When I was a boy of about nine years old, I was preaching to my dog, a white German Shepherd named “Lady.”  I was using a little Bible distributed in school by the Gideon’s.  Is that even allowed anymore?  Anyway, as I was preaching to my dog, who sat attentive because we were on our back steps and the sun was shining bright, and being a dog, she had nothing better to do.  I chose as my text for that day (bear with me, I was trying to sound like a preacher) John 3:16.  Not that I had immersed myself in study because God had laid that verse on my heart.  I chose the verse because it was the only verse in the Bible I knew.

So I started my sermon – “For God so loved the world that he gave his only begotten son…”

I raised a hand and asked Lady, who just sat watching me, “And why did God send his son?”  Lady didn’t answer, so I answered for her.  “Because he loved the world!”

I then went on and read the next line, “That he gave his only begotten son.”

Again I asked Lady, “Who did he give?”  Once again Lady just sat looking at me and wagging her tail.  “His only begotten son.”  Of course, I didn’t know what “begotten” meant, but don’t worry, I’ll write a future article on that very interesting word.

“That whosoever believeth in him…”

“Who?” I asked Lady again.  Once again Lady just sat there wagging her tail, but like any good dog, I knew she was listening.  “Whosoever,” I answered for her, “And by whosoever that means who ever believes in Jesus Christ.”

“Should have everlasting life.”

“And how long is everlasting?”  I asked Lady.  “Everlasting is forever,” I answered.  “And how long is forever?”  I asked as I continued building up to the climax.

But then it hit me.  Forever is forever.  I dropped my arm to my side where I had been holding the little Bible up.  I was scared.  Being raised in the Methodist Church I had been taught that once we’re saved we have to be good or we could lose our salvation.  However, if that was the case then everlasting didn’t mean forever, which meant that John 3:16 was wrong.  You see, up to that time I had never heard of eternal security, but I knew something wasn’t right about what I was being taught in that little country church.

A few years later we moved to Florida and we started attending a Baptist Church.  They believed in eternal security, but my parents warned me not to fall for that lie, so I was careful not to believe what only a few years before had seemed so obvious.  I had been taught some of the following and I still had to see the truth of salvation before I could accept it.

• Believing you can never lose you salvation means you think you can do whatever you want and get away with it.  However, I asked myself, why would I want to do whatever I wanted just because I put all my trust in Jesus Christ to get me to heaven?  I was thankful for his sacrifice on my behalf, so why would I throw it back in his face by being unappreciative?  Besides, God chastised those whom he loved.  Meaning, like my Dad, if I stepped out of line he would correct me.  Since I knew God loved me, I also knew he would only do it the right way.
• How could God pay for sins you haven’t even committed yet?  I remember asking Chuck Arney, my youth pastor at that church that question and his reply made so much sense I felt dumb for not thinking of the answer myself.  He said, “All your sins were future to Christ when he died on the cross and rose again.”  That was right!  All my sins, and that meant all, were future at the time Christ died and rose again.
• In the “Book of James” it says, “Faith without works is dead.”  I thought I had Chuck on that one, but then he asked me, “Who was the “Book of James” written to?  I looked since I wasn’t sure, and said, “Christians?”  Chuck affirmed that answer, and then he pointed out the truth of what James was talking about.  God can see faith, but people can’t see it unless they can also see your works.  Works is not for God’s benefit, it’s for the benefit of people who can only see your faith through your works.

Still, I had to do some more thinking on the subject.  After all, my parents had warned me not to fall for the lie.  On Easter Sunday the church had a sunrise service, and Chuck asked me to bring the short message which was a teen custom in the church.  So I studied the crucifixion of Christ and saw it in a way I had never seen it before.  It went from being just a story, to be a real painful experience that the Son of God went through for me.

That night in my bed, I prayed and asked God to save me because for the first time in my life I was putting my complete faith and trust in Jesus Christ to forgive my sins and take me to heaven.  I was no longer going to trust in my ability to be good.  It was that night I was saved and it was also that night that God gave me life and a life more abundant.

I had discovered that the lie was not that Christ paid for ALL my sins, but the lie was that he HAD NOT.  Later my parents saw the truth of Christ’s once and for all payment for our sins and they too put their complete faith in Christ.  After all, that is what salvation is all about – faith.

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