Before a person can be saved they must be convicted by the Holy Spirit. He was sent into the world to convict of sin, righteousness and judgment. John 16:8-11:

And he, when he is come, will convict the world in respect of sin, and of righteousness, and of judgment: of sin, because they believe not on me; of righteousness, because I go to the Father, and ye behold me no more; of judgment, because the prince of this world hath been judged.

After a person is convicted of sin and repents toward God and puts his faith in Jesus he is saved and given eternal life. "For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in Him should not perish but have eternal life" (John 3:16).

That person is also sealed by the Holy Spirit. "In whom ye also, having heard the word of the truth, the gospel of your salvation—in whom, having also believed, ye were sealed with the Holy Spirit of promise" (Eph. 1:13). The word "seal" means security, a finished transaction. You ask, "how long is a person sealed?" God answers in Ephesians 4:30, "And grieve not the Holy Spirit of God, in whom ye were sealed unto the day of redemption."

What is meant by "the day of redemption?" We read it in Romans 8:23, "And not only so, but ourselves also, who have the first fruits of the Spirit, even we ourselves groan within ourselves, waiting for our adoption, to wit, the redemption of our body." So we are sealed by the Holy Spirit until the resurrection morning.

"Does that mean that a person who is saved can never again be lost?" Yes. There is no such thing as the loss of salvation taught in the Bible. Let us reason just a moment. If ONE person could be saved and then lost, couldn’t EVERYONE be saved and then lost? True. Then if everyone could be saved and then lost, we would have to admit that the devil could cause EVERYONE who is saved, to commit a sin that would cause us to be lost? True. Then I ask, "how many would the devil let go into heaven, if he had such power?" Now let us read John 10:28-29, "And I give unto them eternal life; and they shall never perish, and no one shall snatch them out of my hand. My Father, who hath given them unto me, is greater than all; and no one is able to snatch them out of the Father’s hand."

There is no reason for anyone to limit the power of Christ’s work. Every saved person knows two things. First, that he is saved. If you don’t know you are saved, it is because you are not saved. Second, that he can never again be lost. 1 Peter 1:3-5 says:

Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who according to his great mercy begat us again unto a living hope by the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, unto an inheritance incorruptible, and undefiled, and that fadeth not away, reserved in heaven for you, who are kept by the power of God through faith, unto a salvation ready to be revealed in the last time.

"Why do some people teach that you can be saved and then lost?" Because they teach that salvation is dependent on works and not on faith alone, in Christ. If you teach that you are saved by works, then you must also teach that to cease to work means the loss of salvation.

But we read in Ephesians 2:7-9, "That in the ages to come he might show the exceeding riches of his grace in kindness toward us in Christ Jesus: for by grace have ye been saved through faith; and that not of yourselves, it is the gift of God; not of works, that no man should glory."

Let me illustrate the difference between "working out" and "working for." I go down the street one cold winter day and see a beggar. He has on a worn-out coat, run down shoes and a dirty hat. He, from all appearances is in dire need. I go up to him and hand him a five-dollar bill along with one of my calling cards. I say, "Old fellow, I want to give you this in the name of the Lord." He takes it. I go on my way.

In a few weeks someone knocks at my door. It is a beggar. I open the door and invite him in. He says, "Are you Oscar Gibson?" I reply that I am. Then he says, "You gave me a five-dollar bill some weeks ago. Out of gratitude for that gift I came to see if there is anything I could do, to show my appreciation."

It has just snowed and the walk needs cleaning. I tell him he might clean the snow from my walk. He takes a shovel and goes to work. Now that man is "working out" the gift which he received. He is not working "FOR" it, for he already has it. You "work for" that which you have not yet received, you "work out" that which you have already received. So with salvation. It is a gift from God. When I by faith take it, it is mine. Since I have received it, I want to work it out.

You ask, "But doesn’t it give a person the privilege of living as he pleases, to teach him that he is saved forever?" Of course not. It gives him the liberty of living for Jesus. He could not live for Jesus before he was saved, but now that he is, he can.

There are two schools of thought which have been put forth. One is, a person can be saved, live as he pleases and still be saved. The other is, a person can be saved and then be lost. Neither such untruths are taught in the Bible. But God does teach that when a person is saved they become a new creature. "If any man be in Christ he is a new creature" (2 Cor. 5:17).

That new creature will live a new life. If you have not lived a new life since you claim you were saved you were not saved. I have never seen a butterfly on a cabbage leaf. But one day a caterpillar fed on that cabbage leaf and after a while spun a cocoon and remained in it all winter. Then one day it came forth a butterfly. It became a new creature. So the cabbage leaf no longer appeals to the butterfly because it is changed. But before that butterfly was changed from a caterpillar into a butterfly, the cabbage leaf was appealing. So with the Christian. Now that you have trusted Christ, you will not have the craving for the old life of sin. So salvation doesn’t give you the privilege of sinning, but of living for Jesus.

"Can a person live a sinless life?" No. But one can live a victory over sin. Salvation means that you have Christ in your heart. It means, too, that now you have an Advocate to whom you can come for strength over sin and forgiveness of sin. The Christian never reaches the place of sinlessness until the resurrection morning. We read in I John 1:1-2, "My little children, these things write I unto you that ye may not sin. And if any man sin, we have an Advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous; and he is the propitiation (covering) for our (Christian) sins; and not for ours (Christian) only, but also for the whole world."

You ask, "But doesn’t that still give a person the privilege of sinning, or of making one want to sin?" No, unless they are just mere church members who have never been regenerated. Because I know I can never be lost is not going to cause me to go out and live like a rotten sinner. But it is a wonderful hope to know that I can get forgiveness for my sins.

You ask another question, "Suppose I am committing a sin and die, where will I go?" Let us see. We are not saved by our works but by our faith in the finished work of Jesus Christ. And we read also in I John 1:7, "But if we walk in the light, as he is in the light, we have fellowship one with another, and the blood of Jesus his Son CLEANSETH us from all sin." We find that the Christian is undergoing a continual cleansing of sin by the blood of Jesus. He knows our weakness and our flesh. I know of no one who never sins. I know of plenty who claim they do not, but claiming and performing are two different things. If you commit a sin and die God answers where you will go very plainly in His Word.

You remember the story of Moses. God told him to speak to the rock and water would come from it. The children of Israel had aggravated him to such an extent that he became angry and when he came to the rock, instead of speaking to it, he smote it with the rod. The water came out. God called him to the top of the mountain and showed him the promised land, but also told him that because he sinned that he could not enter. Moses was buried on the mountain and never entered the promised land. Where did he go? He went to Heaven.

We turn to the seventeenth chapter of Matthew and find where Jesus went onto the mountain of transfiguration. Two people came down and talked with Him. Who were they? Moses and Elijah.

Yes, a person can backslide. I don’t like that word. I had rather call it, "out of fellowship." Now fellowship and relationship are two different words with two different meanings. When we trust Jesus we are told that we become "children of God." We become related to God. We cannot break that relationship, but we can break fellowship.

Let me illustrate: I was raised in Fort Smith, Arkansas. It was a mean town. On Saturdays people would get drunk and sometimes the Indians from across the river, on the Oklahoma side, would come and get some "fire-water" and shoot-up the town.

My brother and I were not allowed out of the backyard on Saturdays. We had a big fence built around it and were to play there. My brother, who is two and one half years older than I, was given the privilege one Saturday of playing football. Dad always went to the barber shop on Saturdays to get "frizzed" up for Sunday. We knew how long it would take him, some two hours.

On this particular Saturday, I could not play football out on the church lawn. I waited for Dad to leave the house. I heard the front door close. I waited until I thought he was down the street. Then I went over and lifted the latch on the gate, peeped out and got a signal from my brother that I could come on out. I went.

My brother was acting as center and was down over the ball. I was waiting to receive it when I got a shock instead of the ball. I looked up, and down on the walk stood my Dad. I must have turned pale, for my brother gave me an inquisitive look. He looked up and saw Dad too.

Now understand, I was out of fellowship. I had been told to stay in the yard. I would have given most anything if I could have been at that time, out of relationship. But I was not.

Dad went on to the barber shop, and I went back into the yard. But the damage had been done. In a few hours Dad came home and called me in the house. I went, knowing what was coming. He took me back in a little pantry and laid the oil on and whipped me back into fellowship.

That is what happens when a Christian disobeys God and sins. He doesn’t lose his relationship, but his fellowship, and God will chastise him. So you see a Christian can, and often does, get out of fellowship, but never out of relationship. When you yield to Christ, then you have the hope and the assurance that your salvation is secure. Then you can say, as in Romans 8:35-39:

Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall tribulation, or anguish, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or peril, or sword? Nay in all these things we are more than conquerors through him that loves us. For I am persuaded, that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor things present, nor things to come, nor powers, nor height, nor depth, nor any creature, shall be able to separate us from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord.