Can you renounce what you are???

Matt 16:13-23 When Jesus came into the coasts of Caesarea Philippi, he asked his disciples, saying, Whom do men say that I the Son of man am? ¹⁴And they said, Some say that thou art John the Baptist: some, Elias; and others, Jeremias, or one of the prophets. ¹⁵He saith unto them, But whom say ye that I am? ¹⁶And Simon Peter answered and said, Thou art the Christ, the Son of the living God. ¹⁷And Jesus answered and said unto him, Blessed art thou, Simon Barjona: for flesh and blood hath not revealed it unto thee, but my Father which is in heaven. ¹⁸And I say also unto thee, That thou art Peter, and upon this rock I will build my church; and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it. ¹⁹And I will give unto thee the keys of the kingdom of heaven: and whatsoever thou shalt bind on earth shall be bound in heaven: and whatsoever thou shalt loose on earth shall be loosed in heaven. ²⁰Then charged he his disciples that they should tell no man that he was Jesus the Christ.

²¹From that time forth began Jesus to show unto his disciples, how that he must go unto Jerusalem, and suffer many things of the elders and chief priests and scribes, and be killed, and be raised again the third day. ²²Then Peter took him, and began to rebuke him, saying, Be it far from thee, Lord: this shall not be unto thee. ²³But he turned, and said unto Peter, Get thee behind me, Satan: thou art an offence unto me: for thou savourest not the things that be of God, but those that be of men.

Matt 26:69-75 ⁶⁹Now Peter sat without in the palace: and a damsel came unto him, saying, Thou also wast with Jesus of Galilee. ⁷⁰But he denied before them all, saying, I know not what thou sayest. ⁷¹And when he was gone out into the porch, another maid saw him, and said unto them that were there, This fellow was also with Jesus of Nazareth. ⁷²And again he denied with an oath, I do not know the man. ⁷³And after a while came unto him they that stood by, and said to Peter, Surely thou also art one of them; for thy speech betrayeth thee. ⁷⁴Then began he to curse and to swear, saying, I know not the man. And immediately the cock crew. ⁷⁵And Peter remembered the word of Jesus, which said unto him, Before the cock crow, thou shalt deny me thrice. And he went out, and wept bitterly.

I spoke with a church out here not long ago which holds the belief that a person can renounce his salvation and turn from Christ. They claim that once you do this you are no longer saved, and can never be saved again. I think this doctrine is heartbreaking to hear.

I believe the Bible teaches that in order for a person to truly be saved there has to be humility, repentance, and BELIEF! At the point of salvation something is changed in you, and though you may chose not to walk in the light, you can never go back to your original state. (2 Corinthians 5:17)

I like to make picture comparisons. I sometimes think of us as if we are cake! I am not sure if I came up with this picture myself of if I heard it somewhere as a child. Either way it is something God shared with me and I am wanting to share it you.

When we are born, we are born in sin, and we are like cake batter. A mushy sticky mess, that may seem good and fun to put your fingers in, but your fingers end up all sticky. Everything you touch is lefts with a sticky residue. When you accept Christ he changes you. You are a new creature. He bakes the cake!!! You can never go back to what you where before. Many people simply put on the cake appearance, but their inside is still raw!! They play the part!! They pull away from the grace of Christ and attempt to stand in their own power and works!!

When we look at a cake we see something beautiful, something that symbolizes a celebration. When we look at batter we see something completely different. It does not symbolize the celebration that the finished product does. We see the batter for what it truly is, something that is not yet what it was originally designed to be.

When we are saved, we are changed, there is no going back. Our sins are washed away. The fact that we have God's word and the promise of an eternity in heaven with our savior is icing on the cake. How we live our lives here on Earth will determine how we will be decorated in Heaven. Are we leaving a crumb trail for others to see and learn of the changed life we have, and the one who gave us grace to receive it?

Peter confessed with his mouth that Jesus was the Christ! Later Peter denied His Lord 3 times!! He claimed he did not even know who Jesus was!!!! He cursed and swore!! BUT.......The words of the Lord convicted him and brought him to his knees in humility. He wept bitterly!!! In Matthew 16 Jesus looked at Peter and called out the name Saten, saying he was an offence and did not savor the things of God. However, Peter never lost his place in Christ! He got back up and he went back to work!!! The verses above are a few of many that shew me that we can never renounce our salvation and be band from the love and grace of Christ. (Romans 8:38-39)