In this entry, we will look at and destroy the myths surrounding eternal security. There are many who would break in and steal away our eternal comfort in Christ by claiming that somehow, by our own actions, we could undo that which Almighty God has decreed. Many people claim that eternal security couldn't be real, that even though the Lord Jesus declared His work "FINISHED", we could still somehow, in some way, affect our own eternal destiny by our own works. This is as ridiculous as claiming we could choose Christ in our dead, shackled by sin state.
My friends, the Bible is full of references to the fact that who God saves will not lose that salvation. Granted, to the human, finite mind, it could appear that way. We all have known many people who seemed to be on fire for Christ, yet in the end, appeared to have fallen away from Him completely. But God knows the heart and soul. It is possible to be intellectually saved, but not saved by faith. Listen to people when they give their testimonies. A true testimony of faith should include the fact that they are aware God saved them from their sins through His grace. A testimony should not be about the speaker, but what God has done for that speaker. The fact through Scripture remains...if one is truly saved, they will not and cannot lose that salvation that God has so graciously given them.
When people come to know Christ as their Savior, they are brought into a relationship with God that guarantees their eternal security. Jude 1: 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.
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.
Many people think that eternal security gives people a license to sin. But consider this: if salvation results in a brand new creation in Christ, these people with new natures will not seek out sin. Those TRULY saved in Christ will by no means live perfectly, but neither will they sin wantonly, brazenly, without remorse. They will hate the sin that has corrupted absolutely the human race, and seek to war against it...not from a position of desperation, but from a position of victory. God the Son won the victory over death and sin and the devil on the cross through His death and resurrection. Through God's love set upon us in Christ, HE will guide us through the storms, HE will protect us til the end of history, HE will preserve us for eternity. The fools who teach that we can attain such lofty goals on our power are teaching a false gospel...it is God who justifies, God who saves, and God who preserves. What other response have we, then to fall on our faces before our good God, and praise Him who undeservedly saved us? We do not deserve His salvation, let alone His preservation. What WE deserve is eternal punishment in hell, separated from our God forever and ever. What He has granted is an adoption into His holy family, where we, through the merits of Christ and Christ alone, may be welcomed into His heavenly, glorious presence, and enjoy His glory forever and ever.
The bottom line about the "license to sin" objection...one cannot be truly saved and still be carnal, loving sin more than God. As our Lord Jesus Christ said, we will know them by their fruits. If such as these continue their carnal ways to their death, or if they fall away from the faith and never return, the bigger question is, "Were they saved to begin with?" No one God has chosen will ever be lost.
Now let us fall before the majesty of our great God, acknowledging our sins, and asking that He would make us increasingly aware of them, that we may hate them more and more, and grow in repentance (a grace that we need to exercise all our lives). May we learn so to magnify His grace, as it is shown to us in the Lord Jesus Christ, that we might be completely taken up with it; and may we not only do so with our lips, but place our entire trust in Him. May we grow in that trust until we are gathered up into our eternal home, where we shall receive faith’s reward. May He not only grant this grace to us, but to all peoples.
