Eternally Secured (Part one)

TRUTH FOR TODAY

Jun Malazo

One of the greatest and most comforting promises that Jesus ever made is found in John 10:28-29, and it reads:

"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."

The verses above plainly teach us one of the fundamental teachings in the Bible.  These verses are some of the myriads of promises that God gives about the eternal security of the believer.  Believers are eternally secured at the moment of salvation.  The Apostle Paul says:

"Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? shall tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or peril, or sword?"  (Romans 8:35)

Then a few verses later he says:

"For I am persuaded, that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor powers, nor things present, nor things to come, Nor height, nor depth, nor any other creature, shall be able to separate us from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord."  (Romans 8:38-39)

There is a teaching within Christendom that falsely asserts that a child of God must strive to live a life without sin in order that they not lose the gift of salvation.  I have met many Christian leaders and pastors that wholeheartedly believe and teach this, and I see that they are genuine and sincere.  They love people and strive to make a difference for the cause of Christ in their communities.  However, they have been led to believe a lie.  My purpose in writing on this subject is not to question their character but rather, to expose a false teaching and to carefully and lovingly explain the very plain teachings of the Word of God regarding eternal security.  I have become very passionate about this subject because I have met so many sincere Christians that had have been led astray.  Believing that one must follow God’s will regarding a holy life in order to keep salvation has many implications.

I am not quite sure how this teaching became prevalent.  But it is clear, as I encounter this teaching, the verses used to support this belief have been misunderstood and in turn, misinterpreted.  Paul, in 2 Timothy 2:25 admonishes us about “…rightly dividing the word of truth.”  The phrase rightly dividing means to “expound correctly the divine message.”  If Paul warns about a right way to expound the Bible, we can then safely assume that it is because there is a danger of incorrectly expounding the Bible. 

While my aim in this article is not an exhaustive study of  hermeneutics or dispentionalism, it is important for anyone (lay people and church leaders) to understand that biblical truths must be interpreted within their proper context.  So often, sincere Christians would take a verse and use it to support a teaching without considering its proper grammatical, cultural, historical, and philosophical context.  It is easy to take any verse in the Bible and somehow twist it to fit any philosophy, but this way is not “rightly diving the word of truth.”

The Bible clearly teaches that all those that have placed their faith in the Lord Jesus Christ for salvation are kept by God’s power and are secured in Christ for eternity.  (Please look up John 6:37-40; John 10:27-29; 1 Corinthians 1:8, Romans 8:1, and 1 Thessalonians 5:9-10)

In John 10:28, we receive the gift of eternal life, not temporary life.  We received a gift and not a loan.  In John 3:3, when someone becomes a believer, they are born again.  Someone that is born again cannot be unborn.  In Romans 8:15, Christians become part of God’s family.  They cannot be unadopted.  Philippians 1:6 tells us about a “good work” that Jesus began in our lives when we became a child of God which He will finish “until the day of Jesus  Christ.”  In 2 Corinthians 5:17, once a person becomes a Christian, “he is a new creature: old things are passed away; behold, all things are become new.”  Becoming a new creature is a momentary event that cannot be reversed.  These verses, among many others, undeniably support the teaching of eternal security.

The Church in Corinth received a rebuke from the Apostle Paul about their carnality.  He calls them carnal because of the divisions and strife within the church.  The following verses give us this account:

"And I, brethren, could not speak unto you as unto spiritual, but as unto carnal, even as unto babes in Christ. I have fed you with milk, and not with meat:  for hitherto ye were not able to bear it, neither yet now are ye able. For ye are yet carnal:  for whereas there is among you envying, and strife, and divisions, are ye not carnal, and walk as men?"  (1 Corinthians 3:1-3)

It is important to notice that as the Apostle Paul rebukes them, there is no record of him admonishing them about losing their salvation and making sure that they get saved again. 

Notice what Paul says about himself and the inner struggles he had:

"For I know that in me (that is, in my flesh,) dwelleth no good thing: for to will is present with me; but how to perform that which is good I find not.  For the good that I would I do not:  but the evil which I would not, that I do.  Now if I do that I would not, it is no more I that do it, but sin that dwelleth in me."  (Romans 7:18-20)

The Apostle Paul spared no words in describing his own sinful nature when he further says, “O wretched man that I am! who shall deliver me from the body of this death?" (v. 24).  And yet, there is no record of the Apostle Paul losing his salvation and then gaining it again.  

Though the subject I am discussing is specifically about eternal security, the overall theme is about the gift of salvation which is eternal life.  We must look at the very foundational truths about salvation.  The foundational basis for salvation is God’s love.  Notice the following verses:

"For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life. "  (John 3:16)

"But God commendeth his love toward us, in that, while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us."  (Romans 5:8)

"Herein is love, not that we loved God, but that he loved us, and sent his Son to be the propitiation for our sins."  (1 John 4:10)

The word love appears some 311 times in the Bible.  There are different types of love in the Bible.  The type associated with God and salvation is called the agape love.  It is the highest form of love.  It means the unconditional, unchanging, and unending love of God.  It is the highest expression of love which is pure and selfless.

It is this type of love whereupon salvation is based. Notice another verse that plainly teaches about the love of God:

"The LORD hath appeared of old unto me, saying, Yea, I have loved thee with an everlasting love: therefore with lovingkindness have I drawn thee."  (Jeremiah 31:3)

If salvation can be taken away from us, then salvation would not be based upon the agape love.  It would not be unconditional and unending.  Why then all the confusion? 

I believe that sincere people often misunderstand the difference between salvation and sanctification.  Salvation is a gift that we receive the moment we place our trust in the person and work of Jesus Christ to completely forgive us of all of our sins and to take us to heaven someday.  Sanctification is a process that happens as we grow and become more like Christ.  It is a command from God that our faith should manifest a changed life. 

"But grow in grace, and in the knowledge of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ. To him be glory both now and for ever. Amen."  (2 Peter 3:18)

Once you receive Christ you can never lose your salvation.  Nothing can separate us from the love of God.  However, this doesn’t mean we can just live any way we want to just because we have already secured our “ticket” to heaven.  God wants us to be holy as He is holy.