AMAREL - It means "The Message or Word of God"

For many years there has been a huge controversy
over the issue of salvation for those who believe in YAHUSHUA (Jesus) as The Messiah of YAHWEH.
Some are inclined to say, “Once you’re saved you are always saved.”

Many of you have heard this statement countless times.
The concept is called “eternal security”.
Those who take this position believe there is nothing
that can cause you to lose your salvation.
They're inclined to argue strongly over the idea that they're “right”,
and, if you disagree with them, you are “wrong”.
Unfortunately, this is found among "the traditions of men",
not within The Word of YAHWEH.

There's another understanding of Scripture held by others.
There exists the very real possibility that you can “lose” your salvation. The significance of this belief is very powerful
and vitally important to anyone
who calls themself a Christian or a Believer in YAHUSHUA as The Messiah of YAHWEH.
This article is written to help you consider both sides of the issue,
and to form (or re-form) your own conclusions.

First and foremost: stop and take some time to pray about this.
Ask YAHWEH to teach you the truth that is His Truth, not “man’s truth”.
Ask Him to grant you wisdom, discernment, and knowledge on this very important issue.
Then, when you've prayed about these things,
get your Bible and read every Scripture you can find on the subject. 

There are a lot of references to these ideas in Scripture,
and no attempt is made to include them all in this article.
But after you read it you’ll have an idea of what to look for. 

You simply cannot know what YAHWEH desires
 unless you know what His Word says on a given subject. 

He's given us the responsibility to “rightly divide” His Word of Truth
- with His freely offered help of course.

Please try to keep an open mind as you explore this subject.
Try to set aside any pre-conceived notions
and just look for YAHWEH’s view on this subject.

There are two verses in Romans that most believers are familiar with:
Rom. 3.23: For all have offended, and come short of the honor of YAHWEH."
Rom. 5.12:  "Therefore, as by one man offenses entered into the world,
and death by offenses; and so death passed upon all men,
for all have offended.”  

There are some additional passages that provide this same understanding: 
Psalms 14.3:  They have all turned aside!
They have altogether become morally defiled!
None is doing good,
not even one!

Psalms 53:2-3:  The Elohim looked down from The Heavens
upon the children of human beings
for the sake of observing.
Does one exist being wise,
seeking The Elohim Himself את?
53:3 (H 53.4) Everyone has turned back! 
In union together they have become morally corrupt!
No one is doing good, not even one!

Romans 3.10-12:  "As it is written,
There is none righteous, no, not one:
11 There is none that understands.
There is none that seeks after YAHWEH.
12 They have all gone out of the way (off the path),
they have together become unprofitable;
there is none that does good, no, not one."

These verses, and many others like them,
confirm the reality that there is not one person who is alive,
or ever has been (with the exception of YAHUSHUA, The Messiah)
who has never sinned against YAHWEH,
or will never do so in the future.
It’s very important to understand this
because salvation (rescue or deliverance) by means of The Messiah
is totally focused upon this Truth. 

It's precisely because of this Truth that YAHUSHUA came
to live among us,
to suffer and die for our offenses
– paying our penalty for us,
and to be raised from death
in victory over the powers of sin and death.
That’s the fundamental issue true salvation deals with.

Now, since every one who has ever lived, or ever will,
is guilty of offending against YAHWEH,
we must also deal with the consequences of that offense.
Again we turn to Romans.
This time to Rom. 6.23:
"For the wages of offending is death;
but the gift of YAHWEH is eternal life
through YAHUSHUA, The Messiah, our Sovereign.” 

The wages of offending is death.
And that death involves both the physical death
and a non-physical death (that of the nature of a person).
The first separates us from our physical life and our bodies.
The second separates us from YAHWEH.
Thus, death is really a separation from something,
or perhaps more correctly someone.

Having identified that we're all guilty of offending,
and that we must all die because of it,
we come to some further consequences connected to an offense.
The most important one is judgment.
Every person will stand before YAHWEH
 and give an account of their lives at some future point
– both the believer and the non-believer. 

Most of us recognize that Scripture teaches
that those who choose to believe in The Messiah
will receive a pardon for their offenses,
and the reward is eternal life in the presence of YAHWEH.
We also understand that those
who refuse to believe in The Messiah, YAHUSHUA,
and His act of redemption
will be judged for their sin,
and eternally separated from YAHWEH
in a place we refer to as Hell.
 It’s this issue that now becomes the focus of this article. 

Hell is absolutely guaranteed
to those who refuse to accept the gift
of The Messiah YAHUSHUA’s salvation
– who refuse to believe that He is The Son of YAHWEH,
that He died on the torture stake (cross)
for the offenses of each one of us,
and that YAHWEH raised Him from among the dead
and brought Him back to life,
then raised Him up into The Heaven
where He is now seated
at the right hand of YAHWEH, The Father. 

His death paid the awful price
that was needed for us to be redeemed (spared, delivered)
from the judgment due to us
because we are guilty of sin (sin is rebellion) against YAHWEH.
But for those who refuse to believe this
the result is judgment and eternal separation from YAHWEH.
 It is guaranteed!
These will end up in "Hell”.

Many may now want to proclaim that salvation is guaranteed also.
There are indeed Scriptures that could be used to support this view.
Among them are:
Rom. 8.1:  "There is therefore now no condemnation
to those who are in The Messiah, YAHUSHUA;
who walk not after the flesh,
but after The Divine Nature of YAHWEH. 

Rom. 8.16: The Divine Nature of YAHWEH itself
bears witness with our vital essence,
that we are the children of YAHWEH:
17 and if children, then heirs; heirs of YAHWEH,
and joint-heirs with The Messiah,
if it be so that we suffer with Him
that we may be also honored together.”

And perhaps the most quoted passage in this regard
begins at Rom. 8.31:
"What shall we then say to these things?
If YAHWEH is for us, who is against us?
32 He that spared not His own Son,
but delivered Him up for us all,
how will He not with Him also freely give us all things?
33 Who will lay any charge against YAHWEH’s elect?
It is YAHWEH Who justifies.
34 Who is he that condemns?
It is The Messiah that died, yes indeed that is risen again,
Who is even at the right hand of YAHWEH,
Who also makes intercession for us.
35 Who will separate us from the love of The Messiah?
Will tribulation, or distress, or persecution,
or famine, or nakedness, or peril, or sword?
36 As it is written, For your sake we are killed all the day long.
We are accounted as sheep for the slaughter.
37 No, in all these things we are more than conquerors
through him that loved us.
38 For I am persuaded that neither death, nor life,
nor YAH-messengers, nor principalities, nor powers,
nor things present, nor things to come,
39 nor height, nor depth, nor any other creature,
will be able to separate us from the love of YAHWEH,
which is in The Messiah, YAHUSHUA, our Sovereign.”

Another passage used widely is John 10:27:
"My sheep listen to My voice,
and I know them,
and they accompany Me.
28 And I am giving to them Eternal Life.
And they will not ever be completely destroyed.
Neither will any seize them out of My hand.
29 My Father, Who gives them to Me,
is greater than everything.
And not even one is able to seize them out of My Father’s hand.
30 I and The Father are one.”

These scriptures reassure us that YAHWEH will indeed save
those who believe in The Messiah, YAHUSHUA.
They promise a certain outcome for such belief.

However, does this mean it “guarantees” us that outcome forever 
– no matter what we do after we believe?

There's much to suggest there's a potential problem with this concept.
The real issue is apostasy.
It means "an abandoning of what one believed in",
according to Webster's Dictionary.
It's tied to the concept of “losing your first love”
of YAHWEH and The Messiah,
to allowing YAHWEH to have a less than central part in your life.

Consider David. He was made King of Yisra’el.
He offended greatly with Bathsheba,
first committing adultery with her,
and then having her husband murdered so he could marry her.
Yet when he was confronted by Nathan the prophet
David confessed his sin and repented of it.
And after this YAHWEH declared that David
was "a man after His own heart."
David, even after he had sinned greatly, was forgiven.
And David lived a life that honored YAHWEH greatly
from that day onward.

However, now consider Solomon.
YAHWEH granted him very significant gifts.
He granted him great wisdom,
more than any man on earth before or since then.
He granted him power and authority,
wealth in great abundance,
and many other things
because he did not ask something for himself,
but sought to be a good king over Israel,
and to honor YAHWEH - at the beginning. 

But, having obtained the favor of YAHWEH at the beginning,
Solomon later grieved YAHWEH,
for he sought after foreign women and married them,
a great number of them
– against YAHWEH’s desire.
He went even further and built temples for their “gods"
and even participated in the worship of those “gods".
In doing so He denied YAHWEH His rightful place in his life.
The result was the loss of everything YAHWEH had given to him!
While he didn't completely abandon his faith in YAHWEH,
he certainly compromised it,
making a terrible mess of his life.
YAHWEH was not well-pleased with this.

Now take a close look at this passage from Hebrews. Heb. 3:8:
“Therefore, as the set apart Divine Nature of YAHWEH says,
Today if you will hear His voice,
8 harden not your hearts, as in the rebellion,
in the day of trial in the wilderness
9 where your fathers tested Me, tried Me,
and saw My works forty years.
10 Therefore I was angry with that generation, and said,
'They always go astray in their heart,
and they have not known My ways.
11 So I swore in My wrath, 'They will not enter My rest.'

12 Watch out, brothers (believers),
so there will never be in any of you
a hurtful heart of distrust,
 resulting in withdrawing from The Living Elohim (God).

13 Instead, encourage one another each day,
as long as it is called “today”,
lest any of you might be rendered stubborn
through the deceitfulness of the sin nature .

14 Now we have become participants with The Messiah,
if indeed we hold firmly
the secure beginning of the assurance until the end,
15 as it is said, 'Today if you will hear His voice,
do not harden your hearts, as in the controversy.’ (Psa. 95.7-8)
16 Indeed some, having  heard, were embittered concerning it.
However, not everyone came out of Egypt because of Moshe.
17 Now with whom was He angry forty years?
Was it not those who sinned
whose corpses fell in the wilderness?
18 Indeed, to whom did He swear
that they would not enter into His rest,
 if not those who disbelieved?
 19 And we see
that they were not able to enter in because of distrust.”

The nation of Yisra’el is YAHWEH’s Chosen People.
Above all others one would expect YAHWEH would save
all of the people of Israel.
If salvation cannot be lost, even after being chosen,
then what happened to the Yisra’elites mentioned in this text?
They refused to believe YAHWEH
even after He delivered them from Egypt;
even after He demonstrated
His mighty power and compassion to them;
and even after He gave them The Torah at Sinai.

They had a certain level of belief when they were delivered out of Egypt.
They had to believe it because they were a part of it.
They saw it with their own eyes.
They knew YAHWEH had delivered them miraculously.

But note in verse 18 that YAHWEH swore
that they would not enter into His rest.
 
This is the same principle that applies today.
You cannot believe in YAHWEH at one moment in time
and then turn your back on Him
and expect Him to allow you to enter into His Kingdom.
It will not happen if you willfully reject Him.

Next, look at Hebrews 4.1:
“Be alarmed, therefore,
lest having been left a promise of entering His rest,
any of you thinks he has fallen short of it.” 

If it's not possible for you to “lose” your salvation
then to what does this verse refer?
How does one “come short of it” and still receive it?
Answer: You don’t!

Now let’s look at Hebrews 10.19-31:
“Therefore, brothers, having boldness to enter into The Holy Place
by the blood of YAHUSHUA,
20 having initiated for us by a new and living way
by means of the veil, that is to say, His flesh,
21 Him even being High Priest over the household of YAHWEH,
22 let us draw near with a truthful heart
in complete confidence,
our hearts having been sprinkled from a hurtful conscience,
and our bodies having been bathed with clean water,
23 holding firmly the acknowledgement of anticipation without wavering,
because He Who has promised is trustworthy.
24 Also let us consider one another to promote love and good works,
25 not deserting the gathering of ourselves together,
as is the custom of some,
but rather encouraging it,
and so much the more as you see The Day approaching.
26 Indeed, if we are offending willfully
after having accepted the recognition of the truth,
there no longer remains a sacrifice for sins,
27 but rather, a certain frightful expectation of judgment,
and a zealous fire which will consume those who are opposed.

28 One who has set aside The Torah of Moshe
dies without compassion on the testimony of two or three witnesses.
29 Of how much more intense punishment
do you think he will be deemed worthy
who has trampled under foot The Son of YAHWEH,
counted the blood of the covenant by which he was sanctified
a common thing,
and has insulted the vital essence of favor?

30 Indeed, we understand Him Who has said,
'Vengeance is Mine, I will repay!", says YAHWEH.’ (Deut. 32.35)
And again, ‘YAHWEH will judge His people.’ (Deut. 32.36)
31 It is a frightful thing to fall into the hands of The Living Elohim.”

And now Hebrews 10.35-39:
“Therefore, do not throw away your boldness,
which holds great repayment,
36 because you have occasion for patience,
so that having done the will of YAHWEH,
you might receive the promise.
37 "For yet a little while, and He Who is coming will come,
and will not tarry.
38 Now the just will live by faith.
But if anyone draws back,
My Divine Nature has no pleasure in him.

39 Indeed,  we are not of those
who shrink back unto destruction,
but instead, are of those who trust,
for the sake of the preservation of life.”

Pay special attention to Hebrews 10.26:
"For if we offend willfully
after we have received the knowledge of the Truth,
their remains no more sacrifice for offenses!"

Why, if our salvation is absolutely guaranteed,
as some tell us,
is this verse in YAHWEH’s Word?
What kind of offense is identified here?
What sin is it that will cancel our salvation
by violating what YAHWEH has promised to a believer?

It is the offense of apostasy
 – of turning your back on YAHWEH
after you have once proclaimed your belief in Him,
and then choosing to walk away from His compassion
- after you accepted it
and promised to live according to His Word.

It is the offense that grieves The Set Apart Divine Nature
    (Please refer to the page on “The Holy Spirit” for an explanation.)
of YAHWEH, and therefore becomes unpardonable.

It is the only offense that guarantees you an eternity in Hell! 

It's the sin that non-believers are guilty of committing
- willfully rejecting YAHWEH,
- and rejecting The Messiah YAHUSHUA
and His life-giving death and resurrection 
- and therefore the very reason they will end up in Hell.
It's the sin of rebellion against the authority of YAHWEH.

This is the offense that caused Satan to be cast out of Heaven.
This is the offense of Eve in the Garden in Eden.

Think about this.
Satan was The Archangel of YAHWEH,
 the most favored of all the angels.
Yet he rebelled against YAHWEH. 

Eve, and Adam, had perfect fellowship with YAHWEH.
They were "saved" by His grace prior to their offense.
Yet they rebelled against YAHWEH's Word,
against His perfect will for them.
And they lost their perfect fellowship with Him
as a result of their rebellion.

There are many, many Scriptures
that could be quoted on this topic to confirm this truth.
There's not space in this article to do so.
This is not meant to be an exhaustive treatise on the topic,
but rather is intended to stimulate you
to study the Word of YAHWEH for yourself
and either confirm or deny this reality.
Check it out.
Read YAHWEH’s Word on this topic,
earnestly and prayerfully,
and then make up your own mind.

YAHWEH has always called us
to a life of responsibility before Him.
He gives us wondrous gifts.
Among them is the most precious one, His salvation!
But – and this is a huge “but” –
it does not mean you can simply go
and do whatever you want to do with your life
once you've understood this salvation,
accepted the gift of redemption,
and trusted Him with your whole life.

Once you’ve done that you've been bought with a price:
1 Cor. 6.20:  "For you are bought with a price.
Therefore, honor YAHWEH in your body,
and in your nature,
which are YAHWEH’s.”

You, as a believer, belong to YAHWEH.
You are not the sovereign of your own life.
He is.
And you have a responsibility to live according to what YAHWEH teaches you.
You have a responsibility to remain faithful to Him for the rest of your life.

If you do not,
if you turn away from Him
and allow your selfishness to become the focus of your life again
– after you once believed in His mercy and grace
 – and thereby reject His claim on your life;
if you abandon your faith (apostasize)
there is no longer redemption for you. 

You've trashed the compassion and deliverance of YAHWEH
 nd made it of no effect in your life.
You’ve made a mockery of The Messiah’s suffering, death and resurrection
- which He permitted Himself to suffer for YOU.
You've grieved The set apart vital essence of YAHWEH.
And that offense, my friend, is no longer forgivable
because you've wasted,
thrown out,
made of little consequence,
treated as excrement all YAHWEH has done for you.
You’ve "taken His Name" in vain! (Exod. 20.7)

Why should He let you get away with that,
after you once proclaimed your complete faith and trust
in the redeeming blood that was shed for you?

To the non-believer, Hell is absolutely guaranteed. Heaven is not. 

The non-believer has no place in Heaven.
He or she has rejected YAHWEH simply by refusing to believe in Him.
Go read John 3:16-19, and verse 36.
The only thing available to the non-believer is condemnation.
YAHWEH's Word guarantees it!

To the sincere Believer,
the one who faithfully seeks to place YAHWEH first in his or her life,
Heaven is promised.
 But it’s not an absolute guarantee.
It can be “lost”.
 You can turn your back on YAHWEH and rebel against Him
– if you choose to do so.

No one is holding a gun to your head.
No one is forcing you to continue to believe
in The Messiah’s atoning sacrifice for your offenses.
You are still a free agent before YAHWEH.
You still have the ability to choose between YAHWEH
 and that which is not YAHWEH.
This is the free will,
the freedom of choice,
that YAHWEH gave you at birth.
He cannot and will not take that away from you until you die.
He doesn't want a bunch of "robots" following Him
who have no choice in the matter.
He wants willing hearts
that choose to love and honor Him;
those who come to Him our of their own desire.

It’s a very precious thing to discover His compassion and kindness
and to accept His redemption in and through The Messiah, YAHUSHUA.
It's the most precious gift you can ever receive! 

And while it's given freely to anyone who accepts it, it is still a gift.
It still holds the possibility for you to reject it
– even after you have already received it.
It’s very difficult to understand why someone would do this,
yet Scripture is filled with warnings to remain faithful,
to treasure the gift,
to treat it with great respect.
It's filled with reminders that if we do not do this
we run the risk of “losing” it.

In one sense, your salvation is never “lost”.
Indeed the gift of salvation is always there.
The Messiah, YAHUSHUA, has guaranteed
that the price for our offense debt is paid in full.
The offer of salvation has been made available to all people
ever since the death and resurrection of YAHUSHUA, our Messiah.
In that sense, it is guaranteed.

However, it certainly can be rejected.
You cannot “lose this gift” by some accidental event.
It cannot be taken away from you either.
No one, and no thing, can ever “take” it from you.
Scripture confirms this truth. 

But just as surely as you can accept it,
you can also reject it. 

That choice is yours alone.
No one else makes the decision for you.
No one can choose to “have you saved”.
You must make the choice.
And no one can make you “lose” that salvation either.
You must make the choice.

But if you ever reject it,
once you have experienced the wondrous compassion of YAHWEH,
you are once again – and this time forever – guaranteed a place in Hell!
For you are once again a non-believer.
And there remains no more hope for a second sacrifice
to replace the one you have trashed through rejecting it.

Hell is absolutely guaranteed to the non-believer! Heaven is not! 

And Heaven is not absolutely guaranteed to the believer either.
It is indeed promised.
But the promise is affected by your desire
to keep on seeking YAHWEH all the rest of your days,
to put Him above all the other things in your life.

YAHUSHUA put it this way in Matthew 22.35-39:
“And one of them, a lawyer, asked Him a question, testing Him, and saying,
36 Teacher, which is the greatest teaching in The Torah?
37 Then YAHUSHUA said unto him,
"You are to love YAHWEH, your Elohim, with all your heart,
and with all your nature,
and with all your mind." (Deut 6.5)
38 This is the first and greatest teaching.
39 And a second is similar to it.
"You are to love your neighbor as yourself.” (Lev. 19.18)
 40 On these two teachings hang all of The Torah and The Prophets.”

All The Torah and all The Prophets
– this was everything there was for them (at that time)
to know about YAHWEH, and His promised Messiah.

YAHUSHUA fulfilled both.
He did so in a way that both taught and demonstrated
how to live in fellowship with YAHWEH, The Father.
This was always and only accomplished
by trust in YAHWEH,
belief in His Word,
and listening attentively to Him
so you can do what He desires you to do.

This is not in us, in our own ability, to accomplish on our own.
We need YAHWEH every single moment of every single day.
We need the intervention of The Messiah with The Father,
every moment of every day.
It's upon His sacrifice that we depend for our salvation,
not on our own works.
We're called to remember
each and every moment
of each and every day
that His compassion has saved us, redeemed us,
from the penalty we deserve to receive for our offenses - DEATH!

Only in this way is our salvation assured.
Only by trusting in the compassion of YAHWEH
 will we ever get to share in the magnificence of His eternity.
It is a very precious promise,
with a very powerful assurance that YAHWEH
will grant us the compassion and kindness we need each day
in order to obtain the promised reward. 

But we must never forget
that because of our own offending nature, (our ‘human’ nature)
it is possible to forfeit the promise.
We can’t lose it.
It cannot be taken away from us by anyone or anything.

But it is possible for us to choose to walk away from it,
to forsake it
- to commit apostasy!
Remember back-sliding Israel!
The story is presented for our learning.

Apostasy is promised in The Word of YAHWEH.
The return of The Messiah to earth will not happen
until a great apostasy occurs.
Look at what this passage says:
2 Thessalonians. 2.1-3  We ask you now, brothers,
concerning the coming of our Master, YAHUSHUA, The Messiah,
and our complete gathering to Him,
2 not to be soon disturbed in the mind, nor frightened,
neither by a vital essence, nor by a message,
nor by a letter as if from us,
as though the day of The Messiah (His return) is at hand.
3 Not even one of you is to be deceived by any means,
because that day will not come,
unless the falling away comes first,
and The Man of Sin has been revealed,
The Son of Destruction

The Greek word for “falling away” is apostasia, apostasy.
It means falling away from following hard after,
rejection of the salvation of The Messiah!
It is a wandering away to "worship"
that which is not YAHWEH
  whatever that may be in one's life.

YAHWEH does not want us to be ignorant about such things.
His Word declares them plainly,
if we will take the time to study it with an open heart and mind.
May His Word be our constant guide,
and not the traditions of men.
May His Truth forever challenge our preconceived notions
and draw us unto Himself.
And may His Name alone be praised forever and ever!

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