Apostasy
Assurance is of the Essence of Saving Faith – 1997 Grace Evangelical Society Conference – MP3 / YouTube
What is the difference between saving faith and assurance? Why is the nature of the gospel message, such that when a person believes the biblical gospel, he necessarily has the assurance of eternal salvation? If a person is not assured of his eternal salvation, then that person is not believing the gospel message of eternal life. Believing something false never saved anybody, although believing a falsehood may give false assurance. What is saving faith? Is it a persuasion or a decision? Most false professions are made when the decision/process precedes the persuasion. What does it mean to believe that Jesus is the Christ? It means that Jesus is the guarantor of resurrection and eternal life to everyone who believes in Him. At the moment of saving faith, the believer is sure that he is eternally saved. Passages mentioned include: John 3:16, 20:31; 1 John 5:1; John 11:25-27; John 9:35-38; Matthew 11:2-3; and 2 Timothy 2:18.
Judges 2:6-19 – Is Your God a Stranger? (June 22, 1997) – MP3 / YouTube
In this message given the day after Zane’s 65-year-old birthday party, Zane looks at the nation of Israel and their turning away from the Lord after the times of Joshua and various judges. Zane applies this as an illustration and warning for our own Christian lives. A Christian can drift so far from God that God is a stranger to such Christian. The surest evidence that we as Christians are not having intimate fellowship with God is disobedience to His commandments. Are we committed to God and walking in His ways, so that God will not be a stranger? Other passages mentioned include: John 17:3-4; 1 John 2:3-4; Proverbs 3:11-12; Hebrews 10:30-31; Hebrews 12:28-29.
Mark 16:16 – He Who Believes and Is Baptized Will Be Saved (2006) – MP3 / YouTube
Zane discusses with Bob Wilkin of the Grace Evangelical Society, the often misunderstood passage in Mark 16:16: “He who believes and is baptized will be saved; but he who does not believe will be condemned.” (NKJV)
The Peril of Not Growing – Hebrews 5:12-14; 6:4-9, 11 – Hebrews Part 6 (July 14, 1983) – MP3 / YouTube
One of the most dangerous periods in our entire Christian life and experience is the time when we are babes in Christ. One of the great tragedies in the Christian church today is that there are so many Christians who have been saved for years and years and yet they have barely grown in the Lord and are still babes. Why does it matter what we do after we are saved and what is the danger of apostasy? Hebrews 10:23 is also mentioned.