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Watch 2022-2023 online sermons » Creflo Dollar » Creflo Dollar - The Truth About Once Saved - Part 2

Creflo Dollar - The Truth About Once Saved - Part 2


Creflo Dollar - The Truth About Once Saved - Part 2
TOPICS: Salvation

People that'll be most likely to be candidates for renouncing their faith are people who don't get in the Word, don't hear what God says, they're not interested in any of that. It's boring, don't want to have anything to do with that. Now, go to Ephesians 1, verse 13 in the King James, Ephesians 1:13 in the King James. So, although your spirit is unaffected by sin, your body and soul are affected by sin. Your spirit man is born again. You are a born again Christian. Your spirit is unaffected by sin. Well, why is your spirit unaffected by sin? Well, verse 13 say, "In whom you also trusted, after that you heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation, in whom also after you believed," after you believed.

See, you got born again, you got a new creation. And after you believed, and got born again, and got that new creation, the old man passed, the new man came in. You were sealed with the Holy Spirit of promise. You were so sealed with the Holy Spirit of promise, that the good can't get out, and the bad can't get in. You hear what I said? The good can't get out. The bad can't get in. And although your spirit is unaffected by sin, your body and your soul are affected by sin. Sin dulls your perception. Sin will dull your wisdom. Sin will dull your understanding of who you are in the spirit. And if you persist in sin, far and long enough, you can come to a place where Satan will try his best to make you renounce your faith in Christ Jesus. If you understand that, say amen.

Now, I'm gonna show you something that's pretty interesting here, because when I teach on this, I think about what about Paul? And the question is asked, "But what about Paul when he blasphemed the Holy Spirit"? Well, first of all, I don't think a lot of Christian people even understand what that is. So, let's go and clear that up real quick. Matthew chapter 12, and let's start at verse 31, Matthew 12:31-32. Is everybody following me? I'm not going too fast, right? You up on what I'm saying, right? All right. Matthew 12, and I'll slow up just a tad. Verse 31 and 32. All right, "So I tell you every sin and blasphemy can be forgiven, except blasphemy against the Holy Spirit, which will never be forgiven".

That's kind of weird. Did you see what he just did there? He said, "Every sin and blasphemy can be forgiven, with the exception of blasphemy against the Holy Spirit, which will never be forgiven. Anyone who speaks against the Son of Man can be forgiven. But anyone who speaks against the Holy Ghost will never be forgiven, either in this world or in the world to come". So, I don't know about you, but I need to figure out this blasphemy stuff, and I definitely need to figure out what is blasphemy against the Holy Spirit? What does it mean to speak against the Holy Spirit? Because that sounds pretty serious. I mean, that sounds like, you know, dude, speak against the Holy Ghost, and you will never be forgiven, either in the world or in the world to come.

Now, you know something's gotta be up, because that doesn't line up with our understanding of grace and who Jesus is. So, context is key. That's the problem a lot of times in the church. People read one liners, and they don't understand, was that in the context for which that thing appeared? You've got to understand the context of a Scripture. It is the context that the Scripture is found in that will give you clarity and definition of what that Scripture is. You don't just read the Scripture and say, "Well, the Greek word means that in Greek". No, what's the context that it's found in? So, let's back up a little, and let's start off at Matthew 12:22. Let's read it in the King James. He says, "There was brought unto him one possessed with a devil", all right? He was possessed with a devil. He was blind, and he was dumb, and they were bringing him to Jesus, and Jesus healed him.

And so much that the blind and the dumb both spake and saw. So, he did this in front of everybody, blind, filled with the devil, dumb, and Jesus healed him. Now watch this. Notice the response. "And all the people were amazed and said, 'Is not this the son of David?' But when the Pharisees heard it, they said, 'This fellow doth not cast out devils, but by Beelzebub the prince of the devils.'" Now, let me show you what happens here. So, everybody's like, "This is awesome, this is great. Do you see what he did? He must be the son of David". Oh, yeah, and then the Pharisees showed up and said, "He didn't do this by the Spirit of God. He did this by Beelzebub, the prince of the devils". The Pharisees were trying to say what you just saw is a work of the devils. This man is possessed with devils. He didn't believe - this is a key statement - he didn't believe that Jesus did this by the Holy Spirit. He had no belief in that and contradicted it and said this came by the devils.

Now watch Jesus deal with him. "And Jesus knew their thoughts". They didn't have to say nothing. In fact, watch this. "And Jesus knew their thoughts, and said unto them, 'Every kingdom divided against itself is brought to desolation, and every city or house divided against itself shall not stand: And if Satan cast out Satan'". Said now, "'If you're calling me Satan, if Satan cast out Satan, he is divided against himself; how shall then his kingdom stand?'" Next verse. "'And if I by Beelzebub cast out devils, by whom do your children cast them out? therefore they shall be your judges.'" Watch this. "'But if I cast out devils by the Spirit of God,'" which is exactly what he did, "'then the kingdom of God is come unto you. Or else how can one enter into a strong man's house, and spoil his goods, except he first bind the strong man? and then he will spoil his house. He that is not with me is against me, and he that gathereth not with me scattereth abroad.'" Now watch carefully. "'Wherefore I say unto you, 'All manner of sin and blasphemy shall be forgiven unto men: but the blasphemy against the Holy Ghost shall not be forgiven unto men.'"

Now, you just saw what the blasphemy against the Holy Ghost was: unbelief. Unbelief. Now, he says, "'But the blasphemy against the Holy Ghost shall not be forgiven unto men.'" Look at the next verse, 32. "'And whosoever speaketh a word against the Son of Man, it shall be forgiven him; but whosoever speaketh against the Holy Ghost, it shall not be forgiven him, neither in this world, or neither in the world to come.'" So, here's what he's saying. He said there's no way you can be forgiven if you decide to not believe. "If you don't believe, I can't do nothing about it". See, if you decide, if you decide you don't believe, then what can I do? I can't forgive you 'cause you don't believe.

So, it says, and that's so interesting, he says, "I'll forgive every person for every sin and every blasphemy, except for this particular one, blasphemy against the Holy Ghost," which was demonstrated in the verses that preceded it, as "We don't believe you did this by the Holy Ghost. We believe you did this by Beelzebub". And he said, "Well, ain't nothing I can do then. Ain't nothing I can do 'cause you have made it clear that you don't believe". Listen to this. This is, this is, this is, this is radical. Jesus died and forgave us of every sin on the cross, except for unbelief. 'Cause when you don't believe... see, the criteria for the New Testament is believe; but if you don't believe, ain't nothing about Jesus that's gonna work for you. Now, if you turn around and say, "Oh, yeah, I believe," he says, "Well, we can take care of everything now. But until you get to that point of believing, to live a life in unbelief"...

Wow, can you see what a hard heart will do. To get you to the place where you don't believe, "I don't believe God. I don't believe Jesus. I don't believe nothing. I don't believe nothing y'all do. I don't believe the healing. I don't believe nothing he said". "Well, I can't do nothing for you". That's blasphemy. Unbelief in the power of the Holy Spirit and the finished works of Jesus Christ. Somebody said it's okay. Well, we were talking about Paul. Let's deal with Paul. What about when Paul blasphemed? Well, let's look at that, 1 Timothy chapter 1:13, in the King James, 1 Timothy chapter 1 and verse 13 in the King James. "Who was before a blasphemer", let's go to verse 12. I'll just read into this. Get a little bit more. "And I thank Christ Jesus our Lord, who has enabled me, for that he counted me faithful, putting me into the ministry," Paul says. "Who was before," Paul was before "a blasphemer".

Paul was before a persecutor. Paul was injurious. Watch this. Paul said, "But I obtained mercy, because I did it ignorantly in unbelief". So, that wasn't counted against him, okay? But you saw what happened. In the other Scripture, it says, "Well, wait a minute. He operated in unbelief. You said you'll never forgive him in this world or the world to come". Yeah, but you didn't factor in the mercy of God and the grace of God, and plus he didn't qualify 'cause he did it ignorantly, and he did it in unbelief. In order to qualify, you've got know what you're doing, and there can't be any ignorance involved. Wow. In fact, look again in Ephesians chapter 4 and verse 30 in the King James. Ephesians 4:30, and then I'll bring this together for you.

Now, here's what God's really concerned about today. He says, "And grieve not the Holy Spirit of God". So now we're talking about how does a person grieve the Holy Spirit of God? It's how you treat one another. What grieves God more than anything is when we treat one another in a bad way. Notice this. He says, "whereby you are sealed unto the day of redemption". Don't grieve the Holy Spirit of God. Verse 31, 31, 32. "Let all bitterness, and wrath, and anger, and clamor, and evil speaking be put away from you, with all malice". Verse 32, "Be kind one to another, tenderhearted one to another, forgiving one another, even as God for Christ's sake has forgiven you". What grieves the Holy Spirit is how we treat one another. When you walk around in unforgiveness against another person, that grieves the Holy Spirit. When you walk around in bitterness against another person, that grieves the Holy Spirit.

See, we're concerned about grieving the Holy Spirit, you know, "Oh, praise the Lord, I grieved the Holy Spirit, because I didn't start a ministry". Nah, you grieved the Holy Spirit when you were rude to that waitress at the restaurant. Yeah, you grieved the Holy Spirit when you were walking around in estrangement with people you love, and you won't forgive. You grieve the Holy Spirit when you endorse somebody else being dealt with in a wrong way. What grieves the Holy Spirit is how we treat one another, ladies and gentlemen. You can't go around here talking in tongues, and lifting your hands up, dancing is praise service, and then you treat people bad. That's what grieves the Holy Spirit. Okay?

Now, let's put Hebrews 4 together here, because you're saved by the grace of God. You agree with that? Like I care if you agree with it or not. You're saved by the grace of God. I would like for you to agree, I would like for you to say heartily, "Yes, amen". But I won't change my sentence. Okay. You're saved by the grace of God, amen, yes. So, sinful actions don't cause you to lose your salvation. Okay? However, sin can harden your heart until you eventually come to a place where you renounce your faith in the Lord. But now here's the question. Do you qualify? Do you qualify to renounce your salvation? Wow. You can't renounce your salvation ignorantly. If you do it ignorantly, like Paul, mercy is available, okay? So, what do you have to do to qualify to renounce your salvation? Number one, you have to be a mature Christian who was drawn by the Spirit. Now, all of these have to take place.

The first thing, you've gotta be a mature Christian who was drawn by the Spirit, not somebody who said, "I'll give you $10 if you go upstairs and give your life to Christ". No, a mature Christian that was drawn by the Spirit. Number two, born again, born again. Number three, baptized in the Holy Spirit with the evidence of speaking in tongues fluently. Not no la, la, la, la, la, la. You don't qualify to renounce Jesus with la, la, las. Number four, you're mature in the Word. If you're mature in the Word, that means you understand the gift of righteousness by faith. The Bible says if you don't understand righteousness, you are a babe in need of milk. You're immature in the Word of righteousness, okay? And then number five, you have to be operating in all the gifts of the Spirit.

So, if you are a mature Christian, drawn by the Spirit, if you're born again, if you're baptized in the Holy Ghost with the evidence of speaking in tongues, if you're mature in the Word, and if you're operating in all of the gifts of the Spirit sufficiently in maturity, and a hardened heart, and it's not your emotions that's moving you to do this, then you qualify to renounce God. How many of you know that's pretty tough to do? He loves us so much that he made it really tough for you to do it. And half the time, when you talking about, "God, I'm through with you, I'm through with you. I don't know why you didn't give me that job. I prayed all night long, and you still didn't give me that job. I'm done with you". God like, "Pfft, it'll be all right tomorrow. Don't pay no attention to it". 'Cause he loves you, he loves you. He'll show you mercy.

And I know people have done that. "I'm leaving the church. I'm tired. I'm just, I'm gone. I don't understand why God let this happen. I don't understand why God let that happen". Like, yeah, like God, like God owes you his permission and explanation on why he does what he does. And he, even if he gave it to you, you still wouldn't be able to understand it all, 'cause you're just not there yet, to be able to get the infinite, manifold, manifold wisdoms of God. You don't qualify. I would dare to say that maybe 98%, 99% of Christians don't qualify to renounce their salvation. So, while it is possible, not many have done that. Somebody would have to say, after experiencing everything he experiencing, fellowshipping with God, knowing God, operating in the gifts, seeing everything he saw, and then says, "You know what? I know, I know God is real, I have no problem with that, but I renounce him right now".

I'm trying to show you that even that's in the Word, it's so difficult for you to do, because most of the time you'll be doing it ignorantly; and like Paul, the mercy of God will be there to make it happen. So, you know, I'm still trying to figure out, you know, now that I'm saved, I'm still trying to figure out how I'm gonna lose it. Yeah, how are you gonna lose it? I'm saved, sealed with the Holy Ghost. How am I gonna lose it? I can't lose it by sin. I told you last week, if anybody in here goes to hell for sinning, then everybody's going to hell for sinning. You don't go to hell for sinning. You go to hell for rejecting Jesus and not accepting the free gift and the sin sacrifice and the ransom that has been paid for you and your life. How do you lose it? And I remember spending time just so afraid that I'm not saved enough. Or did I really get saved, or, you know, did what I do and how I behaved, did I lose my salvation? And so worried about it, as if Jesus was not enough to save me.

And I want you to think about it? How do you lose it? You the one going around talking about, "Well, I don't believe once saved, always saved". Well, how do you lose it then? Is Jesus not enough? Is he not strong enough? Is his blood not good enough? How do you lose it once you've accepted it by faith and get sealed with the Holy Spirit of promise? "Well, I just don't know". Well, where is it? Where is it? Show it to me. I've been looking for 41 years. I ain't found it yet. I thought I found it right there in Hebrews 6, and then I just showed you what I just showed you. Excuse me for talking bad English. Where it at then? What's my point? You, me, we are secure in grace. We are secure in grace. Lord, have mercy. I was sitting and studying, and I apologize. Last time, I set y'all up and didn't give you no nugget or nothing, so I'm gonna give you a little nugget now, maybe. But when it talks about grace upon grace, he's talking about, oh, Lord, the grace that saved you and forgave you, and then he talks about the grace that takes care of you while you're on earth, and the grace that'll take care of you in the ages to come.

Somebody talks like grace is gonna have a "the end" put to it, mm-mm. Look at the stuff that you get by grace: resurrected from the dead, put on a new creation. That's all by grace. That's all by grace. All of that is by grace. Grace will be with you throughout eternity, and I'll prove that to you in a couple of Sundays. Glory be to God, amen. Y'all get anything out of this tonight? Now, you are amazing, amazing, amazing. You just don't know how wonderful God has made you in his grace, in his grace, amen. Don't ever find yourself taking credit for something you know you could not have done without the grace of God. And every morning, you ought to wake up and give God thanks for his grace. Every time the devil wants to take you back in your past and showed you stupid stuff that you did, you just need to remind yourself, "Yeah, but that qualifies me even more so for the grace of God. Oh, I see why the grace of God is on my life".

Whenever you saw how stupid you were, look how smart you are today, to accept and receive the gospel of the almost too good to be true news of this finished works of Jesus Christ, amen? Father, we thank you tonight for the Word. I pray that this Word will settle, that you'll give revelation of the Word, you'll cause others to begin to see it even in a clearer way. Thank you, Lord, for saving us and sealing us with the Holy Ghost of promise, where the bad can't get in and the good can't get out. We praise you for that, Lord. We thank you for that. In Jesus's mighty name, Father, I pray for those who are here and those who have heard this over the stream. I ask that you bless them tonight, and I ask that you will cause them to awake to righteousness and to see the good news of this gospel.
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