Safe and Secure: False Professors Can’t Lose What They Never Had

October 27, 2022 at 3:40 pm | Posted in Uncategorized | 3 Comments
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Those who oppose the teaching of the doctrine of the eternal security of the believer will sometimes cite the alleged danger it poses for those who have a wrong understanding of it. Some people, they say, will take the doctrine of the security of salvation as a license for iniquity. Matthew 7:21-23 is used as a prooftext for why we should not tell people that, once God saves them, they are eternally secure.

Not every one that saith unto me, Lord, Lord, shall enter into the kingdom of heaven; but he that doeth the will of my Father which is in heaven.

Matthew 7:21

Most Bible commentators and scholars take it for granted that the people saying, “Lord, Lord,” in that verse are being sincere in their profession, and that they actually consider themselves to be under the Lordship of Jesus, but, to me, this is not so obvious. Admittedly, the repetition of the title “Lord” MAY be an indicator of sincerity (the repetition of a name in Scripture is a rare motif, but it is a motif nonetheless), but the saying of a thing does not make the thing true, nor does the saying of a thing necessarily mean that the person saying it actually BELIEVES it is true. “Saith” does not automatically mean “believeth.” The person who denies the doctrine of eternal security wants to say that these people at one point said, “Lord, Lord,” and really meant it, but that at a later point they didn’t actually do the will of the Father, so they lost the salvation previously granted to them. However, this is not borne out by the logic of the text.

Consider the will of the Father concerning salvation:

Then said they unto him, What shall we do, that we might work the works of God? Jesus answered and said unto them, This is the work of God, that ye believe on him whom he hath sent.

John 6:28-29

Many will say to me in that day, Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in thy name? and in thy name have cast out devils? and in thy name done many wonderful works?

Matthew 7:22

Did they really do these things? Did they really cast out devils? Did they really do many wonderful works in Jesus’s name? Again, the majority report among commentators and scholars is that they did, but it is possible that they did not. After all, Jesus will go on to call them workers of iniquity. Lying to Jesus’s face is not a smart move, but we can’t discount that they might very well have been doing just that. And, as we have already seen, making a claim does not make the claim true. Nevertheless, for purposes of this discussion, let’s assume they did really do those works. The conclusion now would be not that they lost the salvation granted to them by God, but that they were never really saved at all. The summation of their argument is that they did many wonderful works. But we are not saved by works.

For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God: Not of works, lest any man should boast.

Ephesians 2:8-9

This is both very clear and very insightful. It tells us the truth about works and something of the “why” salvation can’t be by works, while immediately dismissing the common claim from those who oppose eternal security when they say that, if you do believe in eternal security, then you must believe that works “don’t matter:”

For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus unto good works, which God hath before ordained that we should walk in them.


Ephesians 2:10

The grace of salvation is an applied and living grace. It does not stamp you like a ticket for Heaven and then go away. It stays active in your life, motivating, equipping, and carrying out the good works God already planned for His children to accomplish in a way that glorifies Him.

And then will I profess unto them, I never knew you: depart from me, ye that work iniquity.

Matthew 7:23

Here we see the key to understanding how the existence of false professors doesn’t disprove the doctrine of eternal security. These people professed to know Jesus, but HE didn’t know THEM in a saving way. Salvation means that God knows you, gives you to the Son, and that the Son will not and can not lose you. It is only to those who were never His that He says, “Depart.”

Bible teachers usually emphasize the iniquity or the lawlessness of these false professors, but we must not miss another key emphasis, which is on what they did to merit the designation of iniquitous and lawless: they “worked,” rather than truly believed. They tried to “work” for a salvation that could never be earned, and so at the end they hear the truth spelled out: not that Jesus failed them, but that they never really fully trusted Him.

The Free Course of the Word

October 25, 2022 at 3:59 pm | Posted in II Thessalonians | Leave a comment
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Finally, brethren, pray for us, that the word of the Lord may have free course, and be glorified, even as it is with you:

II Thessalonians 3:1 (emphasis added)

The Word of God is living; our job as Christians is to set it free. When I communicate with people who pretend not to believe in God, or who don’t believe the Bible, I still use Bible verses. Sometimes this drives them absolutely CRAZY. They say, “Why do keep telling me what the BIBLE says? I don’t believe the Bible.” I use it because it is LIVING and POWERFUL. We need to remember this in Christian ministry. If somebody comes to God, and we attribute it to the skill of a preacher or teacher, or if we attribute it to the skill of a worship band or singer, or if we attribute it to a very clever plan to get people to come to some church event, then we are giving the glory to ourselves. But if we TRUST the Word and PUBLISH the Word, God gets the glory.

He sendeth forth his commandment upon earth: his word runneth very swiftly.

Psalm 147:15

Wherein I suffer trouble, as an evil doer, even unto bonds; but the word of God is not bound.

II Timothy 2:9

Sheep that are not properly fed get edgy, they get hungry, they start to bite each other, they don’t follow the Shepherd, they start to wander off. When they wander off looking for food, they are susceptible to falling into ditches, getting caught in briar bushes, getting attacked by wolves. However, when sheep are well fed they flock together, they reproduce, they follow the Shepherd, and they are happy.

Not only should we RECOGNIZE and APPRECIATE the power of the Word, but we are COMMANDED to release the Word. “Command” is a key Word in II Thessalonians Chapter 3.

And we have confidence in the Lord touching you, that ye both do and will do the things which we command you.

II Thessalonians 3:4 (emphasis added)

Now we command you, brethren, in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, that ye withdraw yourselves from every brother that walketh disorderly, and not after the tradition which he received of us.

II Thessalonians 3:6 (emphasis added)

For even when we were with you, this we commanded you, that if any would not work, neither should he eat.

II Thessalonians 3:10 (emphasis added)

Now them that are such we command and exhort by our Lord Jesus Christ, that with quietness they work, and eat their own bread.

II Thessalonians 3:12 (emphasis added)

“Command” is a word for soldiers. Good soldiers can get in big trouble if they show up late for drills. As Christians, we are in a more important war than a military army. We need to show up on time, prepared, focused, obedient.

When Impatience Is Sinful

October 20, 2022 at 10:59 am | Posted in Isaiah | 2 Comments
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There was the king of Assyria looking at tiny Jerusalem, rubbing his hands together, licking his chops, thinking that there was no way Judah’s army could resist him.

God’s people had relied on political alliances, but political alliances are untrustworthy. Now they were acting as though they didn’t really believe the old stories of how God’s power had delivered them from the Egyptians and the Canaanites. They didn’t want to wait on God. They wanted an answer NOW!

I thought about this when I was sitting in traffic on the interstate.

For thus saith the Lord GOD, the Holy One of Israel; In returning and rest shall ye be saved; in quietness and in confidence shall be your strength:  and ye would not.

Isaiah 30:15

And I thought about how impatience can be a sin, even though it doesn’t really seem that bad to us. We don’t usually even consider it a sin, do we? We excuse ourselves and say, “Well, I just don’t like to wait,” but from God’s point of view I wonder if He considers impatience to be a type of faithlessness. It’s not that we don’t believe God CAN save us from our trials; it’s that we think He WON’T DO IT FAST ENOUGH, so I’ve got to ACT and I’ve got to ACT NOW.

God says “in… rest shall ye be saved; in quietness and in confidence shall be your strength…” There on the highway, the road is blocked, but I have choices. I can give up, turn around, and go home. I can cut off the road, find the nearest off-ramp, and try to go around. How often have I done that and got in trouble, and had to wait even longer to get where I was going! In the Christian life, our highway won’t always be smooth. There will be obstacles in the road, there will be debris in the road, there will be other cars blocking the way. There will be wrecks, there will be road construction. I can turn around, go home, just say, “Fine Lord, if You wanted me to do it, it wouldn’t be so hard.” Or I can take the off-ramp to Egypt – that’s what the king of Judah was doing – but God wanted them to wait – wait on Him.

And therefore will the LORD wait, that he may be gracious unto you, and therefore will he be exalted, that he may have mercy upon you: for the LORD is a God of judgment: blessed are all they that wait for him.    

Isaiah 30:18 (emphasis added)

You can try to delay your obedience to God if you foresee an inconvenient obstacle, and use this as an opportunity to say you’re just being wise, and will obey later when the obstacle is removed (you would have just been waiting there, anyway!), but the problem is that you will then take credit for the timing. When you resolve to obey God immediately, even knowing you might be providentially hindered in the moment, then God will get the glory when it becomes clear that the whole thing, including your perceived inconvenience, was His doing.

God wanted to be consulted, and the people needed to consult Him. This delay in His deliverance turned out to be a great blessing.

From Ephesus to Eternity

October 6, 2022 at 3:01 pm | Posted in Ephesians | 7 Comments
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In the fall of 52 A.D. Paul first arrived in Ephesus (Acts 18:18-21). He probably stayed there about three weeks, or somewhere between one week and a month. Apollos went there after Paul, was taken in by Priscilla and Aquila, and afterwards left for Corinth. About one year later Paul went back to Ephesus (fall of 53) and stayed this time for something like two and a half to three years (Spring 56) (Acts 18:23; 19:1).

He met the disciples of John the Baptist. He taught in the synagogue for about three months, met opposition, and moved to a lecture hall owned by Tyrannus. He did this for two years, preaching to Jews and Greeks and throughout Asia Minor.

Approximately 10 years later, as a prisoner at Rome, Paul wrote the letter that we know as the Book of Ephesians, and sent it to Ephesus with the slave, Onesimus, known from the Book of Philemon.

Paul, an apostle of Jesus Christ by the will of God, to the saints which are at Ephesus, and to the faithful in Christ Jesus:

Ephesians 1:1

All true Christians should be little a apostles, in the sense of being ambassadors for Christ, but Paul was also a capital A Apostle, meaning he had special Apostolic authority. He referenced his appointment to this position as being made and done “by the will of God,” which will be a predominant theme in Ephesians, especially here in Chapter One.

Paul addressed the letter to “the saints,” by which he did not mean canonized and deceased Christians, but, rather, all the true believers in the Ephesian church, who were “saints” in the sense of being “holy,” set apart,” or “sanctified” (positionally), as all true Christians are. The description, “the faithful in Christ Jesus” is meant not to denote a separate group of people, but as an instance of synthetic parallelism, emphasizing that holiness and faithfulness are inextricably linked in the children of God.

Grace be to you, and peace, from God our Father, and from the Lord Jesus Christ.

Ephesians 1:2

The Holy Spirit is the agent of peace, making this a Trinitarian greeting.

Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who hath blessed us with all spiritual blessings in heavenly places in Christ:

Ephesians 1:3

Our blessings are situated with Christ in the Heavenlies. He is at the right hand of the Father in Heaven, and we are in Him, so we have access to the EXCEEDING riches of His spiritual blessings.

Ephesus was a city steeped in the worship of Artemis/Diana. The cult of Diana was a powerful cult, which, unlike many other pagan cults, did not feature as much sexual perversion, but, instead, was known for a belief in magic arts (see Acts 19:13-41).

According as he hath chosen us in him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and without blame before him in love:

Ephesians 1:4

God chose us before we chose Him. In fact, His choosing took place before the foundation of the world. In the Divine order, the choosing was subsequent to the plan which made the choosing necessary.

Having predestinated us unto the adoption of children by Jesus Christ to himself, according to the good pleasure of his will,

Ephesians 1:5 (emphasis added)

Note the past tense: “having predestinated.” Election deals with the objects of salvation: true Christians. Predestination deals with the means of salvation: how God determined to do it. First, He decided to display His glory in rescuing a great number of sinners who could never save themselves. Then He pre-determined how He would do it. The planning and the choice, from our perspective of ordered things, sound as though they came about in a sequence of time, but, from God’s infinite, eternal perspective, they took place outside of time (eternity past). The execution of the plan took place in time (temporal past, present, and future). The consequences are eternal which means they will continue outside of time (eternity future).


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