But when the kindness of God our Savior and His love for mankind appeared, 5 He saved us, not on the basis of deeds which we have done in righteousness, but according to His mercy, by the washing of regeneration and renewing by the Holy Spirit. (Titus 3:4-5)
When we are saved we are regenerated. In other words, we become something completely different in nature than we were before. We become a new creature or new creation. This regeneration is not reversible. We can never lose our new nature because it is truly who we are and our natural inclination will be to act in accordance with our new nature. It is just what we are and what we have become. Sure, because we live in a fallen world and have not yet been delivered from our sinful nature, we will continue to sin at times. We have an antithetical nature which is our flesh trying to antagonize and win out over our new nature. But because we have been regenerated, our new nature will experience conviction and sorrow over our sin because it is this new nature that is the real us, the ruling part of our being, and the part of our being that is in relationship and oneness with God. It is here that we continually partake of the divine nature. Therefore, one who is truly saved and regenerated can be confident that he is a child of God, a saint, and has inherited eternal life. Whom the Son sets free is free indeed. Nobody can snatch us out of His hand. It is He who is able to keep us from stumbling and to present us faultless before His presence. We are now cut from His cloth, being made into His image from glory to glory. We belong to Him.
ASSURANCE >> These things I have written to you who believe in the name of the Son of God, so that you may know that you have eternal life. (1 John 5:13)
NEW NATURE >> Therefore if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creature; the old things passed away; behold, new things have come. (2 Cor. 5:17)
IMPERISHABLE >> Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who according to His great mercy has caused us to be born again to a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, 4 to obtain an inheritance which is imperishable and undefiled and will not fade away, reserved in heaven for you, 5 who are protected by the power of God through faith for a salvation ready to be revealed in the last time. (1 Pet. 1:3-5)
However, let us not treat our salvation in a casual way. The Bible also speaks of judgment for those who trample on God’s grace.
WARNING >> For if we go on sinning willfully after receiving the knowledge of the truth, there no longer remains a sacrifice for sins, 27 but a terrifying expectation of judgment and the fury of a fire which will consume the adversaries… How much severer punishment do you think he will deserve who has trampled underfoot the Son of God, and has regarded as unclean the blood of the covenant by which he was sanctified, and has insulted the Spirit of grace? (Heb. 10:26-29)
This warning is here to keep us on track. Yes, we have assurance of our salvation. No, we cannot treat it cheaply. For if we truly have salvation, we will treasure it as the Pearl of Great Price that it is.
“If you keep My commandments, you will abide in My love; just as I have kept My Father’s commandments and abide in His love.” (John 15:10)