Passage Read: Romans 10-11
Meditation Verses: 11:20-23
Thought
Salvation is not by righteous works, so salvation cannot be lost by unrighteous works (our incomplete works). Salvation is by faith, so it can only be lost by a lack of faith or a giving up of faith, turning from belief to unbelief. Both produce works: Faith produces works of righteousness; unbelief produces works of unrighteousness. So faith and unbelief can be recognized by their fruit, by the works, deeds and behaviors they produce. The character of a person's life and behavior reveals whether they live by faith in Christ or in unbelief. So salvation or the loss of salvation is not by works, but by faith or the abandonment of faith, either condition producing works that reveal the individual's state of faith. Salvation can be lost if a person abandons faith in Jesus Christ, and his deeds and value system will make his condition clear.
Application
I don't lose my salvation because I blow it and sin or fall back into some persistent and difficult to conqueror sin. When I sin as a believer, I confess it, repent of it and renounce it. I turn away from it, reject it and work to avoid it in the future. If I'm giving in to sin and giving up on Jesus, I begin to find justification for my sin, I deny that it is wrong, and I stop resisting it. I won't lose my salvation because I gave in to sin, but because I gave up the fight; I gave up on the real Jesus. I found or created a Jesus that no longer stands for righteousness and holiness. The Jesus I come to believe in doesn't exist, so he cannot save. Or I abandon faith in Jesus altogether. Either way, I am now lost (and it shows in my words and deeds), and it may be impossible to restore myself to true faith and salvation. There is only one Jesus who saves, and I must not turn away from believing and following that true Jesus; otherwise I am lost. Jesus doesn't save those who reject Him.