DAILY MANNA Tuesday 26, August 2014 Topic: Eternal security? TEXT: Ezekiel 18:19-32 Key Verse: “But when the righteous turneth away from his righteousness, and committeth iniquity, and doeth according to all the abominations that the wicked man doeth, shall he live? All his righteousness that he hath done shall not be mentioned: in his trespass that he hath trespassed, and in his sin that he hath sinned, in them shall he die” (Ezekiel 18:24). One day, an American tourist, on an adventure in Portugal, visited the Monastery, where they had a 3,000-foot cliff, which could only be accessible by a terrifying ride in a swaying basket. The basket would be pulled with a single rope by several strong men. As they did that, they would be sweating profusely under the strain of the fully loaded basket. As a tourist, the American decided to have a fun of it. He was in the basket, which perched on the cliff. When he was halfway up the cliff, he noticed that the rope was old and frayed. With this, he became nervous and afraid. In apprehension, he asked, “How often do you change the rope?” The monk, who was in charge, replied: “Whenever it breaks!” This illustration explained, quite clearly, the content of our text today. Many Israelites had erroneous belief that God would punish the parent because of the sins of their children or punish the children because of their parents’ sins. They also had the belief that once anybody got saved, the person would be forever saved, even if the person later backslid. God corrected them, explaining the grave implications of their mistaken notions and beliefs. He warned that He would only hold sinners accountable. This, clearly obliterated the doctrine of eternal security. God knew that many, who were thought to be righteous, could do so only for a while, warning that such ephemeral dispositions would not take anyone to heaven, but rather a sustained life of righteousness that endures to the point of death. He gave a stern admonition that those who live righteously for a period and then die in evil would be reckoned eternally as evil. None of their earlier righteousness would be mentioned to their credit. True believers, therefore, should not only watch and pray, they should also continue to sustain their righteousness to the end. THOUGHT FOR THE DAY: Sin pays temporal wages: death.
Posted on: Tue, 26 Aug 2014 08:30:00 +0000
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