 Welcome back. So before the break we looked at all the important elements that make up the salvation experience, all the things which have to be there for the salvation experience to be true. So let's say that a person has genuinely repented, they have genuinely placed their faith in Jesus. So what happens to that person? That person experiences something called regeneration. They are reborn. They are born again. Those are the different terms that we use to describe what happens to that person when they repent and place their faith in Jesus. So in when we covered the doctrine of humanity, we talked about how we all are spirit beings. All of us sitting over here, we are spirit beings and we have a soul that is mind, will, emotions and we live inside a human body. So we all are spirit beings. What does it say about spirit beings in the Bible? John chapter 3 verse 6. John 3, 6. John chapter 3 verse 6. That which is born from flesh, that which is born from spirit is spirit. Exactly. That which is born of the flesh is flesh. In the NIV it says flesh gives birth to flesh. So in the class we had, you know, when we were doing the doctrine of humanity, we saw that all humans, because of Adam, we are born as fallen, sinful spirit beings. So a fallen, sinful spirit being, when, you know, when such people, they give birth to children, their children are also fallen, sinful spirit beings because flesh can only give birth to flesh. It takes the Holy Spirit to give birth to something which is of the Spirit. So all of us, we are born as fallen, sinful spirit beings. And what does Jesus say about such people in John 3, 3? Yeah, if you could read out John 3, 3. John chapter 3 verse 3. Jesus answered and said to him, most assuredly I say to you, unless one is born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God. Unless a person is born again, no way are they going to see the kingdom of God. Why? Because all of us, you know, in our past, we were fallen, sinful spirit beings. Fallen, sinful spirit beings cannot enter into the kingdom of God. Plain fact. They have to be born again. They have to become something else. Only then they're going to get into the kingdom of God. So, which is what, you know, Jesus did for us. He had a very permanent solution to this problem. What to do with a fallen, sinful person? They cannot enter into the kingdom of God. So, God literally killed them, crucified them. It's a very permanent solution. If we were to look at Romans chapter 6 verse 4. What does it say? Romans 6, 4. Romans chapter 6 was 4. Therefore, we were worried with him through baptism into death. That just as Christ was raised from the dead by the glory of the Father, even so we also should walk in newness of life. So, we were literally buried with him through baptism into death. How did God deal with the situation where all the people are fallen, sinful spirit beings? They cannot enter into heaven, but God loves them. He wants to bring them into heaven. So, what does he do? He crucifies them, literally kills them. Because you see, if you just simply put some new clothes on them, make them look nice, put some makeup on them, they will still not be good enough to enter into heaven because they are still fallen, sinful spirit beings. So, permanent solution. He kills them, crucifies them, but then we don't stay dead because it of course says over here, you know, in the same way Christ was raised from the dead through the glory of the Father, we too are raised from the dead that we may live a new life. So, in that moment of salvation, he kills us, crucifies us along with Christ and then with Christ we are raised to a new way of life which is what it talks about in Titus chapter 3 verse 5. Titus chapter 3 verse 5. Titus chapter 3 verse 5, not by works of righteousness. Which we have done, but according to his mercy, he saved us through the washing of regeneration and renewing of the Holy Spirit. How did he save us through the washing of regeneration? In NIV it says washing of rebirth and through the renewal by the Holy Spirit. So, he, through the divine work of the Holy Spirit, the sinful fallen spirit being was crucified and through the divine work of the Holy Spirit, this person was reborn, rebirthed into a new creation and only such new creations will enter into heaven. Nobody else can enter into heaven. So, this process where we are crucified with Christ and then through the divine work of the Holy Spirit, we are reborn into a new creation. This process is called regeneration or rebirth. In simple terms, we call it being born again. So, one thing that you remember about this regeneration experience is that it happens in instantly in one moment, in that second, when you make that commitment to the Lord Jesus and you repent and place your faith in Him, in that moment regeneration takes place. So, in the same way, a baby when it's born, it takes a moment for the baby to be born, though of course for the mother it will probably feel like one year. So, the baby is born in an instant but the growth process takes a lifetime. We need to remember that. So, it's not enough to be regenerated and then just sit there like one big fat baby. We need to start growing. That's part of the growth process. Otherwise, there would be something very wrong with that person if that baby never grew up and just continued sitting over there in its diaper. It would be a very, very serious thing but a lot of Christians do that. They get regenerated, they are reborn and they assume that they have arrived and they just sit there in their diapers. It's very, very humiliating way to live. When a little baby, a little child, you don't give a chocolate to that child, that kid will throw a tantrum, it'll cry, it'll scream, it'll protest and everyone thinks the baby is so cute, even if it's crying and screaming. But a 20-year-old, you don't give him a chocolate and he starts screaming and shouting and protesting. What will you think? It's humiliating and yet we have a lot of believers who are living in that very stunted, retarded condition where they have never grown up, no spiritual growth at all. They behave the same way a little baby would behave. And when the baby, you know, when a person is a new believer, you think, oh how cute, there's so many things that they still don't know and you're patient with them, you know, you're concentrated towards them. But after 20 years of being a believer, if you're still in that same state, there's something very disgusting and humiliating about it, you know. And so it is absolutely important that this person who has become reborn start growing. So the Lord helps us in this growth process because this is what it says about the new creation. Thankfully it says this, this is what it says, 2 Corinthians chapter 5 verse 17, we've read it out many times, we are familiar with it. So if someone could read out, 2 Corinthians 5 verse 17. 2 Corinthians chapter 5 verse 17, therefore if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation and all things have passed away, behold all things have become new. It says if anyone is in Christ, so you see this growing up, you don't have to do it on your own, you don't have to do it in your own strength, now you are in Christ, you're in a very superior position. Earlier you were this helpless slave, whatever Satan would make you do, you did it, you didn't really have a choice, but now you are in Christ, your status is so high, you have great power in you to be able to grow, to be able to change. So this new creation is not living a helpless independent life, this new creation is in Christ and because we are in Christ, the old is really gone, we can actually start living in a new way like it says in Romans 6.4, we have been raised up so that we can live in a new way, a new life. So this being in Christ, this life that we have in Christ, one teacher used an illustration to bring out this, he talks about a bucket and a sponge, the bucket is full of water and then you put the sponge into the bucket, what happens to the sponge? The sponge begins to absorb the water which is inside, so as time goes by, the sponge becomes more and more full of that water. So now the sponge is in the water and the water is in the sponge. I'm not saying that the sponge becomes the water, the sponge will always stay the sponge and the water will always be water, but the water is now gotten into the sponge and the sponge is inside the water completely immersed in it. Our experience as believers should be like that, where we are in Christ, Jesus would be the bucket of water and we are the sponge and we allow ourselves to become more and more immersed in Him. The more immersed we are in Him, the more we will be able to walk in His power. So this union with Christ that we have, we can picture it in this way. So this is the interesting thing about the bucket and the sponge. Whatever the bucket is experiencing, the sponge will automatically experience because the sponge is in the bucket. So if you take the bucket and the sponge and put them in a freezer unit, the water is going to get cold, the sponge will also get cold. You take the sponge and the bucket and you put them in Kashmir. The bucket will enjoy Kashmir, the sponge will also enjoy Kashmir because they both are together in the same way. In Romans chapter 6, 3 to 4, this is what it says, just as Christ was raised from the dead through the glory of the Father, we too may live a new life. So He begins to live a new life. The bucket starts living a new life. We the sponge can also live that same new life. Whatever the bucket is experiencing, the sponge can experience. It's only the stubborn sponge which refuses to experience it. So it's our stubbornness which stops us from enjoying the new life which we can have in Christ. On the other hand, if a person humbles themselves on a daily basis and says, Lord, I will take up your yoke and learn from you. I will take up my cross and learn from you today, Lord. Teach me. I'm willing to listen. I'm willing to obey. The Lord will begin to teach and you everything that Jesus has experiencing in His victory. You also will experience the same victory. So it's not necessary for us to continue living defeated lives. We are in Christ. If Christ is having victory, then we also can have victory. We are in Him. We are the sponge inside the bucket. So when He is walking in victory, we also can walk in victory. All that we need to do is be willing to take up His cross and say, yes, today I will learn from you. Whatever you're teaching me today, I'm willing to bend my neck, submit and learn. Main problem that God had with the Israelites was that they were stiff-necked. They would refuse to bend their neck. No, they do not want to learn. They do not want to yield. But then if we are willing to bend our neck and say, yes, Lord, I choose to take my cross and submit to you and learn from you, then we will begin to experience whatever Christ has experienced in His victory. So we begin to grow from one level of victory to another. So we don't have to live defeated lives. Now, the thing about the bucket and the sponge, if you take the bucket and you place it on top of a multi-storied building right there on top, the bucket is in a very high position. But the sponge is also in a high position because the sponge is in the bucket. So where is Christ seated now? He is seated in the heavenlies. We are in Christ. So where are we seated? Spiritually, we are also seated in the heavenlies. Yes, in our physical body, we are here on this earth. But in the spiritual realm, we are seated with Him. Why? Because the sponge is in the bucket. So whatever the bucket experiences, we experience. So Jesus tries to experiencing authority and power. In Him, we also can enjoy the same authority and power, which is what it says in the scriptures. Ephesians chapter 2 verse 6. Someone could read out Ephesians 2 verse 6. And raised us together and made us sit together in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus. I'm not sure which version that is, but it's so nice. We sit, we're raised up together with Him, we're seated together with Him. Nice, that's a good version. So why were we raised up with Christ? Why didn't Jesus leave us crucified and dead? He raised us up with Christ so that we can enjoy the status which Jesus is enjoying. So we are seated with Him in the heavenly realms in Christ Jesus. So we can exercise our spiritual authority to walk in victory. We can exercise our spiritual authority to get the things which we need to be able to live on this earth. When it comes to the things we require to survive, finances, maybe a job, health for us and our family, these things, we can exercise our spiritual authority. Why? Because the sponge is in the bucket. If Christ is living in authority and power, we too can have the same authority and power because it's said in 2 Corinthians 5 17 that we are in Christ. The new has come. The old is gone, that old helpless existence is gone. We are now in Christ. We are the new creation. Now for the third aspect, the bucket and the sponge story will not work because buckets and sponges don't grow fruit. So for the third example, maybe we would have to take the example of the branch that the wine and the branches. So the branch chooses to stay in the wine creeper. It chooses to stay attached to the wine creeper. So as long as the branch is attached to the wine creeper, it is able to bear much fruit which is what Jesus says to us in John chapter 15 verse 4. He says, remain in me as I also remain in you. No branch can bear fruit by itself. It must remain in the wine. Neither can you bear fruit unless you remain in me. So John 15 verse 6, this is the warning which Jesus gives. If someone could read out, John 15 verse 6. If anyone does not abide in me, he is cast out as a branch and is withered and they gather them and throw them into the fire and they are burned. So a person who refuses to stay in Christ, they will not bear any kind of spiritual fruit. They will continue to live and sin. They will continue to be defeated. They will not be able to gain the benefits that come to us by being part of the kingdom of God. They will continue to live defeated lives in every way. So such people, they are not even part of the kingdom. So they are burned up. So Jesus warns and he says, you have to stay in me. The sponge has to make a conscious choice to continue being immersed in the bucket and to become more and more immersed in the bucket. So it's a choice that we need to make from our side and how do we do that? Simply by taking up our cross, taking up the yoke and learning from our gentle and humble teacher on a daily basis, it's basically that, yes, go ahead. Yoke and cross are two different things. It's not the same. Yeah, now, biblically that word yoke referred to, they talk about oxen but that is not what it talks about in the passage because it doesn't talk about us yoking ourselves to Jesus. It says take my yoke. He doesn't say I'm yoking myself with you. Okay, so generally the example that is used of oxen, the yoke which connects to oxen, that would not be the correct usage of the term yoke. It talks about how they would have this long, you know, hole on their shoulders and then you would carry water on one side and carry water on the other side. So it's basically that yoke. So Jesus is saying there is a yoke which I want you to carry and so as long as you're carrying that, I will be able to teach you. So in that sense, the yoke and the cross are two learning implements. That's all. If we stretch the yoke example too much, we lose the meaning. If we stretch the cross example also too much, we lose the meaning. It's just basically two ways of saying what I'm putting on you, you bear that because you see, actually if you look at Matthew 11 passage, the very next chapter is talking about the Pharisees and all these wrong burdens, yokes which they are putting on the people. So they are saying, you know, you walk this many kilometers on the Sabbath, you have to clean yourself ritually in this particular way. You do all these things, then God will be pleased with you. So Jesus is saying, forget the yoke, don't put on the yoke, take my yoke, learn from me. So he has his own way of teaching us. So you can think of it as the yoke which we are carrying or we can think of it as the cross that we are carrying. Both of them are basically conveying the point. So yes, I admit what you're saying is true. One is a water carrying yoke, the other is a cross on which people are crucified, but both of them are learning instruments which God is using to teach us submission, to teach us trust. So he sometimes deprives himself of something and he says, in spite of me depriving you of this, are you still believing in me? Are you still trusting me? So that becomes a cross in the sense, you know, you are now living in suffering, you're sharing in a suffering, but at the same time it's also that water carrier yoke where you're learning something from him. So yeah, these are just word pictures which I used. We don't stretch them too far. Yeah. All right. So we saw the importance of being attached, of staying attached to the wine creeper so that we will continue to bear fruit. Okay, coming to the next point about justification. So we talked a little bit about salvation. Now we will look at the next concept which is justification. What exactly is justification? Justification is the judicial declaration. The judge is declaring and he's saying, you are righteous. So justification basically is God declaring and saying, you are righteous. Salvation, justification, both of them together happen in one single moment. In that one single moment you are saved, you're delivered from the bondage to sin, you enter into a new relationship with him and in that very moment he also declares and says, now onwards you are righteous. So justification and salvation, they go together, they happen in one in the same moment and in the same way salvation is through the grace of God and when you place your faith in him, in the same way even justification is also by the grace of God when you place your faith in him. We will look at two verses which bring out that point. Romans chapter 3 verse 24. Romans chapter 3 verse 24. Romans chapter 3 verse 24 being justified freely by his grace through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus. So the justification is happening freely by the grace of God and Romans 4 verse 3. Romans chapter 4 verse 3 for what does the scripture say? Abraham believed God and it was accounted to him for righteousness. So Abraham chooses to place his faith in God and that is declared to him as credited to him as righteousness. So justification comes by grace of God through faith in the same way salvation comes by grace of God through faith. Both of them salvation and justification happen together in the same instance. But this one important aspect of justification which we need to look into which we need to grasp. Justification covers all of our sins. So that is an important point that we need to understand. When God declares and says, now onwards you are righteous, you are completely righteous. All your sins have been washed away. So that's an important doctrinal truth which we need to grasp. So let's look at Hebrews chapter 10. Maybe we can look at verses 11 to 14 first. Hebrews 10, 11 to 14. Hebrews chapter 10 was 11 and every priest stands ministering daily and offering repeatedly the same sacrifices which can never take away since verse 12. But this man after he had offered one sacrifice for sins forever sat down at the right hand of God, verse 13. From that time waiting till his enemies are made his footstool, verse 14. For by one offering he is perfect, perfected forever those who are being sanctified. Verse 15. So look at the contrast being made over here between the two priests. One is your human priest and the other is Jesus the high priest. Look at the contrast between them. In verse 11 you have the human priest standing day after day. On the other hand Jesus he makes his sacrifice once and he sits down which means his work is completed. So the contrast is that this human priest has to go on making animal sacrifices day after day. Every morning, every evening, forever and ever he has to keep doing that and if you want the reference for that that would be Exodus chapter 29 verses 38 to 41. In Exodus 29, 38 to 41 is where God tells them every morning you have to sacrifice the lamb. Every evening you have to sacrifice the lamb. Only in that way will God's judgment not come down upon the people. So this is what the priest does every day. He goes and stands over there and he does it again and again and again. Jesus on the other hand what does he do? It says verse 12. But when this priest had offered for all time okay he made the sacrifice for all time. When he had offered for all time one sacrifice for sins he sat down at the right hand of God. Why? Because this one sacrifice was sufficient. It was enough to cover the sins of all the human beings who lived before the birth of Jesus. You know even before Jesus came into this world. All the human beings who existed before the time of Jesus that one sacrifice which he did was enough to cover the sins of all of those people. So all the Old Testament people who had placed their faith in Yahweh and genuinely followed him that sacrifice became applicable to all of them. To all of their sins. If they had committed 1 million and 2 sins the sacrifice of Jesus would cover and wash away every one of those 1 million and 2 sins. So one sacrifice was enough to cover every single sin of every single person before the time of Jesus. All their sins got covered. So of course the sacrifice would be applicable only to the true followers of Yahweh. Let's look at just two examples. Genesis chapter 6 verse 9. Two popular characters who were declared by Yahweh as his true followers. Genesis 6 verse 9. Genesis chapter 6 verse 9. This is the genealogy of Noah. Noah was a judgment perfect in his generation. Noah walked with God. It says that Noah was a righteous man. It also says that he was blameless among the people of his time. Does it mean he never committed any sin? No, he's blameless in the sense whenever he commits a sin he immediately goes to the Lord and asks for forgiveness. He repents. It does not continue living in sin. So in that way he maintains a blameless status in front of God. He doesn't go on wallowing in his sins. He immediately confesses, repents. So he was a righteous man who was blameless among the people of his time and he walked faithfully with God. Let's look at Job chapter 1 verse 1. What does it say about Job? Job 1. Job chapter 1 verse 1. There was a man in the land of whose name was Job and that man was blameless and upright and one who feared God and shunned evil. He feared God and he shunned evil. He pushed it aside. He did not want to have anything to do with evil. He loved God and he wanted to be blameless and upright. Now all of these people whenever they would commit a sin what would they do? They would immediately go and offer sacrifices. In fact, Job even offered sacrifices on behalf of his children because he was worried that his children might have sinned in some way. So he made offerings even on behalf of them. So all of these people, the offerings, the animal sacrifices which they made were pointing towards what Jesus would do one day. So when these faithful, righteous people maintained a blameless status with God on a daily basis, when they made those sacrifices, God looked at those animal sacrifices and connected it with what Jesus is going to do in the future and so he atoned for all of their sins. So every single sin committed by these people was cleansed when Jesus finally made his sacrifice. Until that time they all had to wait in paradise for the work of the cross to be finished. But they were covered by the sacrifice of Jesus. And then from the time that Jesus was physically born on this earth, right into the future, up to the time that he was resurrected and went back into heaven and all the generations which came after that, all of their sins, every single one of the sins of all the people who have lived from the time of Jesus up to now and into the future, their sins also were covered by this one sacrifice. So the wrong doctrine which some people teach that at the time of salvation, all the sins which you have committed up to the time of salvation, those are forgiven, but then the ones which you are going to commit in the future, those are not forgiven, wrong doctrine. Jesus sat down after doing that one sacrifice because it's enough, it has finished covering everything which is what is explained over there in that verse in Hebrews 10 verse 12 he says, but when this priest had offered for all time one sacrifice, one sacrifice for sins, he sat down at the right hand of God, verse 14 it explains for because by one sacrifice, he has made perfect forever those who are being made holy. So that one sacrifice was enough to declare all his followers, his true followers as perfect. So therefore at the time of salvation, when we make our personal commitment to the Lord Jesus, not only are our past sins forgiven, even all our future sins are also forgiven. So you know you don't have to worry whether the sins which you are going to commit in 2025 are covered or not, those are also covered. I mean 2025 has not even come yet, but those sins which you are going to commit in the future, those are also covered. So imagine what a great gift was given to us, not only are your past sins forgiven, even the future sins which you have not even committed yet, those are also have been forgiven. It's the most amazing free gift a person can ever receive, the best gift anyone can receive. So this is what justification is all about where God looks at you and says, now onwards you are perfectly righteous, you have been made perfect forever and so even your future sins have been forgiven. So does this mean that now I can go and live in any way I feel like living? I mean all my sins are forgiven, even my future sins are forgiven. So does this give me the freedom to go and live however I want, which is what a lot of people are doing? I mean you know we hear these painful stories of important spiritual leaders, pastors who are living in sin. Why are they living in sin so confidently? Because their future sins also have been forgiven, so the thing might not take advantage of that. Let's live in this sinful way. But is that what the Bible teaches? What does it say? Does it say we can start living in sin because we have now been forgiven completely? Does that give us the right to live in sin? This is what Romans chapter 6 verses 15 to 18, this is what it says. So Romans chapter 6 verses 15 to 18 if someone can read out. What then shall we sin because we are not under the law but under grace? Certainly not. Do you not know that to whom you present yourselves slaves to obey you are that one slave whom you obey whether of sin leading to death or of obedience leading to righteousness? But God we thank that though you were slaves of sin yet you obeyed from the heart that from of that form of doctrine to which you were delivered and having been set free from sin you became slaves of righteousness. A very basic fundamental principle which Paul is bringing out over here he says whomever you choose to obey that person is going to be your master and you are going to be that person's slave. So if you choose to be slaves of righteousness then your master is Jesus Christ. On the other hand if you want to continue if you want to go back and give yourself to sin then you will be the slave of sin you know. So whomever you obey which is what he says in Romans chapter 6 verse 16 he says you are slaves of the one you obey so which is why he tells in verse 18 to this Romans you have been set free from sin and have become slaves to righteousness because these guys made a conscious choice he says in verse 17 you have come to obey from your heart from your heart you have chosen to obey the pattern of teaching which has been taught by Jesus he says and that has now claimed your allegiance it's like as if they formally stood and placed their hand on their heart and said now onwards we give our allegiance to Jesus Christ that we will follow him and his teaching. So it's like as if they have formally taken a vow and they chose to become slaves of righteousness therefore their master is Jesus and they are under his covering they are under his protection. But we also are aware of the fact that even though we have made our allegiance to Jesus sometimes we still end up sinning why we talked about this in one of our earlier classes because our mind is still unrenewed our body is still habituated used to the old sinful lifestyle. So these have not become a new creation in that moment of salvation so because of that sometimes we still fall into sin. So which is why Hebrews 10 14 puts it in a very clear way explaining to us exactly what our status is no we've read that out already but then you know if you could read it out once again Hebrews 10 verse 14. So by one offering he has perfected forever those who are being sanctified. Yes he has made perfect forever so your spiritual status is that you are now perfectly righteous why because you are now a new living spirit being you are no longer another sinful fallen spirit being that sinful fallen spirit being was crucified killed you were reborn as a new living spirit so obviously you are made perfect you are perfectly righteous that is what the Holy Spirit has rebirthed you as but when it comes to your mind and body you're still going through the sanctification process which is why it says in the second part of that verse for by one sacrifice he has made perfect forever those who are being made holy on a daily basis they're being sanctified so our mind and our body is getting sanctified on a daily basis so when we sin what should be our attitude what should we do when we fall into sin 1st John 1 verses 8 to 9 yeah say very very familiar verses if someone could read out 1st John 1 8 to 9 1st John chapter 1 verse 8 if we say that we have no sin we deceive ourselves and the truth is not in us verse 9 if we confess our sins he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness so in the time of John you know who wrote his gospel and his epistles a little later the other three gospels were written very very early maybe within 60 70 years of Jesus resurrection those gospels were finished you know they were written off by that time John on the other hand wrote a little later so by then a lot of wrong teachings had started to creep into the church so at that time some people were saying oh Christ has now forgiven us all our sins so now we are perfect so even if I do something sinful it's not a sin anymore because you know I have been made perfect so that is why John says in his letter if we claim to be without sin we deceive ourselves so don't deceive yourselves and think that you have you know in your mind and body you have become perfect already know you're still undergoing the sanctification process so don't deceive yourself and pretend that you are not sinning when you sin humbly come to the Lord confess openly and say yes Lord what I have done is sinful please forgive me please help me not to repeat it so when we come to him humbly and we admit that we have sinned he is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins so he will forgive us why is he faithful and just it goes on to explain in the next chapter like I had said in one of the earlier classes the people who did the division of the letters into different chapters and verses sometimes cut off the chapter at the wrong point so let's move into first John chapter 2 and also look at verses 1 and 2 what does it say over there verse John 2 verses 1 and 2 my little children these things I write to you so that you may not sin and if anyone sins we have an advocate with the Father Jesus Christ the righteous and he himself is the propitiation for our sins and not for us only but also for the whole world that word that is used over there about what Jesus did it says that he is the propitiation for our sins in the NIV it says he is the atoning sacrifice that word propitiation that word atoning other synonyms can be appeasing satisfying basically that word is saying God was very very angry highly displeased with us because we were fallen sinful spirit beings we were enemies of God but now after Christ made the sacrifice and washed us clean now he has satisfied God he has appeased God he has atoned for us he has propitiated for us you know and gained us God's approval so that word basically has that kind of a connotation so now God is at peace with us because of what Jesus did so because of what Jesus the righteous one has done therefore when we confess our sins God is faithful he will remember oh Jesus has finished making the propitiatory sacrifice for this person so therefore I will forgive this person so when I go to God and say Lord I'm so sorry and I have sinned against you and Lord I do not want to repeat the sin please forgive me when we go with that you know honest genuine repentance he is faithful he remembers what Jesus did for us that propitiatory sacrifice which he performed for us God remembers it and he says all right because of what Jesus has done I will forgive this person and it says that he is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness so this unrighteousness which is still there in my mind in my body which is making me do this he starts cleaning me from that so that I will not repeat it again and again he starts sanctifying me he starts purifying me because I went to him with a humble attitude I was not like those you know the strong believers in the church who were saying I'm without sin but I have humbly admitted that I did commit a sin and because I have been humble the Lord will not only forgive me he will start purifying me from that unrighteousness so this is the beautiful thing which God will do for us because of the atoning sacrifice of Jesus the righteous one okay so this is what God has given us we have been declared completely righteous and if we fall into sin he is there to forgive to purify he will not turn away from us which is why I know it says in Romans chapter 8 now there is no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus so rather than pushing us away disgusted and saying go get lost I don't want to have anything more to do with you no there is no condemnation if we can just go to him and confess he will lovingly accept us because of what Jesus did this is the great hope that we have so we understand the privilege which has been given to us and we make a conscious choice to stay in union with him the sponge is so grateful for what the bucket has done it chooses to continue staying in the bucket okay so we do not go back into sin we don't go back and say I'm bored of my own new master I don't want my new master I think I'm on the old one so we don't do that we are not the people who make that wrong choice and say I want to go back under my old master so you see we always have that freedom anyone who really wants to say that can actually do that because God does not take away our free will but however it will be very very difficult to go back to the old master because our new master is very possessive about us okay so we will get get to that we will look at that let's first look at the negative side and then we will look at the positive side of how extremely difficult it is to lose your salvation because the God whom we have is greater than he who is in the world and he's very possessive about us is not going to let go of us but there is a warning given in Hebrew so we should look at that warning and take that warning to our hearts and be confident that our Lord will not let go of us okay so let's look at the negative side first then we will look at the positive side so if someone could read out 2 Timothy chapter 4 verse 10 where it talks about this man Demas you might have heard about him in a lot of sermons 2 Timothy 4 verse 10 2 Timothy chapter 4 verse 10 but Demas has forsaken me having loved this present world and has departed for Thessalonica Chris yeah yeah yeah just that first portion because they don't seem to have anything against the other two guys but you know everyone says that Demas is a very bad person they say that maybe this verse is saying that he actually left Jesus Christ and went back into the world and lost his salvation so this just a theory which some people propose so a lot in a lot of places they say like Demas who went back into the world and lost his salvation is what they say now we don't really know okay there's just one single sentence given over there maybe that guy had just back slid in maybe he didn't really go back into the world and accept the old master maybe he had just got back slid in maybe who knows maybe three years after this letter was written maybe you know he he repented and came back to Jesus so we don't really know the details so let's not just say that Demas is the it's one example of somebody who lost their salvation there aren't enough details mentioned over there for us to come to that conclusion yeah yeah the teaching of one saved is saved forever is true or false yeah so can salvation be lost or once you're saved you're saved forever and ever what should we say regarding that we cannot say anything in two minutes it's utterly impossible but yes next class we will be continuing with the doctrine of salvation justification we'll also add a little bit of redemption and sanctification because in your notes you have those four things mentioned so we will touch upon all the four I know concepts which we need to cover but for today we are you know out of time we kind of you know stopped at a very I don't know very tense point where we don't know whether Demas has lost his salvation or not so yes let's you know look at this you know in our next class so today we looked at how justification applies to us God has declared us perfectly righteous so can a person who has been declared perfectly righteous lose their salvation or not because Demas was somebody in full-time ministry this was a man who was doing ministry along with Paul shoulder to shoulder this was a true believer and this man goes back into the world and we don't really know whether it was just a case of backsliding or whether he had taken a permanent decision we will get to that I know we so we will leave him aside but we will look at this whole idea of whether salvation can be lost or not and we will look at the Hebrew passages and we will look at all the other beautiful passages which talk about how God is very possessive about us and will not let go all right so let's close with a word of prayer Lord we just thank you so much for the things that we could learn about salvation and justification in our class today what an amazing free generous gift you have given us so Lord when we come to you we can have that full assurance that there is now no more condemnation we are yours and you have through Christ perfected us so we can have the assurance that even though we may fall we can get back up again you are on our side you will forgive us you will help us to to grow once more so we thank you for this deep love that we have Lord and this deep assurance that you have given us we thank you for that help us to live in a way which is worthy of you Lord and worthy of this beautiful free gift which you have given us thank you Lord in Jesus name amen