EIGHT BIBLICAL APPROACHES TO THE
ETERNAL SECURITY OF THE BELIEVERI want to be very clear from the very beginning. I believe that the Bible teaches the concept of “the eternal security of the believer,” and when I say “the eternal security of the believer” I mean “once saved, always saved.”
You might ask me, “Pastor, do you really believe “once saved, always saved?” And I answer, “Not only do I believe “once saved, always saved,” I preach “once saved, always saved,” and I further believe that it’s heresy to teach that man can lose his salvation.
Many people argue that man can lose his salvation, once he has attained it. To them, salvation is something to be worked for, and then held onto once attained.
Brethren, no amount of good works ever saved anyone.
And furthermore, salvation is not something that can be held onto once it is attained.
THAT’S MAN’S THINKING, NOT GOD’S THINKING.
The concept of working for one’s salvation is foreign to the Word of God, and
The concept of holding onto one’s salvation is even more foreign to the Word of God.
God doesn’t tell anyone to work for his/her salvation,
And He doesn’t tell us that we need to hold onto our salvation once we attain it.
THAT’S MAN’S THINKING, NOT GOD’S THINKING.
You see, the Bible says, “God has a way of thinking, and man has a way of thinking.”
Isaiah 55:8 For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways, saith the LORD. (KJV)
It is the very nature of man to believe that there is some good thing that he must do to please God so that God will save him.
That’s man’s thinking.
God thinks differently.
Man says, “Lord, here are my good deeds as an offering to you.”
God says, “Your works are not good enough to save you.”
Cain represents the thinking of the natural man.
Abel represents the person who thinks like God thinks.
Cain offered God the fruit of his labors, and God rejected Cain’s fruit.
Abel offered God a blood sacrifice, and God was satisfied.
Listen to the passage: Genesis 4:1-15
Genesis 4:1-15 (NIV)
1 Adam lay with his wife Eve, and she became pregnant and gave birth to Cain. She said, "With the help of the LORD I have brought forth a man."
2 Later she gave birth to his brother Abel. Now Abel kept flocks, and Cain worked the soil.
3 In the course of time Cain brought some of the fruits of the soil as an offering to the LORD.
4 But Abel brought fat portions from some of the firstborn of his flock. The LORD looked with favor on Abel and his offering,
5 but on Cain and his offering he did not look with favor. So Cain was very angry, and his face was downcast.
6 Then the LORD said to Cain, "Why are you angry? Why is your face downcast?
7 If you do what is right, will you not be accepted? But if you do not do what is right, sin is crouching at your door; it desires to have you, but you must master it."
8 Now Cain said to his brother Abel, "Let's go out to the field." And while they were in the field, Cain attacked his brother Abel and killed him.
9 Then the LORD said to Cain, "Where is your brother Abel?" "I don't know," he replied. "Am I my brother's keeper?"
10 The LORD said, "What have you done? Listen! Your brother's blood cries out to me from the ground.
11 Now you are under a curse and driven from the ground, which opened its mouth to receive your brother's blood from your hand.
12 When you work the ground, it will no longer yield its crops for you. You will be a restless wanderer on the earth."
13 Cain said to the LORD, "My punishment is more than I can bear.
14 Today you are driving me from the land, and I will be hidden from your presence; I will be a restless wanderer on the earth, and whoever finds me will kill me."
15 But the LORD said to him, "Not so; if anyone kills Cain, he will suffer vengeance seven times over." Then the LORD put a mark on Cain so that no one who found him would kill him. (NIV)
Principle: Nothing has changed, brethren. Regarding our salvation, God desires the blood of a sacrifice, not the fruit of our labor.
And an interesting thing to note, brethren, is that, today, the person who believes that man is saved by his good works can become just as violent toward those who practice the sufficiency of the blood of Christ, as Cain was toward his brother Abel.
Let Me Talk About Good Works for Just A Minute
If we as Christians are so foolish as to believe that a man’s good works will save him, I think we ought to understand what God thinks about the good works of a lost man.
Isaiah 64:6
6 But we are all as an unclean thing, and all our righteousnesses are as filthy rags; and we all do fade as a leaf; and our iniquities, like the wind, have taken us away. (KJV)
6 For all of us have become like one who is unclean, and all our righteous deeds are like a filthy garment; and all of us wither like a leaf, and our iniquities, like the wind, take us away. (NAS)
6 All of us have become like one who is unclean, and all our righteous acts are like filthy rags; we all shrivel up like a leaf, and like the wind our sins sweep us away. (NIV)
6 We are all infected and impure with sin. When we put on our prized robes of righteousness, we find they are but filthy rags. Like autumn leaves we fade, wither and fall. And our sins, like the wind, sweep us away. (TLB)
We sing about the blood of Christ. We preach about the blood. We shout about the blood. And many Christians would literally fight the person who would malign the blood of Christ -- and then we turn right around and tell the world that God can’t save us unless we produce good works sufficient for God to save us.
We preach about the blood of Christ, and then tell people that if they don’t stop smoking, don’t stop drinking, don’t stop fornicating, and don’t stop everything else that we think is sinful, God can’t save them.
Isaiah says in Isaiah 55:8, “For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways, saith the LORD.” (KJV)
Man says, “Stop fornicating.”
God says, “Faith in My Son.”
Man says, “Stop drinking.”
God says, “Faith in My Son.”
Man says, “Stop murdering.”
God says, “Faith in My Son.”
Man will never completely understand how to become saved until he understands the “eternal security of the believer” or “once saved, always saved.”
In like manner, man will never understand the “eternal security of the believer” or “once saved, always saved” until he understands how to become saved.
Man is saved by faith alone in Christ alone.
Now, let’s begin to look at the eight biblical approaches to the eternal security of the believer.
1. Positional Approach (Romans 8:1)
Romans 8:1 "There is therefore now no condemnation to them which are in Christ Jesus." (NAS)
Romans 8:1 Therefore, there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus, (NIV)
Romans 8:1 So there is now no condemnation awaiting those who belong to Christ Jesus. (TLB)
Romans 8:1 There is therefore now no condemnation to them which are in Christ Jesus, who walk not after the flesh, but after the Spirit. (KJV)
A. The members of the human race stand in one of two positions: "in Adam" or "in Christ."
1 Corinthians 15:22 For as in Adam all die, even so in Christ shall all be made alive. (KJV)
1) When man is born physically, he is said to be "in Adam.
2) When man has been born again, he is said to be "in Christ."
B. It is possible that a person may never change positions.
1) Those who are born "in Adam" may remain "in Adam.''
2) To remain "in Adam" means . . .
to remain condemned.
to have never become saved.
C. It is possible to change positions one time:
1) Man can change from being "in Adam" to "in Christ," but no man can ever change from being "in Christ" to being "in Adam.”
2) The point is this:
a. Salvation is a one way street--out of Adam and into Christ.
b. Salvation, once given by God to any man who believes, cannot be reversed.
c. It is no more possible for a man to reverse his salvation and become lost than it is for a child to reverse his physical birth and return to his mother's womb.
"There is therefore now no condemnation to them which are in Christ Jesus." (Rom. 8:1)
2. Logical Approach (Rom. 5:1, 9, 10, 15. 17, 20)
The “logical approach” to the eternal security of the believer takes into consideration a form of logic (reasoning) used by the Apostle Paul when he wrote to the Corinthian Christians.
Listen to what I am saying. I am saying that Paul used a form of logic to prove his point when writing to the Corinthian Christians. Paul reasoned with the Corinthian Christians. This means that Paul required the Corinthians to use their minds. Paul’s message to the Corinthians required them to think, and brethren, there is no excuse for any Christian who refuses to think.
There is present among Christians, today, the practice of substituting emotion for reason. There is present among Christians, today, the practice of substituting feelings for sound doctrine. Emotions will never take the place of reason, and feelings will never take the place of sound doctrine.
Two things are important to our understanding at this point:
1) Nowhere in the Bible are we ever told that the Christian way of life is related to feeling anything, and the Holy Spirit is never felt. The Holy Spirit is not related to a feeling.
2) Mankind’s most basic problem is a lack of understanding of God’s Word. The Apostle Paul calls this lack of understanding “ignorance.” On twelve occasions, the Apostle Paul uses the word “ignorance” and indicates that we as Christians should avoid it. Listen to the Apostle Paul:
Rom 1:13 Now I would not have you ignorant, brethren, that oftentimes I purposed to come unto you, (but was let hitherto,) that I might have some fruit among you also, even as among other Gentiles. (KJV)
Rom 10:3 For they being ignorant of God's righteousness, and going about to establish their own righteousness, have not submitted themselves unto the righteousness of God. (KJV)
Rom 11:25 For I would not, brethren, that ye should be ignorant of this mystery, lest ye should be wise in your own conceits; that blindness in part is happened to Israel, until the fulness of the Gentiles be come in. (KJV)
1 Cor 10:1 Moreover, brethren, I would not that ye should be ignorant, how that all our fathers were under the cloud, and all passed through the sea; (KJV)
1 Cor 12:1 Now concerning spiritual gifts, brethren, I would not have you ignorant. (KJV)
1 Cor 14:38 But if any man be ignorant, . . . (KJV)
2 Cor 1:8 For we would not, brethren, have you ignorant of our trouble which came to us in Asia, that we were pressed out of measure, above strength, insomuch that we despaired even of life: (KJV)
2 Cor 2:11 Lest Satan should get an advantage of us: for we are not ignorant of his devices. (KJV)
1Thes 4:13 But I would not have you to be ignorant, brethren, concerning them which are asleep, that ye sorrow not, even as others which have no hope. (KJV)
Heb 5:2 Who can have compassion on the ignorant, and on them that are out of the way; for that he himself also is compassed with infirmity. (KJV)
2 Pet 3:5 For this they willingly are ignorant of, that by the word of God the heavens were of old, and the earth standing out of the water and in the water: (KJV)
2 Pet 3:8 But, beloved, be not ignorant of this one thing, that one day is with the Lord as a thousand years, and a thousand years as one day. (KJV)
Ignorance results from a lack of understanding, and sometimes that lack of understanding is the result of an unwillingness to think; and I am unwilling to think I will never escape the judgment of Almighty God for ignorance that is the result of my own unwillingness to think. I may use hundreds of excuses to explain away my unwillingness to think, but God will accept none of them. Lack of education is no excuse. Being poor is no excuse. The color of a man’s skin is no excuse. There are no excuses for an unwillingness to think. The real challenge in the Christian way of life is not to get a feeling, but to THINK. And that being the case, Paul is about to require us to THINK. He is going to use a form of logic known as “AFORTIORI” logic that goes like this: IF GOD DID THE MOST HE COULD DO TO SAVE MANKIND, HE WILL DO MUCH MORE THAN THE MOST FOR MANKIND AFTER THEY ARE SAVED. When this logic is applied to the Christian way of life, the application goes like this:
IF GOD DID THE MOST FOR CHRISTIANS BY JUSTIFYING THEM WHEN HE SAVED THEM, HE WILL DO MUCH MORE THAN THE MOST BY GIVING THEM ETERNAL SALVATION NOW THAT THEY ARE JUSTIFIED.
The key to Paul’s afortiori logic is found in his use of the phrase “MUCH MORE.”
Listen to Paul’s afortiori logic:
Therefore being justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ. (v. 1)
MUCH MORE then, being now justified by His blood, we shall be saved from wrath through Him. (v. 9)
For if, when we were enemies, we were reconciled to God by the death of His Son, MUCH MORE, being reconciled, we shall be saved by His life. (v. 10)
But not as the offence, so also is the free gift. For if through the offence of one many be dead, MUCH MORE the grace of God, and the gift by grace, which is by one man, Jesus Christ, hath abounded unto many. (v. 15)
For if by one man's offence death reigned by one: MUCH MORE they which receive abundance of grace and of the gift of righteousness shall reign in life by one, Jesus Christ." (v. 17)
Moreover the law entered, that the offence might abound. But where sin abounded, grace did MUCH MORE abound-" (v. 20)
A. Five times in these passages Paul uses the phrase, "MUCH MORE."
B. Again, this phrase is used as a form of logic known as “a fortiori” logic which goes like this: If God has done THE MOST He can do in order to save us, He will do MUCH MORE than the most to keep us saved.
C. In other words, God did not exhaust His grace resources in providing salvation for the human race; therefore, if His grace is sufficient to save us, it is abundantly more sufficient to keep us saved after we are saved.
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______________THE MOST________________/______MUCH MORE THAN THE MOST______
before salvation after salvation
tij and can be translated "anyone, anything" which includes Satan or the sinning individual.3. God's Hand Approach -(Jn. 10:27-28; Ps. 37:24)
This approach says that at the moment of salvation, the new believer is placed in the hand of God and that being so, God is responsible to hold onto the believer, the believer is not responsible to hold onto God.
Let me illustrate this: (Let Cody represent God. Let me represent a believer. Instead of shaking hands, grasp Cody by the wrist and let him grasp me by the wrist. Now, note that when I let go of Cody’s wrist, he still holds onto me. That’s the meaning of John 10:27. Now, have Cody let go of my wrist and have me hold onto his wrist. That is just the opposite of what God is telling us in John 10:27.
Listen to John 10:27:
"My sheep hear my voice, and I know them, and they follow me:
"And I give unto them eternal life; and they shall never perish, NEITHER SHALL ANY MAN PLUCK THEM OUT OF MY HAND." (Jn. 10:27-28)
"Though he fall, he shall not be utterly cast down: for the Lord UPHOLDETH HIM WITH HIS HAND." (Ps. 37:24)
Though he fall is a reference to a believer who has committed a sin.
he shall not be utterly cast down means that the sinning believer has not lost his salvation.
Why does the sinning believer not lose his salvation? Because God upholds the sinning believer with His hand.
A. The Word of God says that the believer is held securely in the hand of God.
B. Satan has deceived many into believing that man has to hang-on-to-God.
C. The truth of the Scripture is that God is required to hang-on-to-His children.
D. Two arguments against this approach:
1. Satan is not ANY MAN, therefore, Satan can pluck you out of God's hand.
2. An individual can pluck himself out of God's hand because he is not ANY MAN.
E. Answer to the two above arguments: "any man" is the Greek indefinite pronoun
F. The point is this: This passage is saying that not one of God’s sheep can lose their salvation under any condition.