The Devotional to End All DevotionalsSample

Once you become a Christian, you cannot lose your salvation. When Jesus died on the cross, He died for ALL of your sin, even the sin that you would commit after becoming a Christian. That sin doesn’t have the power to change who you are, a child of God, but will simply make you feel farther from your Heavenly Father and make it harder for you to hear the Holy Spirit until you confess it, turn away from it, and, in so doing, get rid of the relational “static” it creates. Once a child of God, you’re always a child of God.

So, what about those people who seem to have a real relationship with Christ and then turn away from God to live for themselves? Are they really Christians? That’s for God to know and for us to wait and see. 

Anyone can pretend for a while, but the power to live a life of obedience to God is only possible through the Holy Spirit, something that a non-believer does not have. Sooner or later, someone who is pretending to be a Christian will wear out and give up. They will turn away from their “faith” and do what comes naturally to them, live in sin. We call this sequence of events “apostasy.” 

Sometimes a true believer allows him/herself to be swept away by temptation and becomes somewhat desensitized to the Holy Spirit because of the relational “static” that sin creates in a believer’s heart. God doesn’t give up on His children, but disciplines and punishes them until they return to Him. He does this in love, knowing that it is better for them to suffer for a short while than live life without His guidance and protection. 

Use one or more of the following methods to study today’s passages as appropriate and helpful: God Follower, Target, or CUT. 

Thank God for the eternal security He’s provided for you through Jesus.