A life in faith means running the path set before us to the end patiently without stepping off in any direction. Jesus, who could see
far ahead into the future, warned us that it will not be easy to keep on believing till the end;
When the Son of Man comes, will he find faith on the earth?
and
At that time, many will turn away from the faith and
will betray and hate each other...
but he who stands firm until the end will be saved.
Faith is not to be taken lightly as 'once saved, always saved'.
Behind all this, however, God's ultimate will is for everyone to be saved.
There are three steps in the biblical salvation;
1) First, among other religions, Christianity is the only one that
claims justification by faith.
Justification by faith means that God would regard those who
believe, sinful as they are, as righteous because of Christ's
redemptive work on the cross.
God is willing to stretch out His loving hand towards us first and gives those who respond to Him the privilege to be sons of God;
Since we have been justified through faith,
we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ.
and
There is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus.

1Co.:24-27, Heb.12:1
Lk.18:8
Mt.24:10-13
Jn.6:39-40
Ro.8:14-17
Ro.5:1
Ro.8:1

2) Christians who have been saved not by their own works and effort but by God's grace in order to do good deeds, must live a life
according to God's will.
They will start off a sanctified life with the help of Holy Spirit,
aiming to be a likeness to Christ.

Their growth towards salvation will be prompted by prayers as
they ask for forgiveness of sins day by day, and as they give thanks
for everything and present their requests to God, through the Bible
and prayers where they will know God's will, through fellowship with
their fellow brothers and sisters in Christ and through obeying God's commands. Preaching the gospel to others wherever they are should
take high priority in their lives too.

1) Christians' steps of faith will be completed by glorification when
Jesus Christ comes back to earth, when those who believe will be

raised in glory.

　　　　 ******　　　　　　**********　　　　　　******
　 It is by no means easy for us to hear from God and to live
according to His will in this wicked, highly tempting world where
both kingdoms of God and Satan exist side by side. The Bible tells us that in the last days, the time will come when people will be
drawn to what their itching ears want to hear and when even the
elects and saints will be deceived. The author of the epistle to the
Hebrews warns us,

Ep.2:10
Ph.2:3-8, 1Th.4:3-7
1Pe.1:14-16,2:2
1Jn.1:9
Ph.4:6
Mt.28:19-20, Mk.16:15, Lk.24:47
1Co.15:43, Ph.3:21
Mk.13:6,:22, Lk.21:8, 2Ti.4:3-4

It is impossible for those who have once been enlightened,
who have tasted the heavenly gift,
who have shared in the Holy Spirit,
who have tasted the goodness of the word of God and
the powers of the coming age,
if they fall away, to be brought back to repentance.

Paul too, in the Epistle to his disciple, Timothy, writes that
there will be some who will shipwreck their faith and even God
Himself makes it clear that the names in the 'book of life' could be blotted out.
However, those who remain alert and go on living in the way of
God to the end will be protected from the powers of the evil spirits,
clothed in the armour of God - the belt of truth buckled round their waist, the breastplate of righteousness, the gospel of peace on feet,
the helmet of salvation, the shield of faith in hands, the word of
God on lips - and will be able to gain final victory.
As Jesus Himself promised us that He would protect us in times
of trial, there is no other security than obeying Christ in this
insecure world!!

Unless otherwise indicated, Scripture quotations are taken
from the Holy Bible, NEW INTERNATIONAL VERSION
by the International Bible Society.
A Bird's Eye View of God's Plan
ISBN 1-86033-985-9
Copyright c 1997 Huldah K. Ito

Heb.6:4-6
1Ti.1:19-20
Ex.32:33
Ep.6:10-18, 1Co.9:27,15:57-58, 1Jn.5:3-4
Ph.3:8-12, Re.3:10-11, 1Co.1:8, 1Th.5:23-24, 2Ki.6:15-17, Ps.ch.91