Present Condition

A lot of people think that they can't lose their salvation. A lot of people believe that old adage, “once saved, always saved.” They believe in eternal security, but we can indeed lose our salvation. We can go from living a righteous life to living a life of sin, and we can lose our salvation.

Now, I want to come from the book of Ezekiel, chapter 33, verses 12 through 20. I know a lot of people think that the Old Testament is not relevant—that it’s not something we need to be looking at or reading—but you definitely need to be reading the Old Testament. The Old Testament does have things that are specific to the Jewish people, because they are Jewish and we are Gentiles. However, the lessons they went through—when God told them to repent or to change and they didn’t—are lessons we need to learn so that we don’t repeat them and go through the same judgments they did.

So, in Ezekiel chapter 33, verses 12 through 20, this is talking about how we can lose our salvation and how people can gain salvation. It is basically telling us that if you live a righteous life, you will live. But if you live a righteous life and then begin living a life of sin, you can lose your salvation.

Now understand, I’m not talking about when you get caught up—when your passions override your wisdom in the Word of God—and you sin, and then later repent, heartbroken that you sinned against your fellow man, yourself, and God. You saw it was wrong, you were convicted in your spirit, and you repented. That’s not what I’m talking about.

Righteous people are not perfect. We do make mistakes. We will fall flat on our face. But we repent, because that conviction comes from the Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit shows us that sin in us, and we are heartbroken. We fall upon the mercy of God, and God forgives us. This is not what Ezekiel chapter 33 is talking about.

It’s talking about the righteous person who lived a righteous life and then turns from that to live a life of sin and does not repent—refuses to repent—but continues in that life of sin. These verses are warning us that your previous righteousness will be remembered no more.

On the flip side, wicked people who do wickedness will lose their life. But if that wicked person truly turns to God and repents of his wickedness, the Word says that he shall surely live—he shall be saved.

Back then, the Israelites were saying that God was dealing with them unjustly—that He was being unfair. They thought that because they were the people of God, because they were righteous, and because they had done all these wonderful things and had the law, that their righteousness outweighed their sin. They believed God should judge them by weighing their good against their bad—but that’s not how God works.

If you are righteous and continue in righteousness, you will live. But if you were righteous and turn away—even if you go to church every day, pray every day, read your Word every day—if you live a life of sin, a life of iniquity, you will perish in that sin. People look at the outward sins that you can see, but there are people who revel in doing evil that you can't always see. They gossip, backbite and set pits for others to fall in and still think that they walk with the Lord They think that their "good deeds" outweigh their bad and are deceived. I tell people all the time that God indeed blesses those who belong to Him, but they devil also blesses those who do his evil bidding. When good things still happen in "evil doers" lives, they think it's a blessing from God, but instead it is from the devil deceiving them making them think they still belong to God and they do not. Ask yourself, "Is this God using me?" And I'll say this, if you have to ask God if what you are doing or want to do is of Him then you are already in trouble. I'm not talking about asking God for direction; I'm talking about wanting to do evil and bad things. We need to listen to our Elders when they said "If you wouldn't want it to happen to you, then you don't do it to others".

There’s an illustration: if you live righteously your whole life and then begin living in unrepentant sin, when Jesus comes back and finds you in that state, even if you’ve been going to church, reading, and praying, you will not be going with Him.

Another illustration: if for 1,000 days you take no poison, but on the 1,001st day you take poison, that one day negates all the previous days because now you're physically dead. It doesn’t lessen the seriousness. That’s how God deals with us. When you lived righteously and turn from that to live a life a sin - still trying to maintain some semblance of righteousness by going to church, you are spiritually dead and don't even know it.

In Luke 18:8, Jesus said, “When the Son of Man comes, will He find Faith on the earth?” When Jesus comes back—when He descends in the clouds with the voice of an archangel and the trumpet—He’s not going to look at what you did before. He’s going to look at your present condition. He's going to be looking for those who have kept their Faith in His Finished Work. You can not be looking to what Jesus accomplished on the Cross of Calvary and live a life a wickedness/evilness.

If your present condition is righteousness, then you lived unto righteousness. But if you were righteous and have been living a life of sin—living a double life—and you know that sinful life does not line up with the Word of God, yet you continue in it and refuse to repent, then when Jesus comes, your present state is what matters. A double-minded man is unstable in all of their ways and are destine to fall. They should not expect anything from God. Only if they repent and turn and do it no more can they have all God has for them including Salvation.

God is not going to be looking at all the good things you did. He’s going to be looking at your obedience—your present condition. To know to do right and not do it is sin. You are willfully and habitually sinning, and that is what the Word of God says we are not to do.

We are not perfect. We will fall. But the Holy Spirit convicts us, we see it, we are hurt, and we fall on God’s mercy. We ask Him to forgive us, and He does. Then we turn from that sin. This is what God wants us to do. It is of the Lord's mercy, not mere mortals (humans) mercy, that we (who truly belong to Him) are not consumed in our sins. His mercies are new every morning; great is His faithfulness.

Even if you have a stronghold in your life, God sees your heart. He knows whether you love that sin and want to keep it, or whether you are struggling and truly want to be free. He knows the difference; and if you are honest with yourself, you know the difference too.

A righteous person can lose their salvation; they know they are wrong and refuse to repent or think that they don't have to repent. There is no change. But when someone is struggling with sin but is asking the Lord to help them, you can still see evidence of change in their life. When you are truly a child of God, your overall lifestyle reflects that. You may have moments where you fall, slip up, or let your passions override wisdom—but that’s not who you are.

However, a person who willfully and habitually lives in sin, does evil to others and believes their good works will outweigh the bad has already lost their faith. You cannot claim Faith in Jesus and Him Crucified without evidence of change in your life.

God knows the difference. We can fool people, but we cannot fool God.

It is about your present condition—right now. What are you doing right now? Do you have unrepented sin in your life? If Jesus came back right now, how would He find you? So you look like Him?

If you are living a secret, sinful life—willfully and habitually—then that is who you are choosing to be. And if you think God will accept that while you knowingly live in disobedience and evilness, you are mistaken.

You have already lost your faith, which means you have already lost your salvation and are separated from God - the worst position in which anyone can find themself.

It’s not about how long you walked with God. It’s about whether you have willfully turned to a life of sin—not a moment of sin, but a lifestyle of sin.

You cannot have one foot in the church and one foot in the world—one foot in the Kingdom of God and one foot in the world. I know this from experience. We cannot please God this way nor can we truly live for Him this way. If you are lukewarm—having a little of God and a little of the world—God says He will spew you out of His mouth. Those are not my words; they are His.

One will dominate. Both cannot occupy the same space in your heart, your life, and your spirit.

Your present condition matters. If you struggle with sin, but you are crying out before God because you don’t want those things, He sees that. A true child of God hates sin; they don't revel or celebrate it. When they see it in themselves, they are broken.

That is why God says when you come before Him with a broken and contrite heart, He will not despise it. He will accept it, and He will forgive you. But when you do not repent and stay in a sinful state, you lose your way; and if continued, you lose your Salvation.

He is faithful and just to forgive. God is so patient with us. Jesus ever lives and makes intercession for us; Jesus prays for us. He loves us and is rooting for us to win - All Victories belong to Him, and He has defeated sin!

But you cannot willfully and habitually live a life of sin and think He is please nor think that you belong to Him.

It is based on your present condition. Each day we must take up our cross and hold fast to the confession of our Faith in Jesus and Him Crucified.