So today, just as Jude commented, the grace of God is being used far and wide as an excuse for immorality.

It will be a wonder if we ever escape from this error before the Lord returns. If we do not, numerous American Christians will not gain the crown of life.

Not only are we using God's grace as an excuse for our sinning, we are denying Jesus Christ our only Sovereign and Lord. We are willing to receive Christ as our personal Savior but not as our personal Sovereign and Lord.

How many American Christians obey Christ in every detail of their lives? How many have truly surrendered to God's will? How many have denied themselves, taken up their personal cross, and are following the Master?

These are the only true Christians. These are the disciples of Christ. The remainder are merely members of the Christian religion. There is no salvation, no eternal life, in being merely a member of the Christian religion.

How can we tell that American Christians are not disciples, have not received Christ as Lord, are changing God's grace into an excuse for immorality? By the things they say and do.

I will therefore put you in remembrance, though ye once knew this, how that the Lord, having saved the people out of the land of Egypt, afterward destroyed them that believed not. (Jude 1:5)

There has been much talk in Christian circles about "once saved always saved." Since it is commonly acknowledged that coming out of Egypt is a type of salvation, and since Jude reminds us that the Lord having saved His people out of Egypt later destroyed those who did not believe, how can we persist in this eternal security error? Don't we understand the Holy Spirit would realize we would gain from this passage in Jude that it is possible to be saved and then lost?

Actually, the concept of "once saved always saved" reflects a profound error in our concept of salvation. "Eternal security" is based on the notion that our salvation is a Divine intervention having nothing to do with our response. This is not at all true. Every aspect of our salvation is an opportunity. God moves and we are to respond by faith and obedience. When we do not do our part, God's intervention in our life is rendered null and void. The contract is broken. We broke it, God did not.

We have the power to make the Word of God of no effect in our life.

Here is one of the fundamental errors in Christian theology. If the teachers and preachers would preach expository sermons, taking a portion of the Scriptures and expounding on it verse by verse, not warping it into a preconceived mold, they rapidly would find that God's intervention in the lives of people is effective only as they believe and obey God.

Salvation is not a ticket to Heaven that we cannot possibly lose. Salvation is the Presence of God in Jesus Christ that enables us to move from the person of Satan to the Person of God. Christ is always present to help us and will see us through. But we must keep His commandments or else the process is brought to a halt.

To be continued.