We Must Choose to Follow Jesus Every Day

Each Morning We Decide How We Will Live that Day be it For Ourselves or For a Greater Purpose

In highschool a friend caught me off guard when she said with confidence that “once you’re saved you can’t lose your salvation.” I asked her where the Bible said that. She didn’t have an answer about why she believed in eternal security.

Instead she just insisted it was true. Her minister said so. “Once saved, always saved,” she spouted. She was as sure of that as her own name. She had prayed a prayer asking Jesus into her heart and that was all that mattered. End of discussion.

I worried about her conclusion and her eternal destination. I implored her to not treat something so important with casual indifference. She began acting less and less like someone who followed Jesus. I watched as she turned and walked away from him.

Before long she was talking and acting like someone who didn’t know Jesus at all. She believed she had her eternal get-out-of-jail-card, and nothing else mattered.

The Doctrine of Eternal Security

People who study such things call “once saved, always saved” the “doctrine of eternal security.” Grabbing a spattering of carefully selected Bible verses they build a case for their conclusion.

I’ve spent time with such people who consider eternal security as an unquestionable, absolute truth. I kind of see their point but think the evidence they present is far from conclusive.

I’ve also spent time with people equally convinced that the principle of eternal security is an errant conclusion. They have their own verses to support their contention.

I kind of see their point, too, but I think the evidence they present is far from conclusive.

I agree with both camps, though I hold each of their conclusions loosely. By faith I have a certainly of what life after death holds for me, but I will not treat this confidence carelessly. Too much is at stake.

An Example from Marriage

When my wife and I married, we agreed it was for the rest of our lives. Divorce would not be an option. However, each day we also make this decision again. We choose to remain committed to each other and love each other.

Most days we do this well and other days, not so well. Yet in each of these days we move forward as a married couple.

Only a fool would claim that saying “I do” one time at a wedding ceremony was enough and that actions from that day forth mattered not. So, I choose to say “I do” every day to my wife.

I do the same with Jesus, too. Each day I say “I do” to Jesus again. I choose to follow him anew. I’d be foolish not to.

Peter DeHaan writes about biblical Christianity to confront status quo religion and live a life that matters. He seeks a fresh approach to following Jesus through the lens of Scripture, without the baggage of made-up traditions and meaningless practices.

Read more in his books, blog, and weekly email updates.

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