Watch ye therefore, and pray always, that ye may be accounted worthy
to escape all these things that shall come to pass, and to stand before the Son of
man. - Luke 21:36
Watch ye therefore, and pray always, that ye may be accounted worthy
to escape all these things that shall come to pass, and to stand before the Son of
man. - Luke 21:36
Examining verses on eternal security in the New Testament
Examining eternal security in the Old Testament
Note: All Bold Emphasis is mine.
All Christians believe that those who love and trust Jesus at the point of their death are secure in His kingdom. We also believe that those who reject Jesus in this life never had an offer of eternal security. However, on the Day of Judgment, the doctrine of eternal security will be of real concern to the backslider. What will happen to the backslider? Is it possible to backslide or stop walking with God? The assertion of this writer is that a careful study of Scripture will show you that it is possible for a Christian to backslide and that in doing so on the Day of Judgment God will blot his name out of the Book of Life.
As we start on this quest for truth, we must be careful to take all scripture in context. And taking scripture in context will be very difficult as most Christians are very biased on this issue. Let us also watch out for straw-man arguments; this is where the teacher misrepresents an opponent’s claim and then easily refutes it. Because of this, many Christians are mistaken when they believe they understand both sides of this issue. Straw-man arguments, in misrepresenting an opponent, are a violation of the command Thou shalt not bear false witness therefore let us abhor them. For that reason, every proof text that I attribute to those who believe in eternal security has come from their own books or studies.
However, the believers in eternal security come in two camps. The first believes a Christian cannot backslide, if a person backslides he was not saved in the first place. The second camp believes that backsliding Christians are still saved though they may lose their rewards. If a person persists in backsliding long enough God may take his physical life, yet he will not lose his soul.
In my experience, when push comes to shove, either camp will hedge their position; however, eternal security is not negotiable. For instance, I have known some, who do not believe they can backslide, to allow a little backsliding when shown 1st Corinthians 3:16-17. Some who believe Christians can backslide (without loosing salvation) will make a case against it when faced with verses like Hebrews 3:6 or 3:14.
This paper is not trying to attack either camp, yet since teachers in both camps have at times argued for each other, I have ignored their differences, if you believe that this paper misrepresents your belief about the particulars of backsliding, the statement in dispute may have come from the other camp.
Proper understanding of eternal security is important because what you believe effects how you act. If you believe that getting someone to say the sinner's prayer sincerely gives him eternal security, then you will try to get as many people as you can to say the sinner's prayer. If you believe that, “We must through much tribulation enter into the kingdom of God.”1 Then you will be very concerned that converts are correctly discipled. Believing that inadequately taught believers might fall away you will press forward until Christ is formed in them. If you believe that once they do fall away they will be much harder to reach the second time,2 you would be concerned that you do not inoculate them against the Gospel of Jesus. A poor witness may be worse than no witness at all. Children from Christian homes often leave the faith once they start attending a college or university. How can Christians be oblivious to this epidemic? If we did not believe in eternal security, would we be more determined to train our children properly?
Study to shew thyself approved unto God, a workman that needeth not to be ashamed, rightly dividing the word of truth. - 2nd Timothy 2:15
Another problem with the eternal security doctrine is that it has divided the church. Some denominations have shut their doors to those who love God and believe the Bible because they do not believe the Bible teaches eternal security. If your church believes in eternal security it is likely that you pastor will not allow the other side to be presented (that, like the Berians, you may prove all things). If Scripture does not substantiate this doctrine, on the Day of Judgment, those who caused division over it will see that they are the true heretics. Even so, there are many Christians on both sides of this issue, so while I will do my best to persuade my opponents, let us use it as an excuse to study the Scriptures, not to divide the church.
As we have already seen, the believers in eternal security are divided on this issue. What about those Christians who do not believe in eternal security? One pastor in trying to be humorous said those who do not believe in their eternal security believe in eternal insecurity. Even so, those of us who are not backslidden are completely secure in our relationship with the Lord.
However, should those Christians who are backslidden be secure in their salvation? One church elder in discussing eternal security shared that he knew a backslidden pastor. He quoted this pastor as telling him: “If I were in a bar drunk, with two floozies, one under each arm; I still know where I am going.” 3 Amazingly, the elder expected me to concur that the backsliding pastor was still saved; instead, I quoted to him from the Epistle to the Galatians:
Now the works of the flesh are manifest, which are these; adultery, fornication, uncleanness, lasciviousness, idolatry, witchcraft, hatred, variance, emulations, wrath, strife, seditions, heresies, envyings, murders, drunkenness, revellings, and such like: of the which I tell you before, as I have also told you in time past, that they which do such things shall not inherit the kingdom of God. - Galatians 5:19-21
If you believe in eternal security and that believers cannot backslide, you know that this pastor’s belief in eternal security is a false security.
If you believe in eternal security and yet believers can backslide, do you believe this pastor was right when he said, “I know where I am going”, or do you believe the apostle Paul when he said, “they which do such things shall not inherit the kingdom of God”
If this pastor did not believe in eternal security, he might at least sense that he was in trouble.
Actually, Paul warns us all to take heed:
Wherefore let him that thinketh he standeth take heed lest he fall. There hath no temptation taken you but such as is common to man: but God is faithful, who will not suffer you to be tempted above that ye are able; but will with the temptation also make a way to escape, that ye may be able to bear it. - 1 Corinthians 10:12-13
Notice Paul did not say; He will lose his reward, he said, Take heed lest he fall. If you get your Bible out and read verses 12 and 13 in context, you will see that 1st Corinthians chapter 10 gives us examples of falling. They refer to death, not to the losing of rewards. To help us see how important this is Paul prefaced the above verse with,
Now all these things happened unto them for ensamples: and they are written for our admonition, upon whom the ends of the world are come. - 1 Corinthians 10:11
To see the solution to a problem, we must start by asking the right question. This question may help; what does it mean to have the Holy Spirit? In his Epistle to the Romans Paul said:
But ye are not in the flesh, but in the Spirit, if so be that the Spirit of God dwell in you. Now if any man have not the Spirit of Christ, he is none of his. - Romans 8:9
And to the Ephesians he wrote:
In whom ye also trusted, after that ye heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation: in whom also after that ye believed, ye were sealed with that Holy Spirit of promise,
- Ephesians 1:13
Finally, let us also look at what Jesus said:
If a man love me, he will keep my words: and my Father will love him, and we will come unto him, and make our abode with him. – John 14:23
The Holy Spirit that seals us is the essence of our salvation. It is to know and abide in Jesus Christ, to have a personal relationship with Him. If you are not fellowshipping with God now (It does not matter what you may have experienced in the past) if you do not have Jesus Christ abiding with you, by definition you do not have the Holy Spirit, and you will be disappointed on the Day of Judgment. John confirmed this in his second epistle:
Look to yourselves, that we lose not those things which we have wrought, but that we receive a full reward. Whosoever transgresseth, and abideth not in the doctrine of Christ, hath not God. He that abideth in the doctrine of Christ, he hath both the Father and the Son.
- 2 John 1:8-9
John is not talking about unbelievers. He is talking to us when he said, “Look to yourselves”. Do not think that you can have the Holy Spirit if you do not have fellowship with the Father and the Son.
Let that therefore abide in you, which ye have heard from the beginning. If that which ye have heard from the beginning shall remain in you, ye also shall continue in the Son, and in the Father. And this is the promise that he hath promised us, even eternal life
- 1 John 2:24-25
See how John prefaced this promise of "continuing in the Son and in the Father” with the words “If that which ye have heard from the beginning shall remain in you”. Paul also said we must continue in the faith:
And you, that were sometime alienated and enemies in your mind by wicked works, yet now hath he reconciled In the body of his flesh through death, to present you holy and unblameable and unreproveable in his sight:
If ye continue in the faith grounded and settled, and be not moved away from the hope of the gospel, which ye have heard, and which was preached to every creature which is under heaven; whereof I Paul am made a minister; - Colossians 1:21-23
One brother commented on this study by saying,
"The KEY ingredient in salvation is FAITH without WORKS. Your main problem is that you are trying to say works are necessary to get or KEEP a person saved. You say they must follow to be saved, or they must continue to be saved, or must not sin to be saved, [I never said this] but GOD SAYS YOU MUST BELIEVE TO BE SAVED."
But it was both John and Paul who said we must continue, I was only quoting them. The hope that He will present us “holy and unblameable and unreproveable in his sight” is a reasonable hope only if we continue in the faith.
It is true, that some believe their salvation is by their works. The Roman Catholic Church teaches that you must repent after committing a mortal sin and if you fail to do the proper penance before your death, you will go to eternal torment. Yet, there is no similarity between this works doctrine and the teaching of Jesus as recorded in the four gospels.
Many pastors wrongly believe that everyone who does not believe in eternal security believes that salvation comes by doing good works. Let us look at the brother's comment again.
"The KEY ingredient in salvation is FAITH without WORKS. Your main problem is that you are trying to say works are necessary to get or KEEP a person saved. You say they must follow to be saved, or they must continue to be saved, or must not sin to be saved, [I never said this] but GOD SAYS YOU MUST BELIEVE TO BE SAVED."
While he said that I teach works are necessary for salvation, I have always said, your salvation will depend on your relationship with Jesus, not on your good works. It is true however, that a relationship with God and your faith in God produce good works. Nor can we separate works from salvation. This brother said, "The KEY ingredient in salvation is FAITH without WORKS." Yet the apostle James said:
Even so faith, if it hath not works, is dead, being alone. - James 2:17
Then how do you know you are abiding in or loving Christ enough?
I have heard this objection more than once. Are my brothers trying to make abiding in Christ seem like salvation by works? That is like asking the question, “How sincerely do you have to say the sinner's prayer in order to safely have eternal security?”
Anyway, suppose your relationship with God is not as close as it used to be. At what point would you lose your salvation? It is not how close you are abiding. Either you are abiding or you are not.
He that is not with me is against me: and he that gathereth not with me scattereth.
- Luke 11:23
If you are not gathering with Jesus, you are scattering! Period.
And at the ninth hour Jesus cried with a loud voice, saying, Eloi, Eloi, lama sabachthani? which is, being interpreted, My God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me? - Mark 15:34
We do not base our relationship with our God on our feelings. Though Jesus may have felt forsaken by the Father, we know he was in the father’s perfect will. You may feel ‘forsaken’ by God at times but this is not evidence for determining the quality of your relationship; by faith, we know he will never forsake us. If you are in doubt your relationship with God because of some sin - sin does ruin our relationship with God - deal with the sin before you do ruin your relationship.
How do we know that we are abiding in Christ closely enough?
Jesus said unto him, Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind. - Matthew 22:37
This is the standard. Let someone else downplay these words of Jesus as being unnecessary. If you or someone you know is not even trying to keep the first and greatest commandment your false sense of security may be in for a rude awakening.
To be saved as a Christian, you must believe Christ died on a cross to pay for and cleanse you from sin.
And, having made peace through the blood of his cross, by him to reconcile all things unto himself; by him, I say, whether they be things in earth, or things in heaven.
- Colossians 1:20
AND
But if we walk in the light, as he is in the light, we have fellowship one with another, and the blood of Jesus Christ his Son cleanseth us from all sin. - 1 John 1:7
AND
And from Jesus Christ, who is the faithful witness, and the first begotten of the dead, and the prince of the kings of the earth. Unto him that loved us, and washed us from our sins in his own blood, - Revelation 1:5
How do we know this applies to us? Or how can a Christian know if he is personally saved?
For whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved. - Romans 10:13
Some believe this verse teaches that once you have called upon the name of the Lord you have eternal life. Is this all we must do to be saved? Once you have eternal life you cannot lose it or it is not eternal life, right? Romans 10:13 does teach the way of salvation. However, does this verse teach us that if we call on him one time we will then have eternal life? Or did Paul, who penned the above verse, teach us that calling on the Lord is to be a continual process? Look at these verses (the term calling on the Lord is always in the present tense).
For there is no difference between the Jew and the Greek: for the same Lord over all is rich unto all that call upon him. - Romans 10:12
AND
Unto the church of God which is at Corinth, to them that are sanctified in Christ Jesus, called to be saints, with all that in every place call upon the name of Jesus Christ our Lord, both theirs and ours: - 1 Corinthians 1:2
AND
Flee also youthful lusts: but follow righteousness, faith, charity, peace, with them that call on the Lord out of a pure heart. - 2 Timothy 2:22
The saints are called they that call on the Lord in the Bible more often than they are called Christians. Do not these passages teach that calling on the Lord is a continual process?
And here he hath authority from the chief priests to bind all that call on thy name.
- Acts 9:14
While Romans 10:13 teaches that calling on the name of the Lord is essential to salvation, there are many other passages teaching the way of salvation also. Here are two.
[Jesus said,] I tell you, Nay: but, except ye repent, ye shall all likewise perish. - Luke 13:3
AND
And that repentance and remission of sins should be preached in his name among all nations, beginning at Jerusalem. And ye are witnesses of these things. - Luke 24:47-48
Do not believe that salvation can be seperated from repentance, as repentance is the heart of the Gospel.
From that time Jesus began to preach, and to say, Repent: for the kingdom of heaven is at hand. - Matthew 4:17
It is important to study all the verses on salvation in their proper context before making over-simplistic statements on salvation.
Moreover, brethren, I declare unto you the gospel which I preached unto you, which also ye have received, and wherein ye stand; By which also ye are saved, if ye keep in memory what I preached unto you, unless ye have believed in vain. - 1 Corinthians 15:1-2
Paul told the Corinthians that he had declared the gospel unto them. The Corinthians had to keep in memory his teachings to be saved, and if they did not, they would have believed in vain. What did Paul expect them to remember?
Take heed unto thyself, and unto the doctrine; continue in them: for in doing this thou shalt both save thyself, and them that hear thee. - 1 Timothy 4:16
Christians can rejoice and know that they are saved as long as they are abiding in Christ. Some Christians have no doubt for their future because they are founded on the Rock. Other Christians seem to wave, only time will tell if the cares of this world will choke them to death.
We have talked about calling on His name, believing in His name, continuing in the doctrine and repenting to be saved; what about saying the sinner’s prayer, is it necessary to pray the sinner’s prayer to be saved? While there are many examples of sinners praying, it may surprise you that the Bible does not mention the concept of a sinner's prayer, as many churches practice it today. There is no place in the Bible where a disciple leads a sinner in prayer and then tells him that if he prayed sincerely he has eternal life. In fact, a careful look at the scriptures will show us that where we offer the new believer a sinner’s prayer, the early church would have baptized him. Here are a few examples, first the day of Pentecost:
Then they that gladly received his word were baptized: and the same day there were added unto them about three thousand souls. - Acts 2:41
Also, the Ethiopian eunuch was baptized the moment they came to water.
And as they went on their way, they came unto a certain water: and the eunuch said, See, here is water; what doth hinder me to be baptized? And Philip said, If thou believest with all thine heart, thou mayest. And he answered and said, I believe that Jesus Christ is the Son of God. And he commanded the chariot to stand still: and they went down both into the water, both Philip and the eunuch; and he baptized him. - Acts 8:36-38
And finally Peter, who had not even finished his sermon when he ordered Cornelius’ household to be baptized.
While Peter yet spake these words, the Holy Ghost fell on all them which heard the word.
…
And he commanded them to be baptized in the name of the Lord. Then prayed they him to tarry certain days. - Acts 10:44,48
If the Bible does not teach the sinner's prayer as we practice it today, then receiving eternal life by saying a sinner's prayer sincerely is not taught either.
Howbeit in vain do they worship me, teaching for doctrines the commandments of men.
- Mark 7:7
This is not speaking against prayer, or praying the very moment you believe. I am against teaching that a sinner’s prayer saves us when the Bible clearly and plainly states our salvation comes from our relationship with Jesus and the Father.
And this is life eternal, that they might know thee the only true God, and Jesus Christ, whom thou hast sent. - John 17:3
AND
That whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have eternal life. - John 3:15
You cannot believe in Jesus if you do not know him.
And we know that the Son of God is come, and hath given us an understanding, that we may know him that is true, and we are in him that is true, even in his Son Jesus Christ. This is the true God, and eternal life. - 1 John 5:20
It is important that God should know us also.
And then will I profess unto them, I never knew you: depart from me, ye that work iniquity.
- Matthew 7:23
If the Bible does not specifically say we receive eternal life the moment we say the sinner’s prayer; at what moment does the Bible teach that we receive eternal life? The following passages teach that the Lord will give the crown of eternal life at the First Resurrection. When you have received the crown of life, you will have eternal security.
Blessed is the man that endureth temptation: for when he is tried, he shall receive the crown of life, which the Lord hath promised to them that love him. James 1:12
AND
Repent ye therefore, and be converted, that your sins may be blotted out, when the times of refreshing shall come from the presence of the Lord; - Acts 3:19
AND
He that hath an ear, let him hear what the Spirit saith unto the churches; To him that overcometh will I give to eat of the tree of life, which is in the midst of the paradise of God.
- Revelation 2:7
AND
Fear none of those things which thou shalt suffer: behold, the devil shall cast some of you into prison, that ye may be tried; and ye shall have tribulation ten days: be thou faithful unto death, and I will give thee a crown of life. - Revelation 2:10
AND
Blessed and holy is he that hath part in the first resurrection: on such the second death hath no power, but they shall be priests of God and of Christ, and shall reign with him a thousand years. - Revelation 20:6
God could not have stated it more plainly; eternal security will be given to those who are faithful unto death. To teach otherwise is to teach another gospel. Look at what eternal security teaches! (The brackets are my additions; the strikethrough would have to be omitted)
James 1:12 would read: Blessed is the man that [prayed the sinner’s prayer in faith] endureth temptation: for when he is tried, he shall [has already] receive[d] the crown of life, which the Lord hath promised to them that love him [prayed in faith].
AND
Acts 3:19 would read: Repent ye therefore, and be converted, that your sins may be blotted out, when [you come to the altar and pray] the times of refreshing shall come from the presence of the Lord.
AND
Revelation 2:7 would read: He that hath an ear, let him hear what the Spirit saith unto the churches; To him that overcometh will I give to eat of the tree of life, which is in the midst of the paradise of God.
AND
Revelation 2:10 would read: Fear none of those things which thou shalt suffer: behold, the devil shall cast some of you into prison, that ye may be tried; and ye shall have tribulation ten days: be thou faithful unto death, and I will give thee a crown of life.
While those who believe in eternal security do not actually tamper with the scripture, can they really say that they believe these passages the way they are written?