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He himself shall be saved;
Yet so as by fire'.
The same two elements are seen in 2 Timothy 2:11 -13:
'If we died with Him
we shall also live
Life assured.
with Him.
If we suffer
We shall also reign
with Him
Reigning or being denied.
If we deny
He also will deny us.
If we believe not
Yet He abideth faithful
Life assured.
He cannot deny Himself'.
From these two passages, it will be seen that looseness of living is by
no means encouraged by the blessed assurance of life indefectible and
unconditional by faith in the finished work of the Redeemer.
If the present article was intended to stand by itself, it would be
necessary to extend our examination of the grounds for assurance, but as it
forms part of an analysis of doctrinal truth, we need only direct the reader
to those articles which speak of Salvation and its results, of Redemption,
and Atonement, of Acceptance and the like to present a multi -sided argument.
We therefore conclude this article by assembling without extended comment
other aspects of truth that make their contribution to the great subject of
Assurance.
(1)
The faithfulness of God to keep His word of promise is expressed
in many ways.
(a) His unchangeableness.
'I am the Lord, I change not; Therefore ye sons of Jacob are not
consumed' (Mal. 3:6).
'Jesus ... having loved His own which were in the world, He loved
them Unto The End' (John 13:1).
'And so all Israel shall be saved ... For the gifts and calling
of God are Without Repentance' (Rom. 11:26 -29).
(b) His Sovereignty.
'Chosen us in Him before the foundation of the world' (Eph. 1:4).
'Ye have not chosen Me, but I have chosen you' (John 15:16).
'The Lord ... shall choose Jerusalem again.
Be silent, O all
flesh, before the Lord' (Zech. 2:12,13).
(c) His Oath.