SCRIPTURE READING: ROMANS 8:28-39; JOHN
10:27-30; HEBREWS 3:7-4:11
Introduction
The Eternal Security of the
genuine believer in the Lord Jesus Christ is an aspect of the doctrine of
salvation. It emphasizes the everlasting
security of a believer’s salvation state,
the point that once he has been truly saved, he will ever remain saved,
he will never lose his salvation. The way
this doctrine has been presented has made it highly controversial among
Christians since the Reformation Period.
Currently, there is no indication that the controversy will end anytime
soon. Perhaps it will not end until the
Lord Jesus returns to Earth. In this
study I shall point out what I believe to be responsible for this living
controversy. The following issues will
occupy our attention:
1. Definition
of the Doctrine
2. Some
scriptural basis/references for the Doctrine and what they imply
3. The
Covenantal Foundation of our Salvation in Christ
4. The
believer’s responsibility to remain in the salvation state
5. Scripture
passages which suggest the possibility (not the necessity/inevitability) of a believer’s
falling away (APOSTASY)
6. The
coming end-time trial of the faith of the saints and the need to cultivate the
faith and steadfastness of Shadrach, Meshach and Abed-Nego.
The study concludes with a solemn
plea and encouragement to all true believers in Christ to take their spiritual
life, their relationship with God in Christ, very seriously.
The Doctrine Defined
In an address by Dr. H.A.
Ironside, delivered in D.L. Moody Memorial Church, Chicago, on April 24,1934 on
the subject of “The Eternal Security of the Believer,” he made these remarks in an attempt to define the subject
of his address: “When we speak of the eternal security of the believer, what do
we mean? We mean that once a poor sinner
has been regenerated by the Word and the Spirit of God, once he has received a
new life and a new nature, has been made partaker of the divine nature, once he
has been justified from every charge before the throne of God, it is absolutely
impossible that that man should ever again be a lost soul. Having said that, let me say what we do not
mean when we speak of the eternal security of the believer. We do not mean that it necessarily follows
that if one professes to be saved, if he comes out to the front in a meeting,
shakes the preacher’s hand, and says he accepts the Lord Jesus Christ as his
Saviour, that that person is eternally safe.
It does not mean that if one joins a church or makes a profession of
faith, is baptized, becomes a communicant, takes an interest in Christian work,
that that person is forever secure. It
does not mean that because one manifests certain gifts and exercises these
gifts in Christian testimony, that that person is eternally secure (see Mt.
7:21-23).” [“The Eternal Security of the Believer,” www.WholesomeWords.org, accessed on
February 8, 2014] Here is another definition by one Pastor Arthur L Watkins:
“Eternal security simply means ‘once saved always saved.’ It means that each and every person who truly
believes the Gospel of Grace has a guarantee that they will spend eternity in
the Kingdom of God. In this present age,
there is no chance a believer can lose his salvation for any reason. Because of sin and apostasy a believer can
lose many things today, but not his salvation.
The same God who saves sinners, secures their salvation after he saves
them.” [“Eternal Security of the Believer,” www.codenbiblechurch.com, accessed
on February 8, 2014] Because of the
deficiency that I discern in these two definitions, I should attempt a
definition which eliminates the deficiency and does justice to the factor of
the believer’s responsibility to personally, deliberately and consciously avail
himself of the grace-supplied spiritual resources to stay connected to
Christ. Accordingly, Eternal Security of
the Believer means “the impossibility of a genuinely redeemed, saved, regenerated believer in Christ ever losing his salvation status
if, by God’s grace, he remains loyal to
Christ and lives uprightly to the end.”
The implication of this definition is that Eternal Security of the Believer is never unconditional but
conditional. The Bible in no place
teaches unconditional security of
the believer. The idea of “once saved
always saved regardless of apostasy, regardless of sin” lacks scriptural
support, as I shall prove in course of this study.
Some Scriptural References for the Doctrine and What They Imply
There are very many Scripture
passages which form the biblical foundation for this doctrine. I will cite some of them and explain their
significance.
1. The
believer will not come into condemnation (John 5:24; Romans 8:1, 32-36)
2. The
believer shall never be cast out (John 6:37-40)
3. The
believer shall never perish (John 10:27-29)
4. God
has promised never to leave us (Hebrews 13:5)
5. God,
Who began a work, will complete it (Philippians 1:6)
6. The
Saviour prayed for our preservation (John 17:9-17)
7. Christ
is able to save to the ultimate (Hebrews 7:25)
8. There
is no separation from God for the believer (Romans 8:32-39)
9. The
believer is sealed by the Holy Spirit (2nd Corinthians 1:22;
Ephesians 1:13; 4:30)
10. Believers
are kept by the power of God and will be presented perfect (1st
Peter 1:4-5; Jude 24)
11. One
may be without rewards, yet be saved (1st Corinthians 3:11-15)
12. A
believer can be judged by God for His sin after salvation, yet be saved (1st
Corinthians 11:23-32)
These scriptures have one
fundamental significance or implication.
They reveal God’s part, God’s role, God’s responsibility, in maintaining
and sustaining the redeemed human soul in the salvation state. They express God’s faithfulness and infinite
commitment to uphold and support the redeemed in the salvation state. They impress on us (the redeemed) the
infinite ability and potency of our Heavenly Father, our Lord and Saviour Jesus
Christ, and our Comforter, the Holy Spirit, to get us rooted and firmly established
in Christ (Ephesians 3:14-19; Colossians 2:1-7; John 10:27-28; Romans
8:32-39). To build the doctrine of
Eternal Security of the believer on these scriptures exclusively, to the total
disregard of scriptures which spell out man’s intelligent responsibility in the
salvation-relationship under grace, betrays poor understanding of our salvation
in God’s Messiah. Let it be said
loud and clear that the salvation which God
has given us in His Son Jesus Christ is not an imposition, but an offer of a love
relationship based on Covenant System.
In every kind of relationship, whether between man and man or between
God and man, parties involved have responsibilities or duties each of them must
diligently perform to prevent collapse
of the relationship.
The Covenantal Foundation of our Salvation in Christ
What is a Covenant as regards
God’s relationship with man? A Covenant,
in the sense of the Bible, is “an agreement between two partners regulating
their relationship to each other” (Arthur B. Crabtree, The Restored Relationship.
Los Angeles: The Judson Press, 1965, p. 22).
This applies to Covenant between equals such as the one between Abraham
and Abimelech (Genesis 21:22-34). But
the Covenant between God and man is not agreement, but a solemn promise on the
part of God to do man good on the condition of man’s absolute obedience and loyalty to God in life and
service. One thing common to both types
of Covenant is that it regulates relationship.
That is the essential thing about Covenants – they regulate
relationship. Accordingly, God spells
out His duties as well as man’s duties in the sense of what He requires of man
in the Covenantal relationship.
Every covenant has a structure
which involves (1) Promise, (2) Condition, and (3) Sign. For example, in God’s Covenant with Abraham
the Promise was that God would make
Abraham father of multitudes (Genesis 15:1-5).
The Condition Abraham was
expected to meet (which he actually met) was Faith, i.e., to believe and hope
in God on a steady basis (Genesis 15:6; Romans 4:13-22, emph. Vss. 17-20). The Sign
was Circumcision (Genesis 17:10-13). The
same pattern is seen in the Mosaic/Sinatic Covenant: Therein the Promise was to resettle the Israelites
in a great land (Exodus 2:24-25). The Condition they were expected by God to
meet was wholehearted obedience (Exodus 19:7-8). Though the Sign of the Abrahamic Covenant,
Circumcision, was binding on, and to be adhered to by, the Israelites since
they were descendants of Abraham, the Sabbath Observance was particularly the Sign of the Covenant with God at Sinai
(Exodus 31:12-18; 20:8-11). This
Covenantal structure continues to be seen in the Messianic (New) Covenant. Therein God’s Promise is Eternal Life to all who believe (John 3:16). The Condition
is Abrahamic Faith (Romans 3:21-28). The
Sign is Baptism (Colossians 2:11-12)
and the Lord’s Supper (Matthew 26:26-29; Mark 14:24; Luke 22:20; 1st
Corinthians 11:25).
Now, believers in Christ, all the
redeemed in Christ, all the saints of God in Christ, all who have sincerely
repented of their sins and accepted Jesus Christ as their personal Saviour and
Lord, and have been born again as a result, should understand that their
salvation is based on the New Covenant mediated by the Lord Jesus Christ. As a matter of fact, the New Covenant has
been defined as “the new relationship between God and man bequeathed to men
through the testament (i.e., the death) of Christ as a sacrifice for sin”
(Crabtree, p. 35); see Mark 14:24; Galatians 3:15-18; Hebrews 9:15-22. Thus,
our salvation is a covenantal
relationship with God Almighty in Christ Jesus. Common to all relationships, whether
covenantal as in our case, or marital, friendship, business partnership,
industrial, etc., is clearly spelt out responsibilities of the parties
involved. In the New Covenant, the legal
basis of our salvation in Christ, the responsibilities of the redeemed, i.e.,
the true believer in Christ, flows out of the
Condition aspect of the Covenant
structure, i.e., Abrahamic Faith (Romans 4:17-20). For the sustenance of salvation our faith and
trust in Christ must be consistent.
The Believer’s Responsibility to Remain in the Salvation State
For purpose of emphasis, let me
restate that our salvation in Christ is never a divine imposition, but the
result of our willful acceptance, under grace, of God’s gracious invitation (of
us) into an everlasting love relationship with Himself in the sphere of His
beloved Son, Jesus Christ. While we were
in our sinful condition we realized, through the preached word of God, the fact
of our alienation from God; we realized the eternal consequences of that
alienation – habitation of everlasting burnings. We realized God’s concern and love to redeem
and liberate us from our helpless spiritual and moral condition by the gift of
His Son as sacrifice for our sins. Then
we were made to understand that accepting Jesus Christ as our personal Saviour
and Lord, will heal our alienation from God and bestow on us the assurance of
everlasting life in union with God in the bliss of heaven. Therefore, we surrendered our lives to
Christ, and we were saved. In going
through the processes of repentance from sin and acceptance of Christ and being
saved/regenerated/born again as a result, we can testify that we were not
forced in any way. We went through the
whole process thoughtfully, intelligently and willingly. At the very moment of our salvation, the very
moment that our lives were changed for the better and we became aware and
convinced that our sins have been forgiven by the Father, that we have now
become accepted and adopted by God as His beloved children (Romans 8:14-16),
and we received the inward witness that we have eternal life, we were excited,
our hearts were filled with joy indescribable – the joy of salvation. Why were we so joyful as a result of our
salvation? We were joyful because (1) we
were fully conscious of our deliberate/willful involvement in the entire process that
culminated in our new birth or salvation experience, and knew that our sins had
been forgiven; (2) we were given the abiding hope of heaven (Colossians 1:27).
Our new birth or salvation
experience marked the beginning of an abiding love relationship with God our
Maker and Heavenly Father in Christ.
Each of us that is truly saved would recall that he was told the things he must do to maintain his relationship with
God. We were told to observe Quiet Time
which entails two important spiritual exercises: (1) Daily Bible Reading, (2)
Constant Prayer. Other things we were
told to do include regular fellowship with the people of God who are our true
brothers and sisters (Hebrews 10:25); telling others about Christ (John
4:28-30); affirming and claiming the promises of God that we find in the Bible
(2nd Corinthians 1:18-20). These five things make up the believer’s primary responsibilities to
ensure that he remains in the salvation state. If a believer fails to do these five things
habitually, he is bound to grow weak in faith and, possibly, fall away or
backslide. Such possibility by no means
nullify the truth that from God’s
perspective his salvation is eternally secure. He could bounce back in faith through
repentance (1st John 1:7-9).
But if he becomes silly and stupid and continues in his backslidden
state till death meets him, he will, by divine justice, definitely lose his
salvation.
Grace is abundantly and
constantly supplied to the believer to carry out the five stated
responsibilities. I should point out
that the grace given to us is not to make our active involvement in living the
Christ-life redundant. Rather, it is
divine spiritual empowering of our souls, our inward man, to carry out the
spiritual exercises and services required to keep us going in the salvation
state. In other words, God’s gift of the
Holy Spirit to indwell the saved person is in order that he may be preserved in
the salvation state, to assure him of the eternal security of his salvation
on condition that he cooperates with the
Holy Spirit by constant and consistent decision and commitment to follow
Christ, to belong to Christ, to stand up and be counted on the side of
righteousness.
These scriptures reveal other
responsibilities of the believer in his covenant relationship with God in
Christ.
1. Matthew
10:22 – Endurance of trial and tribulation to the end
2. Matthew
7:21-23 – Doing the will of God our Heavenly Father
3. Matthew
24:12-13 – Enduring to the end
4. John
10:27 – Hearing Jesus’ voice and following Him consistently
5. Colossians
1: 21-23 – Continuing in the faith
6. 1st
Corinthians 15:2 – Holding fast the preached word
7. Romans
2:7 – Perseverance in doing good
8. 2nd
Timothy 1:12 – Constancy of trust
9. 2nd
Timothy 4:7 – Keeping the faith
10. John
8:31 – Continuity in living by Christ’s word (teachings)
11. Hebrews
3:12-14 – Carefulness, encouraging one another, holding fast to the end
12. Acts
11:23; 14:22 – Continuity in the faith, cleaving to the Lord.
Under the Old Covenant, the
believer’s (an Israelite’s) duty was to obey, to trust, to love God with the
whole of one’s being. Unfaithfulness
(backsliding) occurred when the Israelites failed to carry out their duties as
spelt out in the Law of Moses. When they
turned from worshipping YAHWEH and worshipped Baal, they provoked the wrathful
jealousy of YAHWEH. Many were destroyed,
though God never failed to leave a remnant because of Abraham His friend (Isaiah
1:9; 10:20; 37:31-32). Almost all the
mature men that left Egypt never made it to the Promised Land because they were
not consistent in their faith (Hebrew 3:15-19).
Under the New Covenant there is no change in the duties of the
believer. If he will make it to the Promised
Land of Heaven, he has to be consistent in his faith, trust, dependence and
leaning of his entire life on Jesus Christ.
If at any time a believer fails in his covenantal duties of holding fast
in faith, enduring the trials of faith to the end, resisting the wicked one by
using the grace of God, he loses the eternal security of his salvation status
(Hebrews 10:38-39; 2nd Chronicles 15:1-2). As Martin Emmrich comments on Hebrews 6:4-6,
“Redemption in Hebrews is presented as a to-be-maintained dialogue, and there
is no such thing here as eternal security apart from the believer’s cooperation
in cultivating the divine means of grace (cf. 10:36, 39)” (Quoted by Shandon L.
Guthrie, “They Shall Never Perish,” www.sguthrie.org.,
accessed on February 18, 2014).
Scripture Passages Which Suggest the Possibility (Not the Necessity or
Inevitability) of a Believer’s Apostasy
World renowned Calvinistic
theologian, Louis Berkov, remarks that “there are warnings against apostasy
which would seem to be quite uncalled for, if the believer could not fall away.
. . But these warnings regard the whole matter from the side of man and are
seriously meant. They prompt
self-examination and are instrumental in keeping believers in the way of
perseverance. They do not prove that any
of the addressed will apostatize, but simply that the use of means is necessary
to prevent them from committing this sin” (Louis Berkov, Systematic Theology. Grand Rapids, Michigan: Banner of Truth
Trust, 1969, p.548). These are the
scriptures: Romans 11:17-24; 1st Corinthians 9:27; Galatians 5:4;
Colossians 1:23; 1st Thessalonians 3:5; 1st Timothy
1:19-20; 2nd Timothy 2:17-18; James 5:19-20; Hebrews 6:1-8;
10:26-31; 2nd Peter 2:20-27; 1st John 5:16.
The Coming End-Time Trial of the Faith of the Saints and the Need to
Cultivate the Steadfastness of Shadrach,
Meshach and Abed-Nego
In his book, Systematic Study of Bible Doctrine, Thomas Simmons writes this on
the subject of Perseverance and Preservation of the saved/redeemed: “The
perseverance and preservation of the saved are twin Bible Doctrines. God has joined them inseparably in His
infallible Word. Let no man put them
asunder. Some have erred in presenting
the preservation (safety, security) of the saved as if it were independent of
perseverance. Such a presentation tends
toward antinomianism (disregard for the laws of God as a life philosophy). It also tends to represent salvation as
physical or mechanical, rather than moral and spiritual accomplishment. It teaches only a half truth . . . Inspired
writers avoided this extreme and its dire results by combining both the human
and divine phases of salvation. They
taught that salvation is of the Lord from beginning to the end. But they also taught that God saves men, not
by mechanical law, nor irrespective of their response to Him, but in full
harmony with their nature as voluntary creatures, by requiring them to obey His
Will and working in them in such a way as to move their will and elicit their
cooperation with Him as He fits them for His presence (Philippians 2:12-16)”
(Thomas Paul Simmons, “A Systematic Study of Bible Doctrine,” www.homestead.com, accessed on February 19,
2014).
Bro Simmons goes on to cite the New Hampshire Declaration of Faith
statement on this subject to buttress his explanation of the Perseverance and
Preservation of the saved. The NHDF
states: “We believe that such only are real believers as endure to the end;
that their persevering attachment to Christ is the grand mark that
distinguishes them from superficial professors; that a special Providence
watches over their welfare; and that they are kept by the power of God through
faith unto salvation” (Ibid).
What to deduce from Bro. Simmons’
teaching is that two spiritual truths are involved in the salvation doctrine of
eternal security of the believer. There
is the truth of Divine Preservation
of the believer, supported by the scripture passages cited when we discussed
God’s responsibility. Then there is the
truth of the Believer’s Perseverance
in faith, supported by the scriptures cited when we discussed the believer’s
responsibility. “Perseverance” means,
“determined continuation with something: steady and continued action or belief,
usually over a long period and especially despite difficulties or setbacks”
(Encarta Dictionaries). “Perseverance”
connotes encounter of experiences, crises, which seek to drag or divert one
from his set course, but being resolved to press on till one’s goal is achieved,
till one’s destination is reached.
Relating this to our faith-walk, i.e., our relation/living contact with
Jesus Christ our Lord, it means that the life in Christ is not
crisis-free. We have temptations,
trials, tribulations, persecutions, to contend with, to face (John 16:33;
Romans 8:35; 2nd Thess. 1:4-6; Daniel 7:21-25; Revelation 13:1-10). Our Heavenly Father and our Lord Jesus Christ
take this reality of the life in Christ so seriously that He gives us warnings
and counsel to help our perseverance, our steadfastness (Matthew 24:9-13; 13:
18-21; John 15:6; Revelation 2:7, 9-11, 17, 25-26; 3:5, 11-12, 21) After reading and meditating on these scriptures,
no believer in his right mind would doubt that he has great and solemn
responsibility to ensure the eternal security of his salvation status. The
whole truth on this issue is that no
temptation or tribulation shall be able to separate us from the love of God
(Romans 8: 35) if we hold fast to
the confession of our faith without wavering (Hebrews 10:23, 38-39) and endure to the end (Matthew 10:22;
24:13; Mark 17:13). Eternal Security
of the believer is conditional upon the believer’s consistent obedience to
God’s moral and spiritual principles and endurance of the crises of faith, without compromising,
to the end, utilizing the rich grace of God.
What is it that we need to have
to be able to endure to the end and overcome?
We need to make progress in our spiritual life to operate on a higher
plane characterized by lively Love, Faith, and Hope (1st Corinthians 13:3-8, 13; Hebrews 6: 11-15; 11:
8-16, 32-34). To ensure the eternal
security of our salvation, to ensure that we persevere to the end, we need to
cultivate the same Love, Faith, and Hope that Abraham, Shadrach, Meshach
and Abed-Nego had and demonstrated. Let
it suffice to say that eternal security of the believer is a divine promise,
realizable by the believer only at the end of his sojourn on Earth. It is both objective and subjective
truth. The objective side is now, the
subjective is future, at the appearance of the Lord Christ.
Conclusion
We have noted the meaning of the
doctrine of Eternal Security of the Believer to be a genuinely biblical
teaching. We have shown that the
scriptures on which most Christian teachers who teach Unconditional Eternal
Security base their teaching, declare God’s infinite strength and faithfulness
in preserving us in our salvation state till the end. We have emphasized that a true and balanced
biblical presentation of this doctrine takes into account scriptures which
indicate the believer’s responsibility in remaining in the salvation state to
the end, i.e., PERSEVERANCE. We have
also pointed out what we must have and do in order to stand strong to the
end. Now, I want to conclude by strongly pleading and encouraging
every genuine believer in Christ, including my humble self: let us take our relationship with God in Christ very seriously.
Let us develop real intimacy
with God our Heavenly Father through constant
prayer, regular worship (private and congregational), daily reading and
meditation on the Word (Psalm 1: 1-3), diligent engagement in the service of
God, and daily affirmations of God’s promises over the situations and
circumstances of our lives. May the
Spirit of Christ our Lord help us to do these things passionately even as we,
by His constant help, walk the ancient paths, in the mighty Name of Jesus Christ
our Saviour.
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