thought or deed, we are instantly convicted by The Holy Spirit and the shame brings us back to the Father’s presence for restoration.  We don’t simply continue on as if sin means nothing IF we are in Christ Jesus.  Daily we are changing, and daily our minds are being transformed and renewed to the things of God, having our old nature which was conformed to this world removed.  We are then IN the world but not OF the world.  And this change is visible as others take notice of the difference in us.  Therefore, the evidence of our salvation is a life transformed from old to new.  We cannot continue to serve the old, and partake of the new. “Know ye not that the unrighteous shall NOT inherit the kingdom of God?  Be NOT deceived: neither fornicators, nor idolaters, nor adulterers, nor effeminate, nor abusers of themselves with mankind, Nor thieves, nor coveteous, nor drunkards, nor revilers, nor extortioners, shall inherit the kingdom of God.  And such were some of you: but ye are justified in the name of the Lord Jesus, and by the Spirit of our God.” (I Cor 6:9-11) 

Now, we know that sins of the flesh separates us from the Father and prevents us from truly receiving the gift of reconciliation if indeed we are unrepented, but there are also sins of the heart that are equally as dangerous if not more so, and this to must be addressed.   

When mankind considers sin, he is instantly drawn to that which is outward, what can be seen with the natural eye.  Thus, he looks at the adulterer, the fornicator, the drunkard, the sexually immoral, the murderer, the extortioner, the idol worshiper, etc. and proclaims that such will spend eternity in hell lest they repent.  However, there is a sin of the heart that is hidden from man, but exposed to the Lord and this sin will prevent ALL WHO ARE BOUND BY IT from entering into eternity to spend with The Father.  Despite if you are a “believer”, “church-goer”, “worker of good deeds”, whatever, if you hold this particular sin in your heart (that we will examine momentarily), you will NOT spend eternity with The Lord but are subject to eternal damnation. The sin I speak of is UNFORGIVENESS.  I urged, and plead with any professing believer reading this message today that if you have unforgiveness in your heart this day towards ANYONE, to repent quickly and forgive them of their wrong towards you for if you choose NOT to, you will not spend eternity with The Father.  Here’s why, The Word of God declares: “And when ye stand praying, FORGIVE, if ye have ought against ANY: that your Father also which is in heaven may FORGIVE YOU your trespasses.  But if ye do NOT forgive, neither will your Father which is in heaven forgive YOU your trespasses.” (Mark 11:25-26) and again “For if ye forgive men their trespasses, your heavenly Father will also forgive you.  But if ye forgive NOT men their trespasses, neither will your Father forgive YOUR trespasses.”  (Matt 6:14-15) and yet again “Judge not, and ye shall not be judged: condemn not, and ye shall not be condemned: FORGIVE, and ye shall be forgiven.”  (Luke 6:37) Keeping these scripture references in mind, let’s go back to the beginning of this message and go over once again how salvation is obtained. 

Now, we know that salvation cannot be earned but is a gift received by Faith through REPENTANCE of sins, confession and belief on the Lord Jesus.   We know that there is no other way to be reconciled to The Father except by going through The Son.  We know that Yeshua took the weight of our sins to the cross, thus when we come to him in total repentance, His blood cleanses us from all our sin and reconciles us back to our Father who forgives us because of the sacrifice of His Son.  Thus when he sees us, he no longer see the sin that ONCE HAD us bound while we were servants to our flesh and the world, but He sees the righteousness of His Son!  But wait, what if one comes to Christ truly sorry for their sins and seeks forgiveness, but yet are unable to forgive another for the sins against him?  What if he was repentant of his sins against The Lord, but held in his heart unforgiveness towards another, refusing to demonstrate to mankind the same mercy and compassion that had been given him by The Lord when he came before Him seeking forgiveness.  (“Blessed are the merciful, for they shall obtain Mercy”)  Well, according to scripture, if we are unable to forgive one another, God our Father will not forgive us.  Therefore, no matter how much we would cry out to The Lord asking Him to forgive our sins, if we refuse to forgive one another, our sins shall remain unforgiven as well.  Thus, we cannot enter into eternity having the weight of unforgiven sin, as sin cannot be in the presence of God our Father.  So the one who refuses to forgive shall spend eternity NOT in heaven, but in hell DESPITE his prayer of confession and acceptance.  The word of God is VERY CLEAR on the importance of we forgiving one another IF we expect God to forgive us.   

A parable comes to mind that the Lord shared with Peter and his disciples in the book of Matthew chapter 18.  Peter had come to the Lord and asked him how often shall he forgive his brother who’d sinned against him.  And placing a limit of time he asked: “Till seven times?”  But, The Lord replied to him not seven times a day, but seventy times seven.  In other words, as often as his brother sought forgiveness, he should forgive whether it’s seven times a day, or seventy times seven a day.  The importance was not how many times, but rather his willingness to forgive. Then he proceeded to share with them a parable.  In this parable there was a particular servant of the king who had owed him ten thousand talents (roughly about $60,000,000. indicating this debt would have been impossible to repay just as we cannot put a price on salvation, nor the mercy of our Lord).  Because this servant was unable to pay, the king ordered that he be sold, he, his wife and children and all that he had.  But, the servant fell down before the king and worshiped him, and begged for his mercy declaring that if he would have patience with him, he would pay him all.  But, the Lord of that servant was moved with compassion for the man, and instead of giving him time to repay, he FORGAVE HIM of the entire debt.  Rather than be filled with thanksgiving, this same servant went out and found one who owed him a relatively small amount of money and demanded of his fellow servant payment.  His fellow servant fell at his feet and begged him for more time to repay the debt.  Instead of demonstrating the same mercy that the king had shown towards him, the servant had his fellow servant cast into prison and there he would remain until he had paid him what was owed.  When the king had heard about the behavior of the one whom he had forgiven MUCH, he called for him and declared: “O thou wicked servant, I forgave thee ALL THAT DEBT, because thou desiredst me: Shouldest not thou also have had compassion on thy fellow servant, EVEN as I had pity on THEE?” (Matt 18:32-34)  And without further speech, the king had this wicked servant delivered over to the tormentors, till he should pay all that he owed.  Of course this would mean the wicked servant would be tormented forever as it would have been impossible for him to pay such a great debt.  Thus the Lord ended the parable by saying this: “So LIKEWISE shall my heavenly Father do ALSO UNTO YOU, if ye FROM YOUR HEARTS forgive NOT EVERYONE his brother their trespasses.” (Matt 18:35) 

So do we now see the absolute IMPORTANCE of forgiving one another?  For the refusal to do so would cause one to be sent to eternal damnation.  Now, if you are one of those who would say “God understands, he is merciful, he is not going to allow me to go to “hell” simply because I’m not able to forgive this person, or that person for the wrong they did towards me.”  Well, all I can say is you keep believing that, for on that great and coming day you will surely remember his direct commandment to forgive while you shall be forever separated eternally from Him and His love.  I tell you for myself, I would rather NOT take that risk, but would rather DO as he has commanded me to while I have opportunity.  For when I stand before Him, I will not have the opportunity to forgive those who’ve sinned against me.  Why would anyone be so stubborn and prideful as to cling to something as sinful as unforgiveness and RISK the chance of spending eternity without The Father.  His commandment is to FORGIVE if we desire forgiveness from Him.  Remember the words of our Lord: “Not everyone that saith unto me, Lord, Lord, shall enter into the kingdom of Heaven; but he that doeth the will of my Father which is in heaven.  MANY will say to me in that day, Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in thy name?  and in thy name have cast out devils? And in thy name done many wonderful works?  And then will I profess unto them, I NEVER KNEW YOU, DEPART FROM ME, YE THAT WORK INIQUITY.” (Matt 7:21-23)   

You see the importance of this brethren?  This is serious!  This scripture is saying that it didn’t matter what good works were done in his name, but what mattered was the heart of the individual which harbored iniquity.  So even if such confessed the Lord Jesus, HE SAYS…I NEVER KNEW YOU!  And he says that on that day MANY NOT A FEW…MANY would seek to enter into the kingdom of heaven, and would try and do so by declaring their outward works assuming the iniquity in their hearts have remained hidden from Him.  And he is talking about those who believed on Him, not an unbeliever for ONLY a believer would use the NAME of JESUS to cast out devils, and prophesy, etc. Once again, with all that is in me I PLEAD AND BEG those who have refused to forgive another to repent now of the unforgiveness.   Tomorrow is not promised to ANYONE, and tomorrow may be too late.

“ARE YOU TRULY SAVED?”

I love you all so very much. Have a blessed week in the Lord and remember: Whatever we do, do ALL for the GLORY of GOD, who ALONE is worthy of the GLORY and the PRAISE!

The Lord be with you this day and always!  Shalom Uvracha (Peace and Blessings)…….. 

Kadosh, Kadosh, Kadosh,
Adonai Elohim Tzeva-ot
Asher Hayah Va-ho-veh VaY’vo

Holy, Holy, Holy
Lord God Almighty
Who was and is and is to come!

May the peace of the Lord be with you today and always……

Khandielese
Daughter & Servant
   of the Lord God