Is the Eternal Security Teaching Biblical?
This is a pertinent question which should concern every Christian
believer. We live in a world where many views of what the Bible teaches,
exist. The thought, once saved always saved, is very appealing. This tract
examines the Scripture on this subject.
It is a privilege to come to the Lord to be saved. Convictions of
our undoneness and feeling lost are ways our Heavenly Father uses to draw us.
He wants us to believe in and accept the atonement of the blood of Jesus
Christ for the forgiveness of our sins, calling us to forsake the world with
its lust and sinful ways.
The Bible teaches: "All we like sheep have gone astray," turned
away from God our Creator into sinful ways. Therefore all need a Savior, a
Redeemer. God sent His Son into the world that the world through Him might
be saved (John 3:17). Jesus told Nicodemus,"Except a man be born again, he
cannot see the kingdom of God" (John 3:3).
If a man by true repentance and faith comes to Christ, and is washed
"of water by the word" (Ephesians 5:26),"... by the washing of regeneration,
and renewing of the Holy Ghost" (Titus 3:5), such a person is born again,
regenerated, converted, has become a child of God, or, is saved. He has
risen from the grave of sin. He has become a new creature in Christ Jesus (2
Corinthians 5:17). He
has become a child of God, or, is saved. He has risen from the grave of sin.
He has become a new creature in Christ Jesus (2 Corinthians 5:17). He has
the mind of Christ, the Spirit of Christ, and walks and talks with his Lord,
and loves to associate with those of the precious faith. And they continued
steadfastly in the apostles’ doctrine and fellowship..." (Acts 2:42).
The question then may be asked: Is it possible for one who has been
so gloriously saved to lose what he has received and again be a lost sinner?
Let us look to the Scriptures for the answer. However, one must not make
certain verses contradict their setting, nor leave out scriptures that
clearly teach us that we must continue faithful to the end, or we will lose
our salvation. Jesus says in Revelation 22:18,19,"...If any man shall add
unto these things, God shall add unto him the plagues that are written in
this book: And if any man shall take away from the words of the book of this
prophecy, God shall take away his part out of the book of life, and out of
the holy city, and from the things which are written in this book."Jesus says: "My sheep hear my voice, and I know them, and they follow
me: And I give unto them eternal life; and they shall never perish, neither
shall any man pluck them out of my hand. My Father, which gave them me, is
greater than all; and no man is able to pluck them out of my Father’s
hand"(John 10:27-29). In this scripture we have several requisites if we
want to claim the Father’s keeping. The sheep hear His voice and follow Him
in obedience. Salvation is conditional. Jesus instructed His disciples to
"teach them (believers) whatsoever I have commanded you." His concern wasn’t
only for men to be saved, but that they should "follow in His steps" and
remain saved. A saved person is within the realm of the Father’s protection.
The Father will see to it that His own will be protected, if they "hear,"
and keep on hearing. But if they wander away to the cold mountains bare,
they are prey for the wolf and thief. Yes, His sheep are very secure as long
as they abide in His love.
"If a man abide not in me, he is cast forth as a branch, and is
withered; and men gather them, and cast them into the fire, and they are
burned" (John 15:6). In this fifteenth chapter of John, Jesus plainly
describes one who was a branch on the vine (a believer) but did not continue
in His doctrine, he perished. Therefore Jesus so emphatically prayed to His
disciples that He would "...keep them from the evil" (John 17:15). He also
prayed for those who would later believe on Him through their word, which
also includes us in our present time.He often cautioned His disciples and instructed them to be on guard:
"Watch ye and pray, lest ye enter into temptation..." (Mark 14:38). Even
though one has repented the devil will continue to tempt him, trying to win
him back to his old ways, or somehow lead him astray from the narrow way.
The apostle Peter’s warning to the Christians was: "Be sober, be vigilant;
because your adversary the devil, as a roaring lion, walketh about, seeking
whom he may devour" (1 Peter 5:8). The devil sometimes transforms himself
into an angel of light and comes in sheep’s clothing to deceive the very
elect. "For there shall arise false Christs, and false prophets, and shall
shew great signs and wonders; in so much that, if it were possible, they
shall deceive the very elect" (Matthew 24:24).
"Watch ye therefore: for ye know not when the master of the house
cometh, at even, or at midnight, or at the cockcrowing, or in the morning:
Lest coming suddenly he find you sleeping. And what I say unto you I say
unto all, Watch" (Mark 13:35-37). In Luke chapter 18 verse 1, Jesus taught
that men ought always to pray, and not to faint. A fainted or sleeping
person is without strength, unable to pursue the right course. Neither is a
spiritually fainted or sleeping person watchful, able to stand against
temptations and the violent attacks of Satan, the destroyer of salvation.
The apostle Paul knew the danger of being misled. Therefore he exhorted the
Ephesian believers to "Put on the whole armor of God, that ye may be able to
stand against the wiles of the devil" (Ephesians 6:11). To the Corinthian
church he says,"Wherefore let him that thinketh he standeth take heed lest he
fall" (1 Corinthians 10:12). And the apostle Peter says,"Ye therefore,
beloved seeing ye know these things before, beware lest ye also, being led
away with the error of the wicked, fall from your own steadfastness" (2 Peter
3:17). In 2 Corinthians 4:1-7 the apostle Paul admonishes the
believers,"Therefore seeing we have this ministry, as we have received mercy,
we faint not; But have renounced the hidden things of dishonesty, not walking
in craftiness, nor handling the word of God deceitfully; but by manifestation
of the truth commending ourselves to every man’s conscience in the sight of
God. ...But we have this treasure in earthen vessels, (in human frailty)..."
therefore the need to be on guard on every side is pertinent. Of himself he
says: I therefore so run, not as uncertainly; so fight I, not as one that
beateth the air: But I keep under my body, and bring it into subjection: lest
that by any means, when I have preached to others, I myself should be a
castaway" (1 Corinthians 9:26,27). If there were no danger for born again
Christians to lose out in their Christian lives, one would think the apostle
Paul would surely have been safe. But he had to watch and pray like any
other Christian, lest by any means after having preached to others he himself
should be a castaway, lose salvation and be lost eternally.
We have examples in the Scriptures of such who once were numbered
among the Christian believers, but lost out for one reason or another and
became shipwrecks along the shores of time. Of Judas Iscariot, one of the
twelve apostles, Jesus says: "Have not I chosen you twelve and one of you is
a devil?" (John 6:70). But some who defend the eternal security teaching may
say, he probably was never converted. Would Jesus have given him the
apostleship, if he had not been saved? Hardly. Would He have sent him out as
one of His servants to cast out devils in His name and heal the sick? This
is not feasible. The apostle Peter says in Acts chapter 1 verse 17, "he was
numbered with us, and had obtained part of this ministry." And in verse
25"...from which Judas by transgression fell...." Could he have fallen if he
had not been saved? Some claim if one is truly born again, he has become a
child of God, he remains a child. In the case of Judas Iscariot he
deteriorated to the extent that he became devil-like, and committed suicide.
In Revelation chapter 2 and 3 the Lord speaks to the seven churches of Asia
and asks those that were at fault to repent. And if they wouldn’t repent the
Lord would remove them from their place.
Why, if there were no dangers to lose out spiritually, were all the
epistles written to the Christians believers and the exhortations given to
them to press forward on the narrow way? The apostle Paul writes to the
Galatian church,"I marvel that ye are so soon removed from him that called
you into the grace of Christ unto another gospel: which is not another; but
there be some that trouble you, and would pervert the gospel of Christ"
(Galatians 1:6,7). In chapter 3 the apostle says,"O foolish Galatians, who
hath bewitched you; that ye should not obey the truth, before whose eyes
Jesus Christ hath been evidently set forth, crucified among you?" "Are ye so
foolish? having begun in the Spirit, are ye now made perfect by the flesh?
That it is possible for a believer, (a converted person) to trespass
and sin is taught by Jesus in Matthew 18:15-17. Jesus also teaches what a
church should do with obstinate members who will not repent, or those who
have fallen into grave immoral sins. The apostle Paul teaches the same in 1
Corinthians 5 verses 5 and 11. The doctrine of eternal security is not
compatible with the doctrine of church discipline so clearly taught by Jesus
Christ and the apostles. "Take heed, brethren, lest there be in you an evil
heart of unbelief, in departing from the living God" (Hebrews 3:12). "For
if ye live after the flesh, ye shall die; but if ye through the Spirit do
mortify the deeds of the body, ye shall live" (Romans 8:13). James 1:15 also
makes this point clear. Some say if one is born, he can not be unborn, but
we see that we surely can die spiritually! In 2 Peter 2:20 the apostle
writes,"For if after they have escaped the pollutions of the world through
the knowledge of the Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, they are again entangled
therein, and overcome, the latter end is worse with them than the beginning."
In Hebrews 10:27 it is clear that one who has at one time received the
knowledge of the truth and sins willfully, again comes under the judgments of
God. Jesus says in Luke 9:62,"No man, having put his hand to the plow, and
looking back, is fit for the kingdom of God."Jude exhorts the Christians believers to "earnestly contend for the
faith which was once delivered unto the saints" (verse 3). "For," says
he,"there are certain men crept in unawares (stealthily)," who pervert the
grace of God, into lawlessness and immorality. But their doom has been
predicted long ago. Jude further refers to the children of Israel "how that
the Lord, having saved the people out of the land of Egypt, afterwards
destroyed them that believed not. And the angels which kept not their first
estate (like Lucifer and other angels), but left their own habitation, he
hath reserved in everlasting chains under darkness unto the judgment of the
last great day...But these speak evil of those things which they know not.
...Woe unto them!" He closes the epistle with "Now unto him that is able to
keep you from falling, and to present you faultless before the presence of
his glory with exceeding joy, To the only wise God our Savior, be glory and
majesty, dominion and power, both now and ever. Amen." The apostle Peter
refers to those who once knew the Lord and turned their backs on Him as
"which have forsaken the right way, and are gone astray..." (2 Peter 2:15) In
this condition he says,"it is happened until them according to the true
proverb, The dog is turned to his own vomit again; and the sow that was
washed to her wallowing in the mire" (verse 22). In these scriptures we see
that from the time of the angels in Heaven down into the Christian era, the
relationship of angels and men to God was upon the condition of faithfulness
to Him. Someone has said,"Once a son, always a son." But a son can be
disinherited. Likewise if we disobey His will and testament as revealed in
His Word, we will not be an heir to eternal life.
Christ saves from sin, not in sin. Our salvation rests in Christ.
And our keeping rest in Him. In each instance certain conditions must be met
by the individual. We must make it a personal matter. In the case of
salvation we must have faith in the atoning blood of Christ who died in our
stead, and shed His blood for the remission of sin, acknowledging ourselves
as guilty, coming to Him penitently, and be sorry for our transgression and
failings. We must ask the Father to forgive for Jesus’ sake, promising from
the heart to serve Him faithfully all the days of our lives. As we walk in
obedience, He will give strength for the day, and we will grow in grace,
becoming stronger in Him. Like the apostle Paul says,"I can do all things
through Christ which strengtheneth me" (Philippians 4:13). There are many
precious promises inn the Scriptures assuring us as His children that the
Lord will watch over us and keep us in His love, if we will abide in His
love.
All Christians have to face their archenemy, the devil. Jesus had to
face him when He was on earth. He used the Word of God to defend Himself.
Any Christian having the Word of God hid in his heart and the prayer line
open between him and the Lord, will have victory over sin. The apostle
Peter, in the second epistle, chapter one, gives a unique formula for
spiritual growth. He says there are exceeding great and precious promises
given, that are for a faithful, diligent follower of the Lord. He mentions
adding to faith virtue, to virtue knowledge, temperance, patience, godliness,
brotherly kindness, and charity. If these thing be in you and abound, they
make you that you shall neither be barren nor unfruitful in the knowledge of
our Lord Jesus Christ, Make your calling and election sure, for if ye do
these things, ye shall never fall. The little word, "if", so often used in
the Scripture, makes it very clear that fruitfulness in His Kingdom and final
salvation are dependent upon faithfulness.
Much of the fallacy and error of the eternal security teaching lies
in using partial scriptures, sometimes using them out of context, weaving
them together, or omitting parts of them. Using scriptures dealing with
conditions to keep salvation are not the rule. Those who teach eternal
security try to make it clear, that if we are a child of God, we are safe in
Christ Jesus. They teach that no outside power or influence of man, angels,
nor devils can come between us and the Lord regardless how we live. But the
Bible teaches there are conditions for salvation and there are conditions we
must meet in order to be kept. The condition we meet to become saved, must
be maintained to remain saved. ..."Whosoever will come after me, let him
deny himself, and take up his cross, and follow me" (Mark 8:34).
We feel the eternal security teaching is an erroneous and false
teaching. It wrests the Scriptures. Where the apostle Peter refers to the
apostle Paul’s epistles he says: "...In which are some things hard to be
understood, which they that are unlearned and unstable wrest, as they do also
the other Scriptures, unto their own destruction. Ye therefore, beloved,
seeing ye know these things before, beware lest ye also, being led away with
the error of the wicked, fall from your own steadfastness" (2 Peter 3:16,17).
The eternal security teaching is often presented in a cunning and sly
way, usually in several steps or approaches. The first is like this: If a
person is truly born again, he will not want to go out in sin. God will keep
him, and he is eternally secure. This reminds one of Satan’s subtle approach
to Eve in the Garden of Eden. In the second approach the claim is made: If
a person is truly born again by the Spirit of God he is saved eternally, no
matter how he lives or how he dies. Oh, what an erroneous and deceitful
teaching to give and account of before God! Oh, what a terrible teaching to
follow! It has no biblical foundation!
After the apostle Paul had lived a consecrated Christian
life for many years, had endured the hardships and rigors of missionary life and
taught the gospel way of life, for which he suffered persecution, he wrote to
his spiritual son Timothy is the second epistle chapter four "I have
fought a good fight, I have finished my course, I have kept the faith:
Henceforth there is laid up for me a crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the
righteous judge, shall give me at that day; and not to me only but unto all them
also that love his appearing." "Beware least any man spoil you
through philosophy and vain deceit, after the tradition of men, after the
rudiments of the world, and not after Christ" (Colossians 2:8)
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The text of the tract is contributed by Glenn Troyer