John 16 (ESV)
16“I have said all these things to you to keep you from falling away.
2They will put you out of the synagogues. Indeed, the hour is coming when whoever kills you will think he is offering service to God. 3And they will do these things because they have not known the Father,
nor me. 4But I have said these things to you, that when their hour comes you may remember that I told them to you.
Falling away???
Jesus is speaking about the Holy Spirit so that we do not fall away from our faith. Many denominations teach “once saved, always saved.” I wish this were true, but it is not scriptural. In fact todays reading talks about Jesus
speaking about the Holy Spirit “to keep you from falling away.” We see the Bible speak very clearly that you can fall away from your faith. The scattering of the seeds parable nails this teaching and it is explained by Jesus himself
that people fall away. The Bible also talks about the ability to have your name removed from the Book of Life. The easy way to avoid this is to continue to study and stay in God’s Word. The Bible says faith comes from hearing, hearing
the Word of Christ.
I pray: O Lord, help me to keep my eyes fixed on you and to hunger for your Word. Help me to feed my faith with your Word…
and teach me to share it. Amen.