Eternal Security
Introduction
(I had previously posted on this topic but felt it needed a more in depth treatment.)
There are few topics that cause as much controversy between Christians than the topic of Eternal Security. Can a person who has been saved by the blood of Jesus ever commit a sin or series of sins so horrific that God would revoke His gift of salvation? Does God give a license to sin? God forbid! There are several reasons why the Christian cannot lose his salvation.
I would like to point out at the beginning that I am not a theologian but just a saved person who God has called to teach His Word and from time to time calls me to write about a topic He has put in my path and this is one of those occasions.
It is a gift of God
Eph 2:8-9
For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God: (9) Not of works, lest any man should boast.
We are saved by grace, a divine influence upon the heart, through faith, that is moral conviction (in God). So we are saved by a diving influence by God upon the heart of man bringing moral conviction in man. It is not one part man and 99 parts God. If it were not for God man would be lost without hope. It is 100% God. It is His gift to us.
Gift-doron NT:1435 doron (do’-ron); a present; specially, a sacrifice: KJV – gift, offering.[i]
A gift is free to the receiver but it does cost the giver, grace is free to us but not cheap. It cost God his Only Begotten Son (that is Jesus), who had to suffer the agony of the cross, descend into hell and arose one the third day. This is a gift of God, and what do we know about God’s Gift? It is without repentance.
Rom 11:29 For the gifts and calling of God are without repentance.
Without repeantance is a compound Greek word: ametameletos NT:278 ametameletos (am-et-am-el’-ay-tos); from NT:1 (as a negative particle) and a presumed derivative of NT:3338; irrevocable: KJV – without repentance, not to be repented of.[ii] So we take the Geek word repent (NT:3338 metamellomai (met-am-el’-lom-ahee); to care afterwards, i.e. regret: KJV – repent[iii] ) and add the a to the front of it making the absolute opposite of the original word, so there is not any regret .
Rom 11:29 For the gifts and calling of God,…. By “gifts” are meant, not the gifts of nature and providence, as life, health, strength, riches, and honour, which God sometimes gives, and repents of, and takes away; as he repented that he had made man upon earth, and Saul king of Israel; which must be understood by an “anthropopathy”, after the manner of men, and that not of a change of the counsel of his mind, but of the course of his providence: nor do gifts here design external gifts of grace, or such gifts of the Spirit, which qualify men for ministerial work, for public service in the church; for these may be taken away, as the “parable” of the “talents” shows, Mat_25:29; see 1Co_13:8; but the special and spiritual gifts of God’s free grace, which relate to the spiritual and eternal welfare of the souls of men, even that, grace which was given to God’s elect in Christ before the world was, and all those spiritual blessings wherewith they were then blessed in him: these
are without repentance; that is, they are immutable and unalterable; God never revokes them, or calls them in again, or takes them away from the persons to whom he has made such a previous donation: the reasons are, because that his love from whence they spring is always the same; it admits of no distinction, nor of any degrees, nor of any alteration; and electing grace, according to which these gifts are bestowed, stands sure and immovable; not upon the foot of works, but of the sovereign will of God, and always has its sure and certain effect; and the covenant of grace, in which they are secured, remains firm and inviolable; and indeed, these gifts are no other than the promises of it, which are all yea and amen in Christ, and the blessings of it, which are the sure mercies of David. Whatever God purposes, or promises to give, or really does give to his people, whether into the hands of Christ for them, or into their own, he never repents of or reverses. [iv]
In plain terms, God is not a man who will change his mind for some reason and take back a gift once offered. They are always in effect and are secured by the will of God.
We Are Sealed
Eph 1:13 In whom ye also trusted, after that ye heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation: in whom also after that ye believed, ye were sealed with that Holy Spirit of promise,
Eph 4:30 And grieve not the holy Spirit of God, whereby ye are sealed unto the day of redemption.
Sealed is a private mark to identify ownership. When we believed in God He seals us and keeps us till the day of redemption.
We Are Sons of God
Rom 8:14-17 For as many as are led by the Spirit of God, they are the sons of God. (15) For ye have not received the spirit of bondage again to fear; but ye have received the Spirit of adoption, whereby we cry, Abba, Father. (16) The Spirit itself beareth witness with our spirit, that we are the children of God: (17) And if children, then heirs; heirs of God, and joint-heirs with Christ; if so be that we suffer with him, that we may be also glorified together.
The Spirit of adoption – Adoption was an act frequent among the ancient Hebrews, Greeks, and Romans; by which a person was taken out of one family and incorporated with another. Persons of property, who had no children of their own, adopted those of another family. The child thus adopted ceased to belong to his own family, and was in every respect bound to the person who had adopted him, as if he were his own child; and in consequence of the death of his adopting father he possessed his estates. If a person after he had adopted a child happened to have children of his own, then the estate was equally divided between the adopted and real children.[v]
But you say it is conditional, that they must be led by the Spirit of God. This is true, and if you are saved you will be lead by the Spirit of God. If you are not so lead then you are not saved:
Their property: They are led by the Spirit of God, as a scholar in his learning is led by his tutor, as a traveller in his journey is led by his guide, as a soldier in his engagements is led by his captain; not driven as beasts, but led as rational creatures, drawn with the cords of a man and the bands of love. It is the undoubted character of all true believers that they are led by the Spirit of God. Having submitted themselves in believing to his guidance, they do in their obedience follow that guidance, and are sweetly led into all truth and all duty.[vi]
Fathers love their sons, this is true and how much more the Heavenly Father must love His sons. Therefore another question arises: what does a son have to do to not belong to his father? The answer is nothing, there is nothing any man can do to no longer be a son of his father. And we need to remember the promise of our Father:
John 10:28-30 And I give unto them eternal life; and they shall never perish, neither shall any man pluck them out of my hand. (29) My Father, which gave them me, is greater than all; and no man is able to pluck them out of my Father’s hand. (30) I and my Father are one.
That is eternal, as in forever! They shall never perish, that means no second death (Rev 20:14 And death and hell were cast into the lake of fire. This is the second death.) The body may die but the Sprit will go on forever in the presence of the Father in Heaven! What is so hard to understand about this? Why are people so easily deceived? If we are saved God is keeping us, and if we are not we have no hope.
God Is Not The Author of Confusion
1 Cor 14:33
For God is not the author of confusion, but of peace, as in all churches of the saints.
KJV
What does this have to do with eternal security? Simple, God shows plainly what man has to do to be saved. He shows plainly the consequences of sin and death as well as grace and life, so tell me dear Christian at what point has man lost his salvation? If he is drunk, commits adultery, kills someone? Yes, of course! You judgmental Pharisee! How about telling a lie or speeding or not tithing? No! Why? Because these are sins you commit? Man may have differing level of sins but God does not:
Pro 6:16-19 These six things doth the LORD hate: yea, seven are an abomination unto him: (17) A proud look, a lying tongue, and hands that shed innocent blood, (18) An heart that deviseth wicked imaginations, feet that be swift in running to mischief, (19) A false witness that speaketh lies, and he that soweth discord among brethren.
Pride and lying are right up there with murder. What now? If you really believe this then you have to believe that any sin will cause you to lose your salvation! Does that sound like a loving father? Does that sound like a God that gave us the Spirit of Adoption or a spirit of fear? This gray area confusion is not the loving Father God I know it is not His Character.
We need to think about one more thing while we are on this topic, and the words come from our Saviour, Jesus Christ:
Mat 5:21-22 Ye have heard that it was said by them of old time, Thou shalt not kill; and whosoever shall kill shall be in danger of the judgment: (22) But I say unto you, That whosoever is angry with his brother without a cause shall be in danger of the judgment: and whosoever shall say to his brother, Raca, shall be in danger of the council: but whosoever shall say, Thou fool, shall be in danger of hell fire.
Mat 5:27-28 Ye have heard that it was said by them of old time, Thou shalt not commit adultery: (28) But I say unto you, That whosoever looketh on a woman to lust after her hath committed adultery with her already in his heart.
As we can see by these passages that Jesus elevates sin from the action to the thought, so we commit adultery by lust, we commit murder with our anger, and if we believe that we can sin and lose our salvation, we can do this by just our thought life, living in fear of thinking the wrong though and winding up in hell for it! What a terrible way to live, and a Father who loves His children would not have them living like that, He has not given us a Spirit of Fear but Adoption, thank God for that!
But the Bible Says You Can Lose Your Salvation
Where? Where is this taught?
In Philippians chapter 2
2:12 Wherefore, my beloved, as ye have always obeyed, not as in my presence only, but now much more in my absence, work out your own salvation with fear and trembling.
Work out is a compound work in the Greek, katergazomai NT:2716 katergazomai (kat-er-gad’-zom-ahee); from NT:2596 and NT:2038; do work fully, i.e. accomplish; by implication, to finish, fashion: KJV – cause, to (deed), perform, work (out).[vii]
work out your own salvation with fear and trembling; which is to be understood not in such a sense as though men could obtain and procure for themselves spiritual and eternal salvation by their own works and doings; for such a sense is contrary to the Scriptures, which deny any part of salvation, as election, justification, and calling, and the whole of it to be of works, but ascribe it to the free grace of God; and is also repugnant to the perfections of God, as his wisdom, grace, and righteousness; for where are the wisdom and love of God. The words may be rendered, “work about your salvation”; employ yourselves in things which accompany salvation, and to be performed by all those that expect it, though not to be expected for the performance of them; such as hearing of the word, submission to Gospel ordinances, and a discharge of every branch of moral, spiritual, and evangelical obedience for which the apostle before commends them, and now exhorts them to continue in; to go on in a course of cheerful obedience to the close of their days, believing in Christ, obeying his Gospel, attending constantly to his word and ordinances, and discharging every duty in faith and fear, until at last they should receive the end of their faith, the salvation of their souls.[viii]
The closest modern illustration is that of a body builder. He works out for years and develops a muscular physique and all of a sudden stops working out. He will become flabby and out of shape but he will still have a body. Paul speaks of this in 1 Corinthians 3:
1Co 3:11-15 For other foundation can no man lay than that is laid, which is Jesus Christ. (12) Now if any man build upon this foundation gold, silver, precious stones, wood, hay, stubble; (13) Every man’s work shall be made manifest: for the day shall declare it, because it shall be revealed by fire; and the fire shall try every man’s work of what sort it is. (14) If any man’s work abide which he hath built thereupon, he shall receive a reward. (15) If any man’s work shall be burned, he shall suffer loss: but he himself shall be saved; yet so as by fire. (Emphasis mine).
Yes a man can sin and lose his reward but because he started with the right foundation, which is none other than Jesus Christ, he is still saved.
But the Soul That Sinneth Will Die.
Ezekiel 18:20 The soul that sinneth, it shall die. The son shall not bear the iniquity of the father, neither shall the father bear the iniquity of the son: the righteousness of the righteous shall be upon him, and the wickedness of the wicked shall be upon him.
First we need to look at this in context, the context of each being responsible for our own transgressions. If a son commits a murder, the father will not be punished for it nor the other way around. And the word soul means “a breathing creature” so it is referring here to the first death (that of the body) and not the second death (being cast into the Lake of Fire). Things are so much easier to understand when we use context.
What About Hebrews 6?
For as touching those who were once enlightened and tasted of the heavenly gift,
and were made partakers of the Holy Spirit, and tasted the good word of God, and
the powers of the age to come, and then fell away, it is impossible to renew them
again unto repentance; seeing they crucify to themselves the Son of God afresh, and
put him to an open shame. (Hebrews 6:4-6)
I wish I had space in this document to do justice to these verses, but there is a wonderful booklet available for free by download at ttb.org called Is It Possible For A Saved Person Ever Be Lost by J. Vernon McGee, and I quote him here:
But, beloved, we are persuaded better things of you, and things that accompany salvation ,though we thus speak. (Hebrews 6:9)
Speaking of the fruit of the Christian’s life and the reward that comes to him as the result, he discussed the possibility that — because of their manner of life — there was a danger of their losing their reward[ix].
Dr. McGee does a wonderful job on these verses and I leave it to you to read his excellent booklet on this subject, and after reading it I feel assured he is right!
Well Then You Believe You Can Sin and Do Whatever You Want When Your Saved!
God Forbid! I can turn that statement around and say you can do whatever you want and then just get saved again. I like what Charles Spuregon said: Madame, I play cards all I want to, drink all I want to, and go to the theater all I want to, but I do not want to anymore.
That is point one, and secondly if you sin willfully and without repentance there will be a consequence:
Hebrews 12:6-8 For whom the Lord loveth he chasteneth, and scourgeth every son whom he receiveth. (7) If ye endure chastening, God dealeth with you as with sons; for what son is he whom the father chasteneth not? (8) But if ye be without chastisement, whereof all are partakers, then are ye bastards, and not sons.
If we sin willfully and without concern and God does not deal with us then we are not His sons at all, there is no salvation.
So Where Does That Leave Us?
The reason I did this was as a study to settle a conflict in my own life. Many men of God that I respect are on both sides of this issue so I had to decide for myself after much prayer and study which view is right (two opposing views cannot both be right). And by the way, I have never met anyone who believes in that doctrine of lost salvation who ever believed they actually lost it. Hmmm…
If you are a diehard believer in what I now believe false doctrine that salvation can be lost my words probably fell on deaf ears as all you did was look for ways to prove me wrong rather than to seek truth. If you are on the fence like I was I pray God uses these words to convince you of the correct position, or at least give you something to think about. Hopefully it will bring peace to you knowing that God is keeping you and you do not have to worry about keeping yourself.
[i] Biblesoft’s New Exhaustive Strong’s Numbers and Concordance with Expanded Greek-Hebrew Dictionary. Copyright © 1994, 2003 Biblesoft, Inc. and International Bible Translators, Inc.
[ii] Biblesoft’s New Exhaustive Strong’s Numbers and Concordance with Expanded Greek-Hebrew Dictionary. Copyright © 1994, 2003 Biblesoft, Inc. and International Bible Translators, Inc.
[iii] Biblesoft’s New Exhaustive Strong’s Numbers and Concordance with Expanded Greek-Hebrew Dictionary. Copyright © 1994, 2003 Biblesoft, Inc. and International Bible Translators, Inc.
[iv] Gill, John, John Gill’s Exposition of The Entire Bible, Romans 8:29, Electronic Database, E-Sword.
[v] Clark, Adam C., Adam’s Clark Guide to the Bible, Romans 8:15, E-Sword.
[vi] Matthew Henry’s Commentary on the Whole Bible: New Modern Edition, Electronic Database. Copyright © 1991 by Hendrickson Publishers, Inc.
[vii] Biblesoft’s New Exhaustive Strong’s Numbers and Concordance with Expanded Greek-Hebrew Dictionary. Copyright © 1994, 2003 Biblesoft, Inc. and International Bible Translators, Inc.
[viii] Gill, John, John Gill’s Exposition of The Entire Bible, Philippians 2:12, Electronic Database, E-Sword.
[ix] McGee, J Vernon, Is It Possible For A Saved Person Ever To Be Lost, Thru The Bible Radio, © 1963, p.5
Leave a Reply