Why A Person Born Again Can Never Become Unborn Or Lost

Why A Person Born Again

Can Never Become Unborn

Or Lost

Hugh L. Tully

Pastor 1927 to 1957

Wylam Baptist Church

Birmingham 8, Alabama

Why a person born again can never become unborn or lost is because of the relationship of Jesus Christ to him. Christ is both his Substitute and Intercessor. As the believer's Substitute, He has suffered the full penalty of his sins on the cross. Isa. 53:6; I Peter 2:24. As the believer's Intercessor, Christ is now on the throne of the Father (Rev. 3:21) having to do with the sins that break the believer's fellowship with the Father. I John 2:1,2. The believer's position "in Christ," and the promises given him "by Christ," also guarantee his eternal security.

Let us notice first the substitutionary work of Christ on the cross for the believer. Christ paid the full penalty of the believer's sins in His death on the cross. This blessed truth is set forth typically in the Old Testament. Many types set forth this great truth, but the most striking of all Old Testament types is that of the Passover—the paschal lamb dying instead of the firstborn. The Israelites were being held in Egyptian bondage. God, through Moses, had sent nine plagues upon Pharaoh and the Egyptians, because they refused to let Israel go. God told Moses that He would send one more, and then Pharaoh would let Israel go. The firstborn of both man and beast would die during this plague. As God, in judgment, had decreed that all of the firstborn should die, He, likewise in mercy, provided a way of escape to all who would accept His way. He told Moses to tell the Israelites to take a "lamb without blemish, a male of the first year—and keep it up till the fourteenth day—and the whole assembly shall kill it—and take of the blood and strike it on the two side posts and on the upper post of the house." Exodus 12:5-7. God told Moses to tell

the people that He would pass through the land of Egypt "that night" to "smite all the firstborn." but when He saw "the blood" applied on the doorpost, He would spare all of the firstborn behind the blood. The lamb was slain instead of the firstborn—the lamb was the firstborn's substitute. The firstborn was safe in the house from the destroying angel, not because of what He was thinking, saying, or doing, but because of the blood applied on the doorposts. This type sets forth the judgment and mercy of God in dealing with sinners. As God had decreed that all of the firstborn in Egypt should die, even so, has He decreed that "the soul that sins shall die." Ezekiel 18:4,20. He further says: "All have sinned and come short of the glory of God." Rom. 3:23. See Rom. 3:10-18. Therefore, since "all have sinned," "all shall die." The sinner is doomed to be "cast into the lake of fire—the second death." Rev. 20:14,15. God being righteous, cannot permit sin to go unpunished. Hell is the place where sinners shall be punished. What a doom awaits all who die in their sins!

God is not only righteous, but He is also merciful. Since God, in judgment, decreed that all sins should receive full punishment, He, likewise in mercy, provided a Substitute for all believing sinners. As the paschal lamb became the substitute for the firstborn in Egypt—to die in his stead—even so, Christ became the Substitute for the believing sinner, suffering the full penalty of his sins on the cross. "For ever Christ our Passover is sacrificed for us." I Cor. 5:7b. No person doubts that the paschal lamb suffered the full penalty of the

firstborn. Why, then, should one doubt that Christ Jesus suffered the full penalty of the believer's sins on the cross? The Scriptures clearly teach that He did suffer the full penalty of the believer's sins. "Who His own self bare our sins in His own body on the tree." I Pet. 2:24. "Christ died for our sins (all of them) according to the Scriptures. " I Cor. 15:3,4. "For in that He died, He died unto sin once (for all)." Rom. 6:10. These passages clearly teach that Christ paid the full penalty of the believer's sin once-for-all. "All we like sheep have gone astray; we have turned every one to his own way; and the Lord (God) hath laid on Him (Christ) the iniquity of us all." Isa. 53:6. "The iniquity of us all," means the sins of all believers. This passage clearly states that God laid the believer's sins on Christ, and that Christ has suffered their full penalty.

There are two places where sins have been and shall be punished—Calvary's cross and hell. Hell is a God-forsaken place. In order for Christ to suffer the full penalty of sin on the cross, God, the Father, forsook Him. Forsaken of the Father, and bearing the full penalty of all believer's sins, He cried out: "My God, My God, why hast Thou forsaken Me?" Matt. 27:46. By imputation, God was not His Father as He hang on the cross bearing the sins of all believers, but His Judge, judging Him in all believing sinners' stead. Christ was suffering the full penalty of sins of all believing sinners at the hands of God, Who, in righteousness, demanded that every sin be fully punished, even though born by His Son. He suffered hell on the cross for all who had, or who would, receive Him

as Saviour. It is finished" the dying Saviour cried out from the cross. This expression is the translation of a single word in the original which means: "to fulfill"—Christ had fulfilled all types and prophecies of the Old Testament concerning Him; "to accomplish"—He had accomplished a complete redemption; "to pay in full"—He had paid the full penalty of sin for all believers of all ages; "to send or bear away"—He had born away all of the sins of all believers, never to return to condemn them.

Whenever a debt is paid, the creditor gives to the debtor a receipt, showing that the debt has been paid in full. This receipt, is a guarantee that the creditor can never claim the debt against the debtor again. God gave His Son a receipt showing that He had paid the full sin-debt of all believers, thereby satisfying all of His righteous demands against all believing sinners. He raised His Son from the dead. The resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead is the receipt the Father gave Him because He had paid the full sin-debt of all believers. Therefore, God can never demand of Christ, or the believer, another payment for sin. The believer is eternally safe from the penalty of sin—eternal suffering in hell—because Christ paid the full penalty of his sins on the cross, and was given a receipt by His Father. Hallelujah! God shall never demand that two payments be made for the same debt. The believer shall never suffer for his sins in hell for Christ paid his sin-debt on the cross.

As stated above, the security of the firstborn in Egypt from the hand of the death angel, lay not in what the firstborn was thinking, saying, or doing, but in the presence of the blood applied on

the doorposts of the house in which the firstborn was sheltered. "When I see the blood—not the firstborn—"I will pass over you," God said concerning the firstborn. The firstborn, behind the blood, had already paid the death penalty through his substitute, the lamb. He was absolutely safe from the destroying angel. Since Christ paid the full penalty of the believer's sins on the cross, the believer can "never perish," for his eternal security from hell does not depend on his thoughts, words or actions, but upon "the blood of Christ," the price of his redemption. "Ye were redeemed—with the precious blood of Christ." I Peter 1:18,19. The literal meaning of the word "redeemed" in the original is "released once-for-all because sufficient payment has been made." Surely sufficient payment for the believer's redemption has been made, for the "blood of Christ" is the price of such redemption.

Since Christ paid the full penalty of the believer's sins on the cross, all that a sinner is required to do in order to receive forgiveness of sin, salvation or redemption, is to receive it—that is, to receive Christ as Saviour. "But as many as received Him, to them gave He the power to become the sons of God, even to them that believe on His Name." John 1:12. To receive Christ is to believe on Him, "Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, and thou shalt be saved." Acts 16:31. No works are required to receive salvation. "But to him that worketh not, but believeth on Him that justifieth the ungodly, his faith is reckoned for righteousness." Rom. 4:5. The surest way to go to hell is to work to get to

heaven. Salvation is to "him that worketh not but believeth on Him (Christ)." "Not by the works of righteousness which we have done—He saved us. Tit. 3:5. "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." Eph. 2:8,9.

How do we receive this salvation or redemption from the penalty of sin? By receiving or believing on Christ. This salvation "is the gift of God." A gift is something not worked for; it is something to be received without giving a thing for it, otherwise, it would not be a gift. A reward is something worked for. "Now to him that worketh is the reward not reckoned of grace but of debt." Rom. 4:4. We have just seen that salvation is "a gift" and "not of works," but "through faith." A "reward" is for "him that worketh." Therefore, salvation, or redemption from the penalty of sin, is not a "reward" to be worked for, but a "gift" to be received "through faith." We, therefore, rightly conclude that, since a person without any merit or works, receives eternal life, salvation, or redemption from the penalty of sin, simply through faith in Christ, he cannot, because of any demerits or unfaithfulness on his part, forfeit (lose) his salvation and suffer eternal punishment in hell.

As the result of the sinner's acceptance of Christ as His Saviour, his sins are forgiven eternally, never to come against him any more to condemn him. This blessed truth was set forth typically on the Day of Atonement recorded in Leviticus 16. On this day, two goats were brought before the Lord for a sin-offering. One goat was slain and its blood

was carried into the Holy of Holies arid sprinkled seven times upon the mercy seal. The death of this goat represented the death of Christ for the sins of the believer. After having sprinkled the blood of the slain goat upon the mercy seat, the high priest came forth and laid his hands on the head of the live goat and confessed "over him all the iniquities of the children of Israel, and all their sins, putting them upon the head of the goat, and sent "Him away by the hand of a fit man into the wilderness: and the goat shall bear upon him all their iniquities into a land not inhabited." The first goat having born typically the penalty of their sins (died in the people's stead), the second goat typically bears their sins away into a land not inhabited, where none could find him.

Christ suffered the full penalty of the believer's sins on the cross. He, like the live goat which typically bare Israel's sins into a land where none could find him, has born the believer's sins away, never to return against him to condemn. The Scriptures plainly teach this great truth. "As far as the east is from the west, so far hath He removed our transgressions from us" Psalm 103:12. East and west can never meet; neither can the believer's sins ever return to condemn him to hell. They are gone forever. "For Thou hast cast all any sins behind Thy back." Isa. 38:17. God does not look back. James 1:17. He never sees the believer's sins which He has cast behind His back. He also forgets the believer's sins which have all been cast behind His back. "And their sins and iniquities will I remember no more." Heb. 10:17. God can forget only one thing—the believer's sins, for His own

Not only has Christ, the believer's Substitute, born the full penalty of the believer's sins on the cross, but He is, today, sitting on the Father's throne (Rev. 3:21) as his Advocate and High Priest. As the believer's Advocate, Christ is before the Father having to do with sins that break the believer's fellowship with the Father. The believer's sins do not break his relationship with the Father (the believer does not become unborn), but his fellowship. Upon the confession of the believer, his sins are forgiven (restorative forgiveness) and his fellowship restored through the advocacy of Christ his Advocate.

The intercessory work of Christ on the throne guarantees that every believer shall be with Him in heaven someday. The 17th chapter of John gives to the believer the character of the Lord's intercessory prayer in heaven. He prayed and is praying to day: "Father, I will that they also, whom thou hast given me, be with me where I am." Verse 24. This prayer will surely be answered for the Saviour said while on earth: "Father...thou hearest me always" (John 11:41,42). He also said while on earth: "That where I am there ye, may be also." John 14:3. His prayer for Peter is also an example of His present intercessory work on the throne for all believers. To Peter He said on the night of His betrayal and arrest: "Simon, behold Satan hath desired to have you, that he may sift you as wheat: but I have prayed for thee that thy faith fail not: and when thou art converted (restored to fellowship) strengethen the brethren." Luke 22:31,32.

Peter's serving faith or faithfulness failed, but his saving faith did not. Had he fallen away and become lost, The Father would have heard Satan's prayer instead of His Own Son, Who said: "I know Thou hearest Me alway." "Converted" refers to restoration to fellowship with God and not to salvation. A believer is "born again" only once, but may be "converted" many times. Every time he breaks fellowship with God and is restored to fellowship, he is "converted." Believer, never fear that your Defense Attorney, Jesus Christ, shall ever lose a case to Satan before the Father. If Satan could get one believer, he could snatch all believers out of the hands of the Father and Son, and all believers who should finally reach heaven would be saved by the "grace" of Satan, and not by "the grace of God."

Not only is the believer saved eternally because of the substitutionary work of Christ on the cross for him, and His present intercessory work on the throne for him, but the believer is also eternally secure from hell, because of the position given him "in Christ Jesus." "But of Him are ye in Christ Jesus, Who of God is made unto us wisdom, righteousness, and sanctification, an redemption." I Cor. 1:30 "As He is, so are we in the world." I John, 4:18. The believer's standing before God "in righteousness, and sanctification, and redemption." is that of Christ's for Christ is His "righteouness, and sanctification, and redemption" and "life." The believer is positionally 'in Christ" and is "hid with Christ in God." Col 3:3.

First of all the believer positionally and judicially has died once-for-all to sin—that is, he is reckoned

of God as though he had suffered throughout eternity for his sins in the Person of his Substitute, Christ Jesus. "I have been crucified with Christ " Gal. 2:20. Having been crucified with Christ, his Substitute, the believer shall never die for his sins again, that is, suffer for his sins in hell. "For he that is dead (died once-for-all) is freed (justified) from sin." Rom. 6:7. These passages simply mean that he who paid the full penalty of his sins in the Person of Christ his Substitute (and all believers have) has been forever set free from the penalty of sin, that is, shall never go to hell. "Now if we be dead with Christ." Rom. 6:8. Original reads: "And since we died once-for-all with Christ." We shall never die for our sins, that is go to hell, for we died for them in Christ once-for-all. A believer shall never come into the judgment of the great white throne to be condemned to hell. Read John 5:24.

Not only has the believer "in Christ Jesus" died once-for-all to the penalty of sin, but he is forever alive "in Christ Jesus." Since the believer was crucified with Christ, he has also been raised from the dead (Eph. 2:1) with Christ. "Even when we were dead in sins, hath quickened us together with Christ and hath raised us up together." Eph. 2:5,6. The believer has been given a new life, a resurrected life, a life that cannot die. This life is Christ Himself. "When Christ, who is our life." Col. 3:4. "Christ in you the hope of glory." Col. 1:27. "Christ liveth in me." Gal. 2:20. Christ is the believer's life! Can Satan destroy Him? Can Satan snatch Christ, the believer's life, from him? Can Christ, the believer's life, die? No! Ten thousands times no to each of the above questions!

"Because I live ye shall live also." John 14:19. The believer's living- is conditioned on one thing: he lives as long as Christ lives, for Christ is his life. No unfaithfulness on the believer's part can cause him to lose his eternal life. Christ alone determines the eternal life. Christ alone determines the continuation of his life. "Knowing that Christ being raised from the dead dieth no more." Rom. 6:9. "Because I live ye shall live also." John 14:19. Therefore, the believer has been raised to a new life "and dieth no more."

In his position "in Christ," the believer is reckoned as being in heaven now. "And hath raised us up together, and made us sit together in heavenly places in Christ Jesus." Eph. 2:6. The word "places" is in italics, showing that it does not occur in the original text. "Heavenly" can be rendered "in the heavens" according to original text. This translation is confirmed by Paul in Col. 3:3: "For ye are dead and your life is hid with Christ in God." Christ is at the right hand of God on His throne, Heb. 10:12. All believers in position are hid with Christ in God (Col. 3:3), "in the heavens." Eph. 2:6. "In Christ"; "hid with Christ in God"; "in the heavens." What security! what assurance!! what rejoicing!!! for the believer to know that positionally he is "hid with Christ in God," "in the heavens," far beyond the reach of Satan and his forces, and "shall never perish," for " Christ" is his "life," causes him to fall before Him Who died for his sins, and was raised again for his justification, and raised him up with Himself and makes him to dwell in Him "in the heavens, and say: 'Oh love surpassing knowledge, O grace, so full and free; I know that Jesus

Let us notice briefly other great blessings the believer enjoys positionally "in Christ Jesus." "But of Him are ye in Christ Jesus, Who of God is made unto us wisdom, righteousness, and sanctification, and redemption." I Cor. 1:30. This passage declares that Christ "was made once-for-all" the believer's "righteousness." The words "righteousness" and "justification" are words of synonymous meaning—both mean practically the same thing. The word "justify" means to "declare righteous." The sinner is guilty before God and deserves eternal punishment. God, in justice, must demand full punishment of the sinner. But God also acted in mercy and provided a Substitue for the sinner. He gave His only Son to die in the stead of sinners. His Son suffered the full penalty of sin. The moment a sinner accepts Christ as Saviour, that moment the payment Christ made is charged to the believing sinner's account, and he is reckoned free from all guilt before God. God holds nothing against him. God looks upon him as though he had never sinned, for Christ his Substitute has taken his place, and the righteousness of Christ is charged to his account; rather Christ, Himself, has become his righteousness. Therefore the believer is as righteous as Christ.

The believer, positionally, "in Christ Jesus, is perfectly sanctified, for Christ is his "sanctification." "Sanctification" means separation, or setting apart. "The blood of Christ" is the ground or price of this "sanctification." "Wherefore Jesus also, that He might sanctify the people with His own blood, suffered without the gate." Heb. 13:12. The "blood of Christ" sets every believer apart unto God for-

ever. "But this man after He had offered one sacrifice forever." Heb. 10:12. The price of sanctification was paid "forever" according to this passage. Therefore, sanctification, the result of the price paid, is forever. So long as "the blood of Christ," the price of the believer's sanctification holds value in the sight of God, so long shall the believer remain sanctified; so long as Christ, the believer's "sanctification" enjoys fellowship with the Father, so long shall the believer remain completely sanctified positionally, for Christ is his "sanctification." The believer is not perfectly or completely sanctified or set apart in practice; nor shall he attain unto sinless perfection practically in this life. The application of the Word of God in the power of the Spirit to the believer's daily walk, determines the degree of practical sanctification the believer shall attain unto in this life. "Sanctify them through (in) thy truth: thy word is truth." John 17:17. As the believer walks in the light of the Word applied to his walk in the power of the Spirit, shall he live a separate (sanctified) life unto God. In order to attain unto a sinless life, the believer must understand and practice perfectly the Word of God, for it is the instrument of practical sanctification. But positionally, the believer is as sanctified or righteous before God as Christ, for Christ is the believer's "sanctification." This means that the believer is "perfected forever" before God positionally. "For by one offering He hath perfected forever them that are sanctified." Heb. 10:14. The believer having been "sanctified" by "the blood of Christ" has a "perfected-forever" standing before God, for his standing or position is Christ Himself.

According to I Cor. 1:30 the believer is as completely redeemed from hell as Christ Himself for "He is made redemption" for the believer. This means "He has been made once-for-all redemption" for the believer. Christ does not save today and lose the believer tomorrow. His is an "eternal redemption." "Having obtained (once-for-all) eternal redemption for us." Heb. 9:12. "Redeemed— ''with the precious blood of Christ." I Peter 1:18,19 Since the price of "redemption" is "the blood of Christ"; since Christ Himself is the believer's 'redemption"; since the character of the "redemption" is "eternal"; therefore, the believer is eternally "redeemed—with the precious blood of Christ."

Again, the believer is eternally saved from hell because of the promises of Christ to him. "He that believeth on the Son hath everlasting life." John 3:36 What kind of life? "Everlasting." How long is everlasting life?" No end to it. If a believer has "everlasting life" and loses it, it would not be "everlasting." It is a contradiction of terms to say "everlasting" may end. "I give them eternal life and they shall never perish." John 10:28. Christ says He gives His sheep (believers) eternal life— they do not work to receive or keep it; it is a gift. He further says those to whom He gives "eternal life" "shall never perish!" How long is "never?" A child of the fifth grade knows that "never" has no end. It is tragic that the (majority of professing Christians do not know this great truth! "Neither shall any man (original says "anything," whether man or demon or Satan) pluck them out of my

hand. My Father which gave them me is greater than all; and no man (nothing) is able to pluck them out of my Father's hand. I and My Father are one." John 10:28-30. Blessed be His Holy Name! The divine clasp of the hands of God, the Father, and God, the Son, are around every believer, and no devil or legion of demons, can snatch a single sheep (believer) out of their hands. But one may say "I can snatch myself out of Their hands." If one can, he is "greater than" God, the Father, and His Son; is "nothing," for Christ said, "Nothing" can "pluck them out of My hand." The person who says he can "pluck" himself out of the hands of the Father and Son (makes Christ a liar).

Let us turn to John 6:37-40. Christ says: "All that the Father giveth unto me shall come unto me; and him that cometh unto me I will in no wise cast out." Under no condition shall any who have come to Christ ever be cast out—they are saved forever. "For I came down from heaven not to do mine own will, but the will of Him that sent me." Christ came to do His Father's will. What is the Father's will? "And this is the Father's will which hath sent Me, that of all which He hath given Me I should lose nothing, but raise it up at the last day." Christ said He came to do His Father's will; His Father's will is that He should lose none given Him by the Father, that is, He should lose no believer, but raise him up at the last day. If a single believer becomes lost, Christ fails to do His Fathers' will. Failure to do the Father's will would prove Him to be the world's greatest impostor. But He is no impostor, and every person who has believed, or shall ever believe on Him, shall sit down with Him in glory land someday.