Prof Zebulon No E59

E) Israel (Its many hosts)

God promised Israel a piece of land that goes from the River of Egypt (Wadi Al Arish) to the River Euphrates (Gen 15 : 18). Part of the land is called Canaan and it was named after the son of Ham and the grandson of Noah. Israel took this land by force under the direction of Joshua and made the nations that were living there (Amorites, Jebusites, etc) slaves to Israel according to Noah’ s prophesy in Genesis 9 : 25. However through the centuries, many other nations have come to possess this land for reasons that we know if we read the Old Testament. Here is a list of the nations that have either completely possessed it or have reigned over it from another country : The Assyrians (721 BC); The Babylonians (587 BC); The Medo-Persians (530 BC); The Greeks (331 BC); The Romans (63 BC); The Byzantines (300 AD); The Arabs/ Muslims (600AD); The Ottomans (1517); The British (1918). In 70 AD, the Jews were thrown out of Israel and were scattered all over the world. They had to adapt themselves to the customs and the language of the country they happened to be in. Many of these nation-hosts were very harsh on the Jews and some restricted them to certain areas (Polish ghettos). This went on for centuries until the hope of a homeland for the Jews was re-kindled in 1917 by the Balfour Declaration that set the pace for an official Jewish state. Israel finally regained a portion of the land in 1948 by a United Nations General Assembly decision amid much protesting by the Arab nations. Many war ensued, but the Jews have managed to hold on to this land until today. When God makes a promise, He keeps it : modern-day Israel is an example.

J) Doctrine (The Security of the Believer)

Salvation is a gift of God (John 3 :16) and He sovereignly bestows it on whom He chooses (2 Thess 2 : 13). Therefore, it stands to reason that this gift cannot be lost; to lose it would be to say that God made a mistake and chose the wrong person or He is incapable of “keeping us” saved. When Jude began writing his epistle, he addresses “them that are sanctified by God the Father and preserved in Jesus Christ, and called” (Jude 1). Some versions of the Bible use the word “kept” instead of preserved; in other words, once a person is saved, he or she is kept or preserved by Jesus Christ. Sounds pretty good to me…..then why is there so much controversy about losing or keeping our salvation? Personally, I believe that this stems from either ignorance of the Scriptures or from a desire to deliberately confuse believers when it comes to this foundational doctrine of the Christian faith. The former comes from laziness to understand the Word of God and the latter is the work of Satan. There are two main schools of thought when we speak of losing salvation : 1) One group believes that a person can be saved but can lose his or her salvation if he or she continues in sin; 2) Another group believes that if a Christian turns from God and continues in sin, it’s probably because he or she was never saved in the first place. I have a major problem with both these points of view – the first is unscriptural and the second is a cop-out. I sincerely believe that a person can be saved and fall into sin so deeply that he or she are of no use to God; as a matter of fact, they can even be a hindrance to His work. In John’s first epistle, a provision is given for confession and forgiveness; this passage is addressed to believers. “If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness” (1 John 1: 9). When God saves someone, it is forever.