Q&A 17: Once saved always saved? Can a believer lose his salvation?
Vern Peterman · May 2, 2010
Questions & Answers, No. 18
Holly Hills Bible Church
https://hollyhillsbiblechurch.org/teaching/messages/492621451829

Transcribed from the recording by SermonAudio, so expect the occasional misheard word.

Let's see here. Last Sunday we did an intro on the middle of page 6, starting with the bolded section in the middle of that page. We're with the same handout we had last week. It will also continue to be valid until next week. Blessings. God has done it in the perfect tense is the section we're going to We'll repeat what we just introduced last time.

And it says, the language of the New Testament, Greek, packed a great deal of meaning into the verbs, words of action or being. In fact, what I have found is that sometimes to translate everything that's in a verb takes more than a dozen words in one word, because they put so many things into one verb. Not always, but sometimes it would take that many words, a dozen or more, to get the meaning that is packed into the verb across. What happens in our English translations is most translators are under the gun, so to speak, from the publishers. You can't put a whole bunch of words like that in there. There's a verb in every sentence, and you go using that many words, we'll not be able to put the Bible in one volume. So the translators are rather under the gun in many cases, and that's one reason I'm glad I'm a pastor and not a translator. They're under the gun because they just simply can't use enough words. Nonetheless, we want to take a look at this case in the perfect tense, which is used for very deliberate and specific reasons in the New Testament.

To carry across the same meaning requires a number of words. The perfect tense in the New Testament Greek generally conveys a completed past action with a resulting state of being. and the idea that it goes on into the future. Barring a negation or qualification in the context, the perfect tense indicative mood verb indicates that the effect of the verb is permanent and abiding in its present result. I didn't quote from it here, but one of the points that I note right below, and this is footnote number eight on that page, is that it implies a permanence. That's a particular sense there. Daniel Wallace makes the following statement about the perfect tense that is central in the consideration of the permanence of salvation.

The perfect tense is used less frequently than the present, future, or imperfect tense. When it is used, there is usually a deliberate choice on the part of the writer. In other words, it's not accidental that they chose that specific tense. So now we're going to move on to page 7 at the top.

So since there are verbs regarding our salvation and position in God's accomplishment through Christ throughout the New Testament, placed there as a work of the Holy Spirit, that's in 2 Timothy 3.16 and 17, we are given multiple indications that our salvation, position, and God's accomplishment are permanent. Examples of these would be, and by the way, this is not exhaustive. That is, I could have listed much more, but this is just to give you an idea of the kinds of statements that we have. The first one there is John 19, verses 28-30.

Here's Jesus on the cross, and it says, after this, Jesus knowing that all things had already been accomplished. And notice, what do I have there but bold italics? What's that telling you? that had already been accomplished is in the perfect tense. All things had already been accomplished. What He went on the cross to accomplish had been done.

A completed past action with ongoing results in the future. to fulfill the scripture and said, I am thirsty. A jar full of sour wine was standing there. So they put a sponge full of the sour wine upon a branch of hyssop and brought it up to his mouth. Therefore, when Jesus had received the sour wine, he said, it is finished. Perfect tense.

And by the way, that's one word in the Greek. And that one word is an accounting term. It means paid. Just like we would have on a bill, put a big stamp, you know, a red stamp, paid. Right? Paid. That's what that word means. Completely paid. It's all done. Completed past action. Ongoing results. Implying permanence. The effect of Christ's death on the cross has the implication of permanence. Right? It's complete. It's paid. It's accomplished. It's permanent.

Now, that's the effectiveness of his death on the cross. But is that the complete answer to whether or not we could lose our salvation? It's only the first part, right? Because we need something that says we've been saved permanently. Certainly Christ's work is permanent, but how about our salvation? So here's 1 Corinthians 1, 1 and 2. And by the way, we've been going through 1 and now 2 Corinthians. How would you describe the church at Corinth? Just a great group, right?

Yeah. The perfect church. You never heard of anything better. Yeah, corrupt. Yeah. Corrupt. What are some of the indications that things weren't just all hunky-dory in Corinth? Any ideas? The guy that was sleeping with his father's wife. Yeah, the guy was basically sleeping with a stepmother. And everybody in the church was just fine with it. In fact, they're almost proud of their liberated mindset, right? So that would be one indication. Any others? Did they happen to go to court with each other? Yeah, 1 Corinthians 6. They're suing each other, right? So this is a church that's really messed up. Lots of problems. Big problems. But here's how he starts off his letter. In 1 Corinthians, Paul called as an apostle of Jesus Christ by the will of God and Sosthenes, our brother, to the church of God which is at Corinth to those who have been sanctified. Perfect tense. What does sanctified mean? set apart and made holy, right? And that's in the perfect tense. So set apart and sanctified and made holy as a completed past action with ongoing results into the future.

He starts to let her off with that. Then he says, now let's talk about your problems. Right? You see that? He says, I'm not worried about your salvation here and whether you're going to lose it. He says, you've already been completely set apart and made holy and sanctified.

Now, now that that's taken care of, let's talk about your abundant problems. Sanctified in Christ Jesus, and by the way, that's something else we'll get into, is this in, right? Saints by calling, with all who in every place call in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, their Lord and ours.

Here's Ephesians 2, 4-10. This is after the part where he starts off in the beginning of chapter 2, you were dead in your trespasses and sins, right? Here in verse 4, he says, But God, being rich in mercy because of this great love of which you loved us. By the way, what does that tell you about God's attitude towards us?

Yeah, rich. And notice he is rich in mercy. He has a wealth. That would be another term we could put in there that gets the idea across. Abundantly wealthy in mercy. When you think of somebody who's wealthy in our own time and culture, who do you think of? Bill Gates, right? Guy's worth billions, right? Yeah.

And we could come up with other names. There are various you know, magazines that will go and list, you know, here are the billionaires. Some of them are well-known and public figures. Others of them keep more behind the scenes. But yeah, people who are just worth billions. Their net worth is greater than the annual expenditures of a great many of the states. huge amounts of money. That's wealth. That's what comes here, a wealth of mercy. Immensely wealthy in mercy. His great love with which he loved us, not minuscule, not just barely adequate, great love with which he loved us, even when we were dead in our transgressions, made us alive together with Christ, by grace you have been Saved.

And have been saved is there and it's also repeated in verse 8 and in both places it's in the perfect tense. By grace you have been permanently saved. And he repeats it. By grace you have been permanently saved. Of that kind, before I pass along on this, 1 Corinthians 1, 1 and 2, that have been sanctified.

It's interesting, Acts 26.18, the exact same word, also in the perfect tense.

And also in Hebrews 10.10. Exact same word, perfect tense. Three times, okay? And this is cool.

This is really neat because it's not just Paul throwing it out there once you have Acts 26.18, which is recorded by Luke, Dr. Luke. And then you have the passage in 1 Corinthians 1, 2 and Hebrews 10, 10. Some believe that Hebrews was written by Paul. I'm inclined to think otherwise, but it's interesting that that exact same word, the exact same perfect tense shows up in all three places in those three books.

Okay. Now, there is another way that things are expressed as a completed action, completely accomplished, and that's, we have a section there on the bottom of page 7, once done, perpetually valid. Parallel with the implication of permanence, given by the perfect tense, here is a word in the New Testament regarding Christ's accomplishment and our salvation, hapax. It means once done, perpetually valid. Or it can also, in the context, be once given perpetually valid.

Example, I brought this forward to some Mormon people that I knew that they were talking about, oh, well, the Bible's not good enough. We need other revelations in the Bible. needs to move aside so we can get these other revelations. And I said, well, here's Jude, you know, verse 3. Because Jude only has one chapter. Jude, verse 3.

It says, I urge that you contend for the, you know, faith that was once for all, hapax. Once given, perpetually valid. But so, the context we're looking at here is hapax once done, perpetually valid. Similar idea. Examples are found there, and let's turn to page 8. In Romans 6, 10 and 11, for the death he died, he died to sin. That's something we'll get into in a little bit, because that's part of the identification truths. Once for all.

And there's something else here. That word hapax can have a prefix in front of it, as it does here in Romans 6. The prefix is epi. And so the way that ends up being pronounced is an f-apax. It's contracted. So in this case, it actually is hapax with an intensifier, which doesn't change the meaning, but it does intensify the meaning.

He died to sin. Once for all, once done, perpetually valid. But the life that he lives, he lives to God. Even so, consider yourselves to be dead to sin, but alive to God in Christ Jesus. Hebrews 7, 26 and 27. It says this, For it was fitting for us to have such a high priest, innocent, undefiled, separated from sinners, and exalted above the heavens, who does not need daily, like those high priests, to offer up sacrifices, first for his own sins, and then for the sins of the people, because he did once for all when he offered up himself. What this tells us is the same thing Christ said. It's finished and implies permanence.

It's the exact same meaning there in Hebrews 7.27. When He offered up Himself for the sins of the people, He did it once for all. Once done, perpetually valid. Permanent effect.

Hebrews 9, look how frequently the word shows up in the Hebrews 9.26-28 passage. Otherwise, he would have needed to suffer often since the foundation of the world.

But now, once at the consummation of the ages, he has been manifested to put away sin by the sacrifice of himself. And inasmuch as it is appointed for men once, hapax, to die, and after this comes judgment, so Christ also, having been offered up once, hapax, to bear the sins of many. So here the word is used essentially three times in three verses. And the first and the third use of that is specifically about Christ offering up himself for the sins of many. Once done, perpetually valid. Once done, perpetually valid. And here is an interesting one, one we pointed out. It's still on the screen.

Hebrews 10.10, by this will we have been sanctified, that's the perfect tense verb, just like 1 Corinthians 1.2, through the offering of the body of Jesus Christ once for all, epihapax.

So that shows up again in 1 Peter 3.18, for Christ died for sins once for all, hapax. that just for the unjust, so that he might bring us to God, having been put to death in the flesh, but made alive in the spirit." It's done. It's completed. Once done, perpetually valid. It continues to have validity.

Now here's the next one, and we're going to be spending probably the rest of our time today on it, and that is what is often termed around here as the identification truths. So we want to go through that and at least do a summary of it so that we understand what it is and we can also see that the negation of it, the threat of reversing our identification with Christ, never shows up in Scripture. So this identification is a principle taught in Scripture principally to the believers in the body of Christ. Now, when we say identification, do you think of any other terms or handles that are typically used?

Our position, our eternal position, includes our identification with Christ. So, certainly that. Our condition is what happens daily. Our identification is in our eternal position. Another term that's been used is our standing. Identification is explained most fully by the Apostle Paul, but evidenced in the writings of John and Peter, as well as other authors of scripture. We can take no credit for either knowing these truths or in what God has accomplished in our identification with Christ.

What do we mean by that? Did I get identified with Christ because I worked really hard at it? No. How did it happen? With faith, that's all. And then how did it happen? Christ died on the cross, but how do we get identified with Him in that? Pardon? Pardon? We believe it. We believe it, alright. And then what happens? God does it, right? It's God's accomplishment. 1 Corinthians chapter 1, verse 30. God is the one who has put us in Christ Jesus. It's God's accomplishment. It's His doing. It's not my effort. It's not because I worked really, really hard at it and I got three merit badges and finally was awarded identification. None of that.

The truths of identification are revealed entirely by the will and actions of God and the blessings of our identification with Christ are accomplished entirely by God's infinite, eternal and amazing grace. As Ephesians 1, 3 and 4 puts it, blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ who has blessed us with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places, in Christ, just as He chose us in Him. While we can't find examples of this identification principle applying, excuse me, while we can find examples of this identification principle applying to other people groups, the teachings we'll focus on here are the identification truths that apply to believers who are in the body of Christ from Acts 2 to the Rapture, when Christ comes for his bride, the Church. Alright, so page 9.

Here we have the the terms that are used in Scripture brought together, and you find five bullets there. The words in Scripture that come across are this, in, that is being placed entirely in so as to share an identity, in Christ, in the Beloved, in Him, right? Those kinds of terms.

Also with or together with. with meaning intimately joined in action and consequence, and together with, as above, with together underscoring the same identity in action. United with, united implies a oneness, so a spiritual oneness is communicated. And the fifth one, baptized into, baptized means to be immersed or entirely placed into, so as to be permanently changed by that immersion or entire placement.

The two ways that we have used to illustrate being baptized in twos, one was they would take a piece of cloth, put it in a dye vat. Red or purple cloth required a dye that was more expensive than gold per ounce and was made, it would take like 10,000 shells to make an ounce of the dye. but they would take the cloth, dip it in the dye vat, and they would say that we're baptizing it, right? The other example that we've used is they would take the sword that was being prepared to be used by the Roman soldier and heat it up white hot and then suddenly plunge the sword, baptize it, into cold water and that would harden, case harden, the surface of the sword. Make a sharp edge and keep the sword from getting little nicks and chips as easily. So the outside would be very hard.

Those are examples of how that word baptized was used. It has the same sense. So we got those five ways that words are used to communicate identification. Now, we need first of all, however, to look at the bad news. Bad identification, right? The bad news.

God's Word says that when Adam sinned, we were in Adam in that sin, and so we're identified with fallen Adam, including the consequences, God said, would result from that sin. Death. So 1 Corinthians 15, 22a, for as in Adam, all die. As was explained in pages 7 and 8 of the document, death means spiritual separation. By the way, I think that's something that's a leftover from where I brought this out of. Death as separation is taught in Scripture and some of the places where that is communicated is, for example, Romans 7, 1 through 6, where it explains that a death then separates. Another place where there was separation communicated is in Ephesians chapter 2.

You're dead in your trespasses and sins. Then in verses 11-13, you are separated from God. Even atheos. You were made atheistic. Godless. Then it says, that's the bad news, and if God had left things there, it would be nothing but totally hopeless, really depressing, eternally bad news. At first, the news only gets worse, much worse. Brace yourself.

John 8, 24, Jesus tells these Jewish leaders, Therefore I said to you that you will die in your sins. For unless you believe that I am He, you will die in your sins. In them. They stick to you, right? They keep sticking to you. People want to get past those sins and figure out some way to get them shed, right? He says you're in them. You're stuck in them.

As you execute the sins, you're stuck in them. You're actually positionally in the sins that you carry out. Unless you believe that I am He, you will die in your sins. What's the way to get out of dying in your sins? It's belief, right? He just tells them flat out. Unless you believe, you're going to die in your sins. So here's Ephesians 2, 1 and 2.

And you were dead in. And by the way, it doesn't mean dead in. The dead in means you were dead, separated from God. you were dead in your trespasses and sins, in which you formerly walked according to the course of this world, according to the prince of the power of the air, of the spirit that is now working in the sons of disobedience, even when we were dead in our transgressions. Colossians 2.13a, when you were dead in your transgressions, in the uncircumcision of your flesh. But to God's eternal praise, glory, and honor, He did not leave us there in Adam and dead in our trespasses and sins and transgressions. Okay, let's turn to page 10. And now the really, really good news.

Our identification with Christ mentioned before is expressed in several different ways as listed in the bullets on the prior page. One of the frequent ways in which that truth is conveyed is that the believer is in Christ as opposed to remaining in Adam, in that position. That truth is conveyed primarily in the letters of Paul, just as we find in this letter to the believers in Ephesus 36 times in six chapters, including these references, in Christ, in him, in the beloved, and in whom. In, in, in. So either his name specifically or some equivalent name or pronoun. So the one who has placed his faith in Christ for salvation is in Christ. Meaning the believer has been placed by God entirely in Christ, spiritually speaking, so as to share an identity with him.

That's what it means to be in Christ, to share an identity with him. So as to share a history with him in each of these aspects in which he has been identified. This sharing of history is really important. As Nancy and I counsel with people, that's something that we take delight in being able to share.

Because a lot of people, they look back, it's four things. It's things I did that bother them. It's things I should have done but didn't do. It's things done to me and things that weren't done to me that should have been done. It's those four things that bother people about their lives.

And it is great news to be able to share with them that their spiritual history has been changed by belief in Christ. They're no longer defined in God's eyes by those things that either they did or didn't do or were done to them or weren't done to them. Yeah, they will not die in those things, right? They will not die in those things. And when we say die, it means, remember we said death is separation? So the separation from God will not take place.

This is wonderful good news and it's actually, as I see it, pivotal in counseling. If you go to secular counseling, what are they going to do? They're going to sit there and talk about your history. And you're going to try to massage it and rework it and go over again and figure out who to blame, right? That's what secular counseling is.

But in the end, it's wonderful news to be able to say my history has been replaced. My history has been replaced in Christ. The things that I did, the things I didn't do, the things that were done to me, the things that weren't done and should have been. All that's been replaced. So this is really good news.

In the middle of that paragraph, there is not the slightest indication from Scripture that this placement in Christ is something that varies over time, or that it is ever undone or reversed, or that such a reversal or undoing of the identification is ever threatened. You can find in Ephesians 36 times where you are said to be in Christ, in Him, in the Beloved, and in whom You cannot find one where it says you're taken out of Christ or you're threatened to be taken out of Christ.

Paul said in Ephesians 4.32, forgive one another as God in Christ has forgiven you. Did he say forgive one another or you're going to be taken out of Christ? No. You cannot find it It does not exist, not only in Ephesians, but anywhere else.

Every indication from Scripture is that once we've been made to be in Christ by God's doing, that placement in Christ is eternally fixed and unchangeable and irreversible. This truth is an important part of the answer to the question. Can a believer's salvation be lost? This aspect of the truth revealed in God's word fits with the rest of the answer to that pivotal question. No believer can be taken out of Christ or lose his or her salvation. Can you tell me the passage where you can find that a believer is going to be unbaptized in Christ?

Please help me here. Go right ahead, raise your hand. Can you find me a place where it says that you're going to be unseated from the heavenlies? Can you help me there? I need to have you point this out for me. What you find is you can look everywhere. You will not find those verses. Statement after statement after statement of the believer in Christ, identified with Christ, united with Christ, with, together with, baptized into, never reversal. And that's cool. Now, how in the heavenlies did we get here? Wow.

We who believe in Christ for salvation were placed in Christ by being baptized, that is, immersed into Christ, with the consequence that we are permanently changed in fundamental character, just like the cloth that was placed in the red dye is red, and it's going to stay red, just like the sword that was white-hot and then suddenly immersed in water becomes case-hardened. It's case-hardened from then on out, right? with the consequence that we are permanently changed in fundamental character by the immersion into Christ that God alone accomplished. That baptism into Christ is taught in Romans 6, 3 and 4 and Galatians 3, 27. The multiple spiritual outcomes of our baptism into Christ are important, impacting our eternity and our present daily life, and will be discussed later.

So we'll take a look at that. Yes? Yes, yes. Very nice, exquisite. They case harden a lot of locks, paddle locks, you know. And you pay five or six times more than you normally would. Yes, it's pricey stuff, isn't it? And that's why it can only be by grace. We could never afford it, right? Good point. We have there with, together with, and united.

These terms tell of how we were identified with Christ and his death, burial, resurrection, ascension, and seating in the heavenlies, as a number of verses testify. There's Romans 6, 4-6. Therefore, we have been buried with Him through baptism into death, so that as Christ was raised from the dead through the glory of the Father, so we too might walk in newness of life. For we have become united with Him in the likeness of His death. Certainly, we shall also be united with Him, implied, in the likeness of His resurrection. Knowing this, that our old self was crucified, what?

With Him. So here you see with Him, with Him, with Him in that passage. Let's look at page 11 here. Galatians 2.20. I was just talking with some people down in Texas yesterday about this passage.

Galatians 2.20.

I have been crucified with Christ. It is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me. with Christ, with Him. That crucifixion, as I've said, as far as the soldiers were concerned, there's Christ. He's the only one up on the cross. As far as God's concerned, every single believer from Acts 2 to the rapture was there too. That cross was crowded. I was there. You were there. It was a crowded place.

Again, this is Ephesians 2, 4-6, but God being rich in mercy because of His great love with which He loved us, even when we were dead in our transgressions, made us alive together with Christ. Together with, right? By grace you've been saved, and of course we could make the point again that that's perfect tense, but also and raised us up with Him and seated us with Him in the heavenly places in Christ. Can you please tell me the verse that says that you're unseated with Christ?

Sorry, you've been booted out of heaven. By the way, who gets booted out of heaven? Satan is the only one who gets booted out of heaven, right? Not us. Not us. So you see, together with Christ, with Him, with Him. And by the way, that's finished with, in Christ Jesus.

The consequences of identification, and this is a key thing. Now we went over these bullets before, but let's step our way through the consequences of this identification here. Crucified. It has there on the lower third of page 11. Several New Testament passages say that we were identified with Christ in His death. It's Romans 6, 1-10.

Galatians 2.20, as we just read, and Colossians 2.20. Though the Roman soldiers that drove the nails and the crowd that surrounded Christ were not aware of it, the cross where Christ was crucified was spiritually very, very crowded. The sins of the entire world for all time, everyone on the planet, from Adam to the last one born on this present earth, were placed upon Christ. All those sins. Got any volunteers? Anybody like to just do their own? You know, just kind of do-it-yourself? Do-it-yourself sin? Would you like that? Got any volunteers? That's not such a good idea, is it? Do-it-yourself salvation?

Every person who has believed or will believe from Acts 2 to the Rapture was there with Christ at His crucifixion, being crucified with Him. The old man, which is not the same as the sin nature, that pertains to or pertained to the old man of each one of us who believe was crucified there that day. The old man is all of who we were in Adam. All of who we were in Adam is the old man. The law being specifically the law of Moses was crucified there nailed to the cross as well along with the death note that went with it.

In those days, they would have a chirographon. It was, I owe this much money. It's an IOU. And he says, our debt note, our IOU, was nailed there on the cross. All the things that the law says, you've got this debt, you've got that debt, you've got that debt. It's all nailed and all done. Okay, here's the deal.

Christ paid for the sins of the whole world. He is our substitute. He paid for the sins of the entire world and even for those who will never believe. Isn't that something? 1 John 2. He is the propitiation for our sins, not just ours, but for the whole world. So He paid for, as a substitute, the sins of the whole world. identification with his death is something different and that only applies to those in the church who believe. There isn't any indication, although he paid for the sins of the whole world, there isn't any indication that our identification applies to anybody else but those who believe and it only applies to those within the church. So identification is unique to the church. Substitution is universal. Now, we're on the top of page 12.

Yes, that hill called Golgotha was very, very crowded that day, but all the people who were there, only Christ knew how very crowded that hill actually was. Isn't that interesting? The Roman soldiers were there, and Jesus said, I just see... In fact, the Roman centurion, because he was in charge of the soldiers there, and by the way, they're not allowed to leave or even sit down until everybody's dead on the crosses. But the Roman centurion finally said, this truly was the Son of God.

And so he had a great spiritual recognition that day. What he didn't know, and only Christ knew, was that all of those in the church who believed, from Acts 2 to the rapture, all of those would be identified with him. That was not known until later. That was not known until later, except by Christ himself.

There are three summary outcomes to the identification with Christ's crucifixion that God caused to take place that day. They are all three in the form of died to, that is, died in relationship to, which expresses the spiritual separation that took place on the cross. These outcomes are these, and they're numbered 1, 2, and 3, right below there.

Number one, the believer died in relationship to the sin nature. It does not mean the believer does not have a sin nature, but rather that the believer is no longer an absolute slave to the sin nature. The flesh is the expression of the sin nature through the earthly body. So if you see the term flesh as it's used in, for example, Galatians chapter 5, that's the sin nature is expressed through this body. Okay, so that's point one. Point two, the believer died in relationship to the law of Moses.

In any principle of law, we reference Romans 7.4 and Galatians 2.19, This means that no part of the law of Moses is applicable as law to the believer who is part of the body of Christ. We have said that there are principles to be learned from the law, and it is in fact inspired scripture. There are principles and truths to be learned from it, but we are not to order our lives and be under the law as the rule of life. Number three, the believer died in relationship to the world and its basic principles.

That's Galatians 6.14 and Colossians 2.20. The world has its pressures that are intended to conform us to the world, ways and systems, and these no longer have a claim on the believer. No more. So we can put it this way.

On the cross, when we were identified with Him, there was a death in relationship to the sin nature, the law, and the world. Did the sin nature end? No. Did the law end? Is the law of Moses still around? Yeah. How about the world? Is the world around? Oh yeah, you got that right. So those are still around. It doesn't mean termination, annihilation, or cessation. Death, too, means separation. We died in relationship to the sin nature. Previously, we were joined to the sin nature. The sin nature always called the shots. The sin nature, one way to put it, is now a deposed monarch.

And just like, a number of you may recall the Marcos Imelda, famous for her many shoes. He became a deposed dictator. Ferdinand and Imelda Marcos. He became a deposed dictator. He tried to keep commanding things to happen over in the Philippines even after he was deposed. Did he have a right to tell people what to do and start ordering people around? No. But he could make lots of noise and even get a lot of press. Still didn't give him any rights, right?

Okay. Now, the next one there is buried. Being buried with Christ is the assurance that the death actually took place. This wasn't any fainting or swooning or coma phenomenon. The body of Christ was wrapped in accordance with traditional Jewish practices on the same day in which he was crucified, placed in a tomb. We know at least two men from the Sanhedrin were there involved in his burial. Nicodemus and Joseph of Arimathea. It was Joseph of Arimathea's unused, previously unused tomb that was used, and it was only used for a few days, right? When Christ was resurrected.

But as far as anybody there knew, because it was a brand new tomb, Jesus was the only one in it. But guess what? The tomb was crowded. Can you imagine? The tomb was crowded. They just never knew. It was crowded with you and me. We were there. The tomb was crowded. being dead in relationship to the sin nature and the law in the world are not hypothetical or nearly true. It is true, and the burial assures it. And finally, raised.

Being raised with him, Ephesians 2.6, Colossians 2.12 and 3.1, means that when Christ was raised to new life, that burial cloth and that tomb experienced a mass evacuation.

Ever see a mass evacuation? In areas, you know, usually we'd see evidences of it, you know, on television. We'll have some hurricane and you'll see people just pulling up every way they can to get out of there. You'll have that sort of thing take place. There's a mass evacuation. When Christ was raised from the tomb, there was a mass evacuation. You got out of there. I got out of there, okay? Everybody that you know that's a believer exited that tomb.

And by the way, why was the stone rolled away? Was it rolled away so that Jesus could get out? Not necessary, was it? Why was it rolled away? Right, it was so that his resurrection could be verified and observed by multiple witnesses, but not so that he could get out. And by the way, same thing for you and me. The stone was not rolled away so that we could get out. That wasn't necessary. The stone was rolled away only to verify the resurrection.

If somebody said, he's resurrected, and you look at him and say, but the stone's still there, what are you talking about? That wouldn't work, right? So what did they do? The stone was rolled away, the Roman seal was broken, and the Roman guard that had been there took off, right? So, let's take a look at page 13.

Being raised with Him means that our new life is derived from His new life. Get that? We are not only dead in relationship to the sin nature of the law and the world, but we are alive in a new kind of life to God and to righteousness. And this is one of the places where Peter comes in, 1 Peter 2, 24. Alive to righteousness.

While being made alive was a one-time occurrence, being alive from then on is until forever. See the difference there? Being made alive happened once. Remaining alive and staying alive is a forever thing. As Jesus said in Revelation, and I am alive forevermore and thus with him. There's also an important aspect of that new kind of life we share with Christ that should not be overlooked.

We need to be spiritually calibrated for the massive and unparalleled magnitude of that resurrection life. What do I mean by we need to be spiritually calibrated? What does that mean? Do I have technicians come here and calibrate us all on this? What's this talking about? First of all, there's understanding starting in our gray matter with the magnitude of Christ's resurrection life. A huge reversal.

What happened when Adam sinned? He fell and this death went swooping into everything. It touched Adam, it touched everyone descended from Adam, it touched the planet. Romans 8 says all creation groaned, starting about verse 18. All creation is groaning. This huge death thing came swooping in like a dark, choking, asphyxiating cloud over everything. Nothing was left untouched in the physical world.

Here with Christ's resurrection is a reversal, a massive, powerful reversal of the choking, asphyxiating death that had come in on this planet and on the entire created world. Huge reversal. Here this principle that had impacted and still impacts and will continue to impact the present heavens and earth. The reversal began there that day in a little place just outside of Jerusalem. A huge reversal of that massive death cloud that came swooping in the day Adam sinned. So what do we mean by spiritually calibrated? We need to understand the magnitude and character of that resurrection and its impact upon us.

Here's Ephesians 1, 18-23, and I pray that the eyes of your heart may be enlightened. And by the way, that's actually having been enlightened. so that you will know what is the hope of His calling, what are the riches of the glory, and this is the wealth, what are the wealth of the glory of His inheritance from the saints.

He says, do you see it? Do you see it? See? That's what He wants them to get. What is the surpassing? That's the overthrown. That's like, ah! Ever see a ball get overthrown? Right? They call that an error. This is not an error. Okay? If we say a batter goes up and he hits it past the fence where the outfielders can get it, he's hit a home run. This is a ball that goes into orbit. The batter steps up, goes whack, and the ball just goes straight out into orbit. More than 17,000 miles an hour. That ball is screaming.

That's the kind of thing, this is way over the top kind of power. What is the surpassing greatness, the overthrown, the way over the top greatness of His power toward, that's ice, meaning into us and the Greek, us who believe. These are in accordance with the working of the strength of His might. See those strength and might and power words start to show up? which he brought about in Christ, when he raised him from the dead, and seated him at his right hand in the heavenly places, far above all rule and authority and power and dominion, every name that is named, not only in this age, but also in the one to come. He put all things in subjection under his feet, and gave him his head over all things in the church, which is his body, the fullness of him who fills in all, and that's you." See, that's what I mean by getting spiritually calibrated. by getting a sense of the magnitude of what took place. It's not, guys, here's just a nice little incidental I'd like to share with you. No big deal. No, this is a big deal. That's the point. This is a really, really big deal.

So the surpassing greatness of the power of Christ's resurrection is the measure of the magnitude of that new life that was not just enacted at that past point in time, but is being right now directed into the life of the believer. Right now. Which is also a marvelous truth that is not at all just hypothetical, but intended to be real life now. We who believe are not intended to do the living here on this planet. He is. His life. Okay? His life.

And by the way, that's also, as Nancy and I counsel, something we take great joy in being able to share with people. You don't have to do it. Matter of fact, let's tell somebody, you know, people in Texas, we were talking to them and saying, you know what?

You're done here. You're through. Don't worry about it. You're all done. He's the one that's going to do the living. You're through here. I'm done on this planet, right? Let him do the living. It's his job. It's not mine. I'm through here. I'm out of here. I'm seated in the heavenlies. I'm done. See you later. And finally, ascended and seated, Acts 1 records historically that Christ ascended right from the presence of the eleven disciples.

Did I miss the buzzer? I got so excited I missed the buzzer. I've got to stop. And we'll have to carry this next week. I think you're calibrating. Yeah, you need to throw something at me or something. Heavens sakes. Okay, I'm going to break the clock here in a minute. Alright, let's pray.

Lord, we thank you for these marvelous, indeed exciting truths. What phenomenal things that you have revealed. We just pray that our minds, not just our gray matter, but the minds of our hearts, Lord, would indeed be calibrated to the magnitude of what you've accomplished in your resurrection. And here as we look at these fascinating and amazing truths, we just thank you for what you've shown, what you've done, and what we can count upon you to do for all eternity. We pray in Jesus' name. Amen.