A Picture of Eternal Security...

Mark 4:38-41 NLT 38 Jesus was sleeping at the back of the boat with his head on a cushion. The disciples woke him up, shouting, “Teacher, don’t you care that we’re going to drown?”

39 When Jesus woke up, he rebuked the wind and said to the waves, “Silence! Be still!” Suddenly the wind stopped, and there was a great calm. 40 Then he asked them, “Why are you afraid? Do you still have no faith?”

Like. What are you supposed to do when eternal security doesn't feel secure anymore?

The case for eternal security aka once saved always saved.

Is it possible for a true born-again believer to lose their salvation and end up in the eternal lake of fire, separated from God forever?

The question usually arises when someone we know or even perhaps ourselves, who previously professed Christianity but is now living far from Jesus and does not seem to even care.

As we begin this important study it is crucial to remember that not everyone in any given fellowship may be truly born again! Our question in this study is focused

on those who have truly been born-again.

This study has three parts to it.

1. The need for holiness in the believer’s life.

2. Bible evidence to support ‘once saved always saved’.

3. Responses to those scriptures which appear to contradict this.

It is clear from the teaching of the Bible that the Lord wants and indeed expects us to lead holy lives that bear fruit. It does matter how we live in every area of our lives, and we must not grieve the Holy Spirit who indwells us by living in constant sin. The grace of God and His righteousness in us are not a license to sin. Even if we do stumble our hearts should be quick to confess our sins to the Lord.

Background

Calvinists and Armenians

Calvinists (John Calvin 1509-1564) generally believe in Eternal Security. They believe that God knew everyone who would believe from before the foundation of the world, and because of this He called and chose each one. In this viewpoint God has done all the work for salvation in the past and the people will be saved in the future. One drawback from this point of view is that because it is so focused on the past it leaves out how the believers live in the present. When taken to extremes this could be taken to mean that it really does not matter how the Christian behaves and hence opens the door for widescale immorality.

Arminians (Jacob Arminius 1560-1609), on the other hand, concentrate much more on the present. They also believe God has called and chosen us, but that this calling works only on a day to day basis. So, if we live a holy life today, we are still saved, but if not, we are in instant danger of losing our salvation. Some Arminians become very legalistic and keep long sets of rules perhaps even to the extent of keeping all the law of Moses. Some are in more bondage to the law than any legalistic Jew!

Most of what the Calvinists believe is scripturally correct, but a balanced biblical viewpoint must take the present into account. Jesus is alive today and .... He is also able to save to the uttermost those who come to God through Him, since He ever liveth to make intercession for us (Hebrews 7:23-25).

Israel needed a high priest to represent the people to God and in the same way Jesus Christ our high priest makes daily intercessions for each one of us.

Our eternal security and salvation do not only depend in what the Lord has done in the past but also on the fact that Jesus Christ is interceding for us today. This means there is a present aspect to our salvation.

In other words, if Jesus stopped interceding for us perhaps, we might lose our salvation. Praise God however that He can save us to the uttermost (panteles) meaning completely, utterly, or finally, or even better everlastingly (forever).

This present aspect of our salvation means that God requires something from us today!

Our present-day sin is still loathsome to God.

Although Jesus paid the price in full for all our sins when we sin today, Jesus has to say to His Father ‘I suffered and died for that sin’. So, there is still a reaction in heaven when we sin though He graciously forgives us when we repent. Our sins are still of real significance today and we must remember that obedience is better than sacrifice.

Ephesians 4:30 And do not grieve the Holy Spirit of God, by whom you were sealed for the day of redemption.

The basis of our eternal security is founded in two equally important things.

1. The work and calling of God in the past

2. The living intercession of Christ for us.

If we remember both aspects, they will keep us from extremes of considering sin unimportant or trying to live under the Law. Our love and gratitude to Jesus will lead us into greater holiness. Some Arminian preachers are frightened to preach on God’s grace in case it will promote sin in the believer’s lives. The Bible however teaches that as we acquire an understanding of the grace and love of God and a revelation that Jesus is constantly interceding for us, then we will be inspired to lead holy lives. The supporting scriptures for this motivation to holiness are given below [1].

From these scriptures it is clear that God does not employ fear or outward things to spur us on to holiness but rather it is the truth inside us that will cause a response from our hearts. We respond to God’s love and grace. Those forgiven most, love most!

Holiness needs a new nature.

No matter how good on external appearances people are, only the new birth can really change their nature. People who have only received the Gospel in their heads are often more difficult to convert because they think they are already saved.

Amen

Personal prayer

This study is continued in Part 4B

[1] Titus 2 11-13. Ephesians 2:8-10. Romans 6:11-15. 1 Corinthians 6:15-20. Ephesians 3:20 -4 22. 1 Thessalonians 2:10-12. Collossians 3:1. 2 Corinthians 6:14-18. 1 John 3:13.

"When people come to know Christ as their Savior, they are brought into a relationship with God that guarantees their eternal security. Jude 24 declares, "To Him who is able to keep you from falling and to present you before His glorious presence without fault and with great joy." God's power is able to keep the believer from falling. It is up to Him, not us, to present us before His glorious presence. Our eternal security is a result of God keeping us, not us maintaining our own salvation.

"The Lord Jesus Christ proclaimed, "I give them eternal life, and they shall never perish; no one can snatch them out of my hand. My Father, who has given them to me, is greater than all, no one can snatch them out of my Father's hand" (John 10:28-29b). Both Jesus and the Father have us firmly grasped in their hand. Who could possibly separate us from the grip of both the Father and the Son?

"Ephesians 4:30 tells us that believers are "sealed for the day of redemption." If believers did not have eternal security, the sealing could not truly be unto the day of redemption, but only to the day of sinning, apostasy, or disbelief. John 3:15-16 tells us that whoever believes in Jesus Christ will "have eternal life." If a person were to be promised eternal life, but then have it taken away, it was never "eternal" to begin with. If eternal security is not true, the promises of eternal life in the Bible would be in error.

"The most powerful argument for eternal security is Romans 8:38-39, "For I am convinced that neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither the present nor the future, nor any powers, neither height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord." Our eternal security is based on God's love for those whom He has redeemed. Our eternal security is purchased by Christ, promised by the Father, and sealed by the Holy Spirit."

Yes, Christians Do Have an Assurance—but Not an Absolute Assurance—of Salvation

Many Protestants understand being “saved” as a one-moment-in-time act of repentance and acceptance of Jesus Christ as one’s “personal Lord and savior” (a phrase that nowhere appears in the Bible, by the way), a life-changing transformation of “lost” sinner who becomes a “saved” child of God. They believe this to be an irrevocable step that eliminates the penalties of past sins and guarantees, no matter what might happen from that point forward, that nothing can undo or rescind one’s salvation.

“Once-saved-always-saved” is a slogan many Protestants use to describe their belief in a Christian’s absolute assurance of salvation. And though not all Protestants accept the once-saved-always-saved formula, many, such as Southern Baptists and the myriad of “non-denominational” denominations, do. Two Bible passages commonly cited in support of this view are:

1 John 5:13: “I write this to you who believe in the name of the Son of God, that you may know that you have eternal life.”

John 10:27-29: “My sheep hear my voice and I know them, and they follow me; and I give them eternal life, and they shall never perish, and no one shall snatch them out of my hand. My Father, who has given them to me, is greater than all, and no one is able to snatch them out of the Father’s hand.”

St. John’s assurance that “you have eternal life” is a proclamation of every Christian’s moral—not absolute—assurance of salvation. Christ offers us the gift of salvation, and he will not go back on his word.

But you and I are entirely capable of going back on our word by abandoning Christ and, thereby, forfeiting his gift of salvation. St. Paul speaks about this in 2 Timothy 2:11-13:

If we have died with him, we shall also live with him; if we endure, we shall also reign with him; if we deny him, he also will deny us; if we are faithless, he remains faithful— for he cannot deny himself.

Take care to notice the particular “if” in this passage. So while it’s true that we may indeed “have” salvation, whether or not we keep our grasp on it is another matter, as St. Paul will demonstrate below.

But first, let’s consider St. John’s other statement: No one can snatch out of Christ’s hand, those whom the Father has given him. No external power is capable of wresting us out of Christ’s loving embrace (Rom. 8:28-29), but you can do it, if you decide to willfully rebel against God through mortal sin (1 John 5: 16-17), and if you die unrepentant in that state, you will have lost your salvation because you will have, in effect, snatched yourself out of Christ’s hand. This is demonstrated by the following verses:

Romans 11:13-22: that first of all, contains a description of (and warning to not be like) those individual Jews living at the time of Christ who forfeited their salvation by deliberately rejecting Jesus Christ as Messiah, Redeemer, and Savior. They were once “branches” on a cultivated olive tree (i.e., the Chosen People of Israel) that symbolizes in this analogy those who were saved. Pointing toward their sin of spurning their Savior, St Paul declares:

They [i.e., those who lost their salvation by rejecting Christ] were broken off because of their unbelief, but you stand fast only through faith. So do not become proud, but stand in awe. For if God did not spare the natural branches, neither will he spare you. Note then the kindness and the severity of God: severity toward those who have fallen, but God’s kindness to you, provided you continue in his kindness; otherwise you too will be cut off.

The “you” to whom he’s addressing this warning are gentile Christians whom he likens to branches from a “wild olive tree” that had been grafted onto the cultivated tree in places where the natural branches had been snapped off. Note well the warning he gives these gentile Christians regarding the possibility that they too could lose their salvation.

Hebrews 10:26–31: [I]f we sin deliberately after receiving the knowledge of the truth, there no longer remains a sacrifice for sins, but a fearful prospect of judgment, and a fury of fire which will consume the adversaries. . . . How much worse punishment do you think will be deserved by the man who has spurned the Son of God, and profaned the blood of the covenant by which he was sanctified, and outraged the Spirit of grace? For we know him who said, ‘Vengeance is mine, I will repay.’ And again, ‘The Lord will judge his people.’ It is a fearful thing to fall into the hands of the living God.

2 Peter 2: 20-21: For if, after they have escaped the defilements of the world through the knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, they are again entangled in them and overpowered, the last state has become worse for them than the first. For it would have been better for them never to have known the way of righteousness than after knowing it to turn back from the holy commandment delivered to them.”

Ask yourself: Is there any way someone could “escape the defilements of the world” other than by God’s grace and forgiveness (what many refer to as being “saved”)? No. So this means that some who been saved fall back into grievous sin, thereby losing their salvation.

And recall the unforgiving servant in Matthew 18:21-35. He’s a perfect parallel with the sinner who repents, pleads for mercy, and was forgiven by God and his debt of sin wiped out. But the unforgiving servant proceeded to mistreat a fellow servant and when the King discovered this, he reinstated his debt and threw him into prison.

The Bible is clear that, tragically, Christians can indeed lose their salvation by sinful rebellion against God. As the Lord himself declared, “So also my heavenly Father will do to every one of you, if you do not forgive your brother from your heart” (Matt. 18:35).