I loved, loved, LOVED Sam Storms' Kept For Jesus. Is it more than a feel-good book? Yes. It isn't just a feel-good book. And it may not be a feel-good book for every reader. It's a book that asks readers to engage and reflect. Storms isn't one to unconditionally assure anyone that they are saved and have nothing to worry about. Instead, Storms guides readers through dozens of New Testament passages about eternal life, about who is saved and who isn't saved, about salvation, about heaven and hell. He looks at all relevant passages; sometimes he examines multiple interpretations of a passage. So it's a thorough examination of the topic.
His goal isn't to make readers unconditionally feel warm and fuzzy. His goal is to discover the truth: what the Bible really says, and clearly says, about assurance of salvation.
Table of Contents
- Introduction
- How Deep the Father's Love for Us (John 6:37-44, John 10:27-30)
- So Close Yet So Very Far Away (Matthew 7:15-23, Matthew 12:22-32, Matthew 13:1-9, 18-23)
- The Dangers of Fickle Faith (John 15:1-6, 1 John 2:19, Hebrews 3:14)
- The Logic of Love (Romans 5:6-11, Romans 8:31-32)
- Inseparable: Now and Forever (Romans 8:1, Romans 8:28-30, 31-39)
- God Will Sustain You To The End (1 Corinthians 1:4-9, 1 Corinthians 11:27-32, 2 Corinthians 1:21-22)
- Test Yourselves (Hebrews 6:4-6, 2 Corinthians 13:5)
- Whatever God Starts, He Finishes (1 Thessalonians 5:23-24, 2 Thessalonians 3:1-5, Philippians 1:6, 1 Peter 1:1-5, Jude 24, 25)
- Warnings, Perplexing Passages and the Potential for Apostasy, Part 1 (Romans 11:22, Romans 14:15, 1 Corinthians 9:24-27, 2 Corinthians 6:1-2, Galatians 5:2-4, Colossians 1:23, 1 Timothy 1:18-20, 2 Timothy 2:11-13)
- Warnings, Perplexing Passages and the Potential for Apostasy, Part 2 (Hebrews 10:26-31, James 5:19-20, 2 Peter 2:20-22, 1 John 3:9, Revelation 3:5)
- Can A Christian Commit the Sin Unto Death? (1 John 5:16-17,
- Conclusion
Nothing else in Christianity makes sense apart from the belief that God is love. God's love explains everything whether it be the incarnation of Christ, his sinless life, his atoning death, his resurrection, and his return to earth, not to mention the very existence of heaven and eternal life. Why is it, then, that so many Christians struggle to believe it? (19)
To deny eternal security means the possibility exists that some who come to the Son will in fact be cast out. It means the possibility exists that the will of the Father and of the Son that all born-again believers be raised up on the last day will not, in fact, be fulfilled. It means that although Jesus is determined to ensure that every born-again Christian might be fully and finally saved, the possibility exists that every born-again Christian might be fully and finally damned for eternity. Are you prepared to say that? (22)
Jesus died for spiritually impotent people (Romans 3:10-12). He died for people who were helpless to prepare themselves, helpless to prove themselves worthy, helpless to do or think or say anything that might attract God's love. (60)
Jesus died for ungodly people, that is, people who are both unlike God and opposed to God. Jesus died for sinful people. He didn't die for a single righteous person. Jesus died for his enemies. Jesus didn't die for a single friend. He died for rebellious, insolent, haughty, arrogant, self-righteous, repulsive, disobedient, at-war-with-God people. (60)
The cross is an expression of grace because those for whom Christ died merited only wrath and hell. (62)© Becky Laney of Operation Actually Read Bible
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