To The Uttermost

To The UttermostMy e-mail message: “We may not meet in this life, but we will be together in heaven.” His response: “We may be together in heaven. I was saved, am being saved, and hope I will be saved. I do not believe that a person once saved is always saved.” Conclusion: My e-mail friend is not enjoying His Savior’s power “to save to the uttermost” (Heb. 7:25 NKJV). The subject of this month’s features was suggested by a college student who wrote, “Can you help me understand the fullness of my salvation?” The above e-mail helped me say “Yes” to his request. While all true Christians believe Romans 1:16 - that “the gospel of Christ ... is the power of God to salvation for everyone who believes” - not all of them, this e-mailer included, understand the completeness of that power. I suspect that’s why C. I. Scofield wrote this in his note to Romans 1:16: “The Christian has been saved from the guilt and penalty of sin, ... is being saved from the habit and dominion of sin, ... and will be saved, at the Lord’s return, from all the bodily infirmities resulting from sin.” My guess is that Charles Ryrie had the same thing in mind when he wrote, “Salvation has three facets: past ... from the penalties of sin; present ... from the power of sin in the daily life; and future ... from the actual presence of sin in heaven.” And so did Stonecroft Ministries when they put this in their notes: “By Christ’s death on the cross I am saved from the penalty of my sins. By His resurrection and intercession I am saved from the power of sin. Some day when He returns I will be saved from the very presence of sin. The salvation He came to provide is perfect.” I hope that this month’s features help my e-mail friend, my college correspondent and all our readers discover just how complete and perfect our Savior’s work of salvation really is. By Larry Ondrejack