And they overcame him by the blood of the Lamb, and by the word of their testimony; and they loved not their lives unto the death (Revelation 12:11).
I once heard a preacher say, “Imagine that a man is drowning in the middle of a lake. If I row out to him and give him a book on swimming, and nothing more, this doesn’t save him. If I tell Him to swim harder, he still isn’t saved; if I drag him within 2 feet of dry land, he is still not rescued. But when I get into the water, lift him out and place him safely onto the shore, then and only then is he safe!”
So, it is in the Gospel. We are saved, rescued, and delivered by the work of the Lord Jesus. Our salvation is in, by and through Jesus and His shed blood! Believers are not half saved or partially redeemed. We are saved, entirely, utterly, and eternally by the doing, dying and rising again of the Lord Jesus. There is no such thing as us swimming along behind the rowboat of salvation. Christ must save and Christ alone
To be "Saved" means to be rescued and delivered from all harm and danger. If we are still in actual danger, then we are not saved! If there is the slightest danger that we can lose our salvation, then either we are not saved, or Christ did not accomplish anything on our behalf in His doing and dying. But we are saved, saved by blood, the blood of the Lord Jesus Christ. This makes us safe! We are His sheep and He is our shepherd. Satan cannot destroy us.
In scripture, we discover terms such as:
False brethren, False prophets, False witnesses, False accusers, False Christs, False apostles, and False teachers.
But never do we encounter false sheep. Sheep are sheep, they are 100% genuine. The Lord Himself gives his sheep eternal life, and they shall never perish (John 10:27-28). They are blood bought, purchased by the Good Shepherd who gave His life for His sheep. The Shepherd’s sheep are chosen from all eternity, given to the Son by the Father and regenerated by the Holy Spirit. They are safe (John 10:26-28, John 6:37).
Satan, however, attacks the sheep by sending false teachers to try to lead them astray.
Nevertheless, they overcome by the blood of the Lamb. In 1 John 2:13-14 we are said to “have overcome” the evil one. Yet, we read those false teachers will lead many astray and that if it were possible, they would mislead the very elect (Mark 13:22). The sheep learn, however, to weigh and judge each teaching by the Gospel. Yet, these false apostles pay lip service to the blood and mention the blood, but Finished Work, Gospel-centered teaching is neither in their hearts nor minds. False teachers will always say they believe the Gospel, but, in actuality, their subjective centered doctrine usually reverts to doing and performance in return for heavenly favour and endorsement. The sheep, however, overcome such nonsense by holding firmly to the truths of Christ crucified.
I need no other argument, I need no other plea, It is enough that Jesus died, And that He died for me.
And that’s the Gospel Truth!