Bible Studies

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I promised to write this article much sooner but things got away from me. If anyone’s anticipation was disappointed, please accept my sincerest apologies.

Unless noted, scriptural references will be taken from the New American Standard Bible (NASB).

Make no mistake about it. The doctrine of eternal security, while basic to the Christian faith, is both important and at times, baffling. It has even split some bodies of believers. But please don’t take my word for that. Read some of the classic banter between Martin Luther and the Catholic Church and you’ll get just a taste of what I’m referring to. Even churches today struggle with this teaching. I left a church because it not only refused to teach the doctrine, but flat out refused to believe it. Things like the Rapture, ordaining women elders, speaking in tongues, baptizing infants, to name a few, are important things to discuss and debate. But they are not the things to be dogmatic about. In other words, there is no need to go up against the wall because someone else believes differently. But the doctrine of eternal security is one of those things to go against and beyond the wall. It is not one of those teachings to be negotiated.

Charles Ryrie defines eternal security this way: “The work of God which guarantees that the gift of salvation, once received, is forever and cannot be lost.”(1) Calvinists refer to this as the preservation of the saints. In other words, one saved, always saved. There are several reason for this. I will explain the doctrine of eternal security from two avenues: exegetically and theologically.

Let us start with what many believe is the most famous verse in scripture, John 3:16. “For God so loved the word, that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have eternal life.” If we were taking a class in hermeneutics, we might be asked to write twenty five or thirty observations from that verse, but I will stick to just a few. There is a gift. The gift is associated with believing. Believing is tied to not perishing. Not perishing is linked to eternal life. The interpretation is, God’s gift is his Son, Jesus Christ. Faith in him means eternal life. Eternal life deals not only with time (everlasting as some texts translate), but also quality. Eternal is also the opposite of temporary (cannot be lost motif).

For lack of a better term, hear it straight from the Man. “All that the Father gives Me shall come to Me, and the one who comes to Me I will certainly not cast out.” (John 6:37) “And this is the will of Him who sent Me, that of all He has given Me I lose nothing, but raise him up on the last day.” (John 6:39) Jesus said he will lose no one who believes in him. If you need further proof text, look at John 10:27 - 28, “My sheep hear My voice, and they know Me, and they follow Me, and I give eternal life to them, and they shall never perish; and no one shall snatch them out of My hand.“ Did you catch that? We cannot be condemned because Jesus is securing us. You cannot draw any other conclusion but eternal security from those truths.

The apostle Paul wrote in Ephesians 1:13, we are sealed by the Holy Spirit. 1 Peter 1:5 teaches believers’ salvation is protected (past and continuous action in the Greek language). The King James version uses the words “kept saved” in this verse. Jude 1 announces were are kept (maintained in the custody of) for Christ.

So between John’s gospel and the epistles, we see words and phrases like, “will certainly not cast out,” “I lose nothing,” “sealed,” “protected,” “kept saved,” and “kept.” These denote security and no other determination could ever be derived.

Theologically, the same conclusion can be drawn. As demonstrated in some of the earlier passages, salvation is a free give from God motivated by his love for us. It’s not merited. God is not in the business of snatching gifts from his children. If so, that is not the agape love God demonstrates. Then there is our adoption into his family (c.f. Rom. 8:15; Gal. 4:5; Eph. 1:5). In our day when a child in adopted, social services can petition family court to rescind the adoption if they later deem the adoptive parents or household is unsafe or is not in the child’s best interests. But in Paul’s day, an adoption was permanent. There was no “give back” program. Once a child was adopted, he was adopted for life and was entitled the to same privileges as any biological child. In other words, adoption was Paul’s method of describing eternal security. And speaking of children, in John 3, Jesus taught we must be born again (Gr. anothen-”born from above”). Follow me. When a baby is born into the world, there has never been a case where the doctor folded the little one’s arms and legs, tucked its head, and then move it back up the birth canal and into the womb. That little bugger is out permanently. The same is true for us who are born again. It is permanent.

There are several theological ramifications if there is no eternal security. First, the Bible is a lie when it states our salvation is secure. But Jesus confirmed the Bible is true (John 17:17). Second, this would make God a liar. But we believe in a god who does not lie (Titus 1:2). Third, this would make Jesus a liar. Compare that to 2 Corinthians 5:21 and 1 Peter 2:21-22 and see what you come up with. Fourth, the Holy Spirit would not have the power to keep us. As written earlier, Ephesians 1:13 yields otherwise. Fifth, our God would be reduced from the most holy of beings to a schizophrenic idol, saving us one moment, then letting us go the next. Sixth, Jesus died in vain because his death is limited and impotent. This flies match dab in the face of Colossians 2:13-14. Just as the exegetical journey took us to eternal security, so does the theological route.

Then why are some stumbling over this most basic of teachings? I think it is a combination of bad teaching from untrained leaders, and the failure of Christians to perform real and in-depth study for themselves, a poisonous amalgamation. The Bereans checked the source to confirm the apostles’ teaching (Acts 17:11). That noxious concoction of poor leadership and lack of study is deeply rooted in auto-soterism or “self salvation.” Those who subscribe to this heresy believe in the “I” program (I go to church, I kept the commandment, I gave money, I am basically a good person, etc.). Paul Enns summed it this way, “For a believer to lose his salvation would demand a reversal and an undoing of all the preceding works of the Father, Son, and Spirit. The key issue in the discussion of the believer’s security concerns the issue of who does the saving. If man is responsible for securing his salvation, then he can be lost; if God secures the person’s salvation, then the person is forever secure.”(2)

Endnotes
1. Charles C. Ryrie, Basic Theology (Chicago: Moody Press, 1981), p. 328
2. Paul Enns, The Moody Handbook of Theology (Chicago: Moody Press,1989), p. 341

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