“Who will ascend to the hill of the Lord,
and who will stand in His holy place?
He who has clean hands and a pure heart,
who has not received my life in vain.”
Psalm 24:3–4a
“The Spirit is life.”
Romans 8:10
There is such a thing as receiving the Spirit, God’s life, and then losing your soul. We must continue in holiness to obtain eternal life. Being born again is wonderful, but Jesus said that “he who endures to the end, the same shall be saved” (Mt. 24:13. For “we are made partakers with Christ if we hold fast our first confidence firm until the end” (Heb. 3:14), that is, if we “believe to the saving of the soul” (Heb. 10:39).
There is such a thing as becoming a believer, and then, through disobedience, have it be in vain. Paul wrote to the Corinthians, “I remind you, brothers, of the gospel that I proclaimed to you, which also you received, in which also you stand, by which also you are being saved if you are holding fast that message which I preached to you; otherwise, you believed in vain” (1Cor. 15:1–2). Of a believer who does not hold fast to the gospel, Jesus said that in the Final Judgment he will cut him off “and appoint him his portion with the hypocrites. In that place, there shall be weeping and gnashing of teeth!” (Mt. 24:51).
We must receive God’s life, His Spirit, in order to have any hope of salvation. And what a precious hope that is! But we receive His life in vain if we are disobedient after receiving it. That is why the man of God said that the resurrected Jesus “became the author of eternal salvation to all who obey him” (Heb. 5:9).
May God grant us the grace to receive His life and then fulfill our purpose. Let us rejoice in the truth and bear good fruit to God!
