Safe and Secure: False Professors Can’t Lose What They Never Had
October 27, 2022 at 3:40 pm | Posted in Uncategorized | 3 CommentsTags: Ephesians 2, eternal security, eternal security of the believer, John 6, Matthew 7, once saved always saved, perseverance of the saints
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.
Objections To the Doctrine of Everlasting Security Answered (Objection 8)
September 6, 2022 at 3:01 pm | Posted in Uncategorized | 2 CommentsTags: doctrine of eternal security, eternal security, eternal security of the believer, everlasting security, Jude, objections to eternal security, once saved always saved, perseverance of the saints
Objection: I know you can lose your salvation because the Book of Jude says we have to keep ourselves in the love of God. If we don’t do that, we will lose our salvation. Our independent human will is required to keep us saved.
Answer To Objection: You are talking about this verse:
Keep yourselves in the love of God, looking for the mercy of our Lord Jesus Christ unto eternal life.
Jude v. 21
You are missing the point of the Book of Jude. Look at the whole book (Jude is a short book not divided by chapters), and you will see that it is warning about the dangers of false teachers and the danger of being deceived by them. See Verses 4-19. When Verse 21 mentions keeping yourselves in the love of God, it specifically says we do that by looking for the mercy of Jesus, not our own efforts, deeds, or works. In fact, if you keep reading, you will see that Jude really reinforces the doctrine of eternal security:
Now unto him that is able to keep you from falling, and to present you faultless before the presence of his glory with exceeding joy, To the only wise God our Saviour, be glory and majesty, dominion and power, both now and ever. Amen.
Jude vv. 24-25
Verse 21 is talking about keeping yourself in the love of God in the sense of recognizing the love of God, not earning it or controlling it or deserving it. Verse 24 confirms that, when it comes to our eternal salvation, God (not you) is the only one able to to keep you saved, and to present you faultless before Himself. Note that we “get presented.” We don’t present ourselves. Furthermore, you can see that we are presented with joy that does not regret the so-called loss of human free will. Finally, note that God our Savior exercises His dominion and power both now (once saved) and ever (always saved).
Objection: But what about Jude v. 5? God’s people were saved from Egypt, but they ultimately lost that salvation through unbelief when they died in the wilderness. This means we can be saved, and then stop believing, and lose our salvation.
Answer To Objection: No, the Old Testament account of the deliverance of God’s people from Egypt and then their deaths later in the wilderness is not about Christians losing their salvation.
I will therefore put you in remembrance, though ye once knew this, how that the Lord, having saved the people out of the land of Egypt, afterward destroyed them that believed not.
Jude v. 5
Those people lost their earthly lives in the wilderness. This is a warning about the real danger of unbelief that can apply to Christians in their walk with Christ and their susceptibility to believing the lies of the false teachers and disbelieving the promises of God, but it is not a principle about eternal security. The Old Testament Israelites received an earthly deliverance and an earthly destruction upon leaving Egypt and dying in the wilderness. Exodus is not about their eternal security.
Objection: What about the angels? Jude v. 6 says they lost their salvation by not keeping it.
Answer To Objection: No, angels do not get saved the way human beings do. You can not use what happened to the fallen angels to prove that human beings lose the salvation granted to them by God. Jesus died to purchase eternal life for people, not for angels.
And the angels which kept not their first estate, but left their own habitation, he hath reserved in everlasting chains under darkness unto the judgment of the great day.
Jude v. 6
Safe and Secure: The Integrity, Infallibility, and Immutability of the Savior
August 10, 2022 at 1:55 pm | Posted in Uncategorized | 4 CommentsTags: eternal security of the believer, everlasting security, Hebrews 12, Hebrews 6, Hebrews 7, immutability of God, once saved always saved, perseverance of the saints, preservation of the saints, Romans 8
The doctrine of the eternal security of the believer is: All those to whom God in Christ Jesus grants eternal life will, without fail or exception, be held securely and safely by God’s power, and the eternal life they have received cannot be revoked, rejected, lost, stolen, given back, or otherwise reversed.
In a previous lesson I stated that ALL those given to Jesus the Son by God the Father will be kept secure by His power, and NONE shall be lost. Eternal life is eternal, and it is a present tense possession of the believer. No being or power can remove from God’s hand those He holds securely. Furthermore, because of the new nature given to believers at salvation, they do not ultimately WANT to remove themselves from His hand. Like sheep with a shepherd, their nature is to follow Him.
Now I want to look at a passage of Scripture which is a classic stumbling block for those who are skeptical about the doctrine of eternal security, keeping in mind that approaching the Bible honestly does not allow us to toss out sections of the Bible that “SEEM” to contradict our presuppositions. If we are going to understand the Bible faithfully and fairly, we must seek to harmonize verses that seem to be at odds with each other, because we know that God CAN NOT lie.
Therefore leaving the principles of the doctrine of Christ, let us go on unto perfection; not laying again the foundation of repentance from dead works, and of faith toward God, Of the doctrine of baptisms, and of laying on of hands, and of resurrection of the dead, and of eternal judgment. And this will we do, if God permit. For it is impossible for those who were once enlightened, and have tasted of the heavenly gift, and were made partakers of the Holy Ghost, And have tasted the good word of God, and the powers of the world to come, If they shall fall away, to renew them again unto repentance; seeing they crucify to themselves the Son of God afresh, and put him to an open shame.
Hebrews 6:1-6
If you had not read or believed Jonah 2:9 and John 6 and John 10 and Jude vv. 24-25, and just came to Hebrews 6:1-6, is there something here which could lead you to believe that it’s possible that God could save someone, then take that salvation away, or allow it to be lost or rejected? Some people believe that this passage teaches that it is possible to truly trust Christ for salvation, receive eternal life, but then later willingly to turn from that salvation and voluntarily give it up. However, in order to try to make Hebrews 6:1-6 fit into a doctrine that teaches that truly saved, born-again believers can lose the salvation granted to them by God, then the verses would also have to be teaching that, once this happens, these now-former believers could never get eternal life back again. Most of the people who deny eternal security instead teach that believers may lose it and get it back, lose it and get it back, many times. These verses teach just the opposite. They are saying that it would be impossible if someone were truly saved, and then could “fall away” out of salvation, to renew them again unto repentance.
On the other hand, some believe that Hebrews 6:1-6 is talking about people who were never really saved at all. Certainly there are some who profess to be saved and are really not, but that might not be who these verses are talking about. The people described were “once enlightened.” They “tasted” the heavenly calling, which means they actually experienced it, the way Jesus was said to have “tasted” death back in Hebrews 2:9. They were “partakers” of the Holy Ghost. He had sealed them unto redemption.
One solution to this is to see Hebrews 6:6 as describing a hypothetical situation positing what it would mean if God’s seal could be broken. Clearly an unsaved person could not put the Son of God “to open shame.” True Christians are His sheep. Wild goats don’t bring shame to the shepherd; they’re not in his care. The hypothetical would then serve to prove the point that only true Christians can bring shame to our Savior by refusing to grow up.
Can a baby remain immature for so long that his father is no longer his father? No, as true Christians, we’ve been “born again.” Once you’ve been born, any manner of things might happen to you, but you can never be “unborn.” This is also supported by the significance that Hebrews 6:4-9 use the pronouns “them,” “those,” and “their,” whereas the rest of the passage uses “us” and “we,” which is another indication that a hypothetical situation is being described.
Therefore leaving the principles of the doctrine of Christ, let us go on unto perfection; not laying again the foundation of repentance from dead works, and of faith toward God, Of the doctrine of baptisms, and of laying on of hands, and of resurrection of the dead, and of eternal judgment. And this will we do, if God permit. For it is impossible for those who were once enlightened, and have tasted of the heavenly gift, and were made partakers of the Holy Ghost, And have tasted the good word of God, and the powers of the world to come, If they shall fall away, to renew them again unto repentance; seeing they crucify to themselves the Son of God afresh, and put him to an open shame. For the earth which drinketh in the rain that cometh oft upon it, and bringeth forth herbs meet for them by whom it is dressed, receiveth blessing from God: But that which beareth thorns and briers is rejected, and is nigh unto cursing; whose end is to be burned. But, beloved, we are persuaded better things of you, and things that accompany salvation, though we thus speak.
Hebrews 6:1-9 (emphasis added)
The language indicates that the author has been using a hypothetical argument and speaking in figures of speech. Also, it indicates that this is more of an exhortation than a doctrinal discourse.
For God is not unrighteous to forget your work and labour of love, which ye have shewed toward his name, in that ye have ministered to the saints, and do minister.
Hebrews 6:10
“Have ministered” and “do minister:” note the past and present tense.
And we desire that every one of you do shew the same diligence to the full assurance of hope unto the end:
Hebrews 6:11 (emphasis added)
It’s as if the author assumes all true Christians will continue to labor for God out of love and minister to other believers to the end, but he is reminding them of the importance of not being “average” about their service. He wants them to be diligent about it all the way to the end of their lives. This is classic exhortation language. It is not the “My sheep hear My voice and they follow Me” declarative or indicative tense. It is the imperative or exhortative tense: “Here is what you OUGHT to do.”
That ye be not slothful, but followers of them who through faith and patience inherit the promises.
Hebrews 6:12
Sheep can follow and still get lazy, but sheep who are maturing get less lazy and more obedient. Hebrews teaches us that Jesus Christ is the Originator of the plan of, and the Author of the very idea of, salvation.
Looking unto Jesus the author and finisher of our faith; who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is set down at the right hand of the throne of God.
Hebrews 12:2 (emphasis added)
Jesus is the sole Author of salvation. We are not His co-authors. Salvation is a gift given to us, not a cooperative project. He is also the FINISHER of our faith. It should be difficult to imagine Jesus – Who is omnipotent – attempting something and not being able to finish it. In fact, it should not only be difficult to imagine, but it is a notion that should be rejected out of hand since it would negate the truth of His infallibility and Deity.
And they truly were many priests, because they were not suffered to continue by reason of death:
Hebrews 7:23
All throughout the Old Covenant there had never been an immortal human priest, but here is the stark contrast under the New Covenant:
But this man, because he continueth ever, hath an unchangeable priesthood.
Hebrews 7:24 (emphasis added)
Jesus continues forever. He is eternal, and he is able to continue to do His work forever, and He WILL in fact do it forever because, being God, he is unchangeable: IMMUTABLE. This is why the doctrine of the eternal security of the believer not only IS true, but HAS TO be true.
Wherefore he is able also to save them to the uttermost that come unto God by him, seeing he ever liveth to make intercession for them.
Hebrews 7:25
“The uttermost” is a universal, all-inclusive, definitive statement. There are no exceptions for opting out of the uttermost. This point is made over and over in the Bible, often right next to passages of Scripture which talk about the difficulty of living for Jesus continually through our whole lives in a hostile world.
Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? shall tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or peril, or sword? As it is written, For thy sake we are killed all the day long; we are accounted as sheep for the slaughter.
Romans 8:35-36 (emphasis added)
Sheep don’t look like they will make it, but Christ’s sheep WILL make it – not because they are super-sheep – but because they have an unconquerable, unfailing, all-powerful Shepherd.
Nay, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him that loved us. For I am persuaded, that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor powers, nor things present, nor things to come,
Romans 8:37-38
This is something of a doxology, but it’s a very literal and specific doxology.
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 8:39
Safe and Secure: Eternally Ovine
June 16, 2022 at 3:11 pm | Posted in Uncategorized | 4 CommentsTags: eternal security, eternal security of the believer, everlasting security, John 10, Jonah 2, once saved always saved, perseverance of the saints, regeneration, sheep, the Good Shepherd
In a previous lesson I stated that the doctrine of the eternal security of the believer is: All those to whom God in Christ Jesus grants eternal life will, without fail or exception, be held securely and safely by God’s power, and the eternal life they have received cannot be revoked, rejected, lost, stolen, given back, or otherwise reversed.
Q. Who saves people?
A. God does. (Jesus is also an acceptable answer!)
But I will sacrifice unto thee with the voice of thanksgiving; I will pay that that I have vowed. Salvation is of the LORD.
Jonah 2:9 (emphasis added)
When people are born again, are they born by their own will, or God’s will? According to John 1:12-13, God is the one who gives them to the power to believe, and they are NOT born of the will of the flesh, nor of the will of man, but of the will of God.
But as many as received him, to them gave he power to become the sons of God, even to them that believe on his name: Which were born, not of blood, nor of the will of the flesh, nor of the will of man, but of God.
John 1:12-13
So we must start off with the right question. NOT: “Can I lose my salvation?” BUT: “Can I lose the Lord’s salvation which He has granted to me?”
And this is the Father’s will which hath sent me, that of all which he hath given me I should lose nothing, but should raise it up again at the last day.
John 6:39
This is not a question of human free will being cancelled. It’s a question of God’s will being carried out perfectly and unfailingly by Jesus.
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.
John 10:27-28
One objection to using John 10:27-28 as a prooftext for eternal security is that it says no third person (“neither shall any man”) will pluck or snatch or otherwise remove a regenerated believer (“My sheep”) from Jesus’s all-powerful hand. To the person making the objection, this leaves a little “wiggle room” (pun intended) for a person to remove HIMSELF from Jesus’s hand. It is commonly thought that, presumably, by sinning egregiously, maybe unrepentantly, or by willfully putting a stop to your own saving faith, then you could have personal saving faith in Jesus one minute, and then not have it the next.
However, this objection is an expression of the logical fallacy of special pleading. It effectively ignores the first part of John 10:28: “And I give unto them eternal life; and they shall never perish…” That is an absolute statement. ETERNAL life can’t be temporary or provisional life. Those qualifiers would negate the plain meaning of “eternal” by definition. Furthermore, note that the verse goes on to say: “And they shall NEVER perish…” There are no exceptions or subordinate clauses to the absolute certainty of the word “never.”
This helps us deal – in context – with Verse 27: “My sheep hear my voice, and I know them, and they follow me:”. A person trying to deny the doctrine of eternal security will say, “Well, maybe someone becomes a sheep, recognizes the Shepherd’s voice, and follows… but then one day, this person stops following.” However, notice the syntax: It doesn’t say, “My sheep hear My voice, and IF they follow Me, then Verse 28 applies.” It doesn’t say, “WHILE they follow Me, Verse 28 applies.” It’s not conditional. It’s indicative. It’s a declarative statement. It’s declaring a fact. “My sheep hear my voice.” That’s how they know they’re truly sheep. They truly recognize and respond to the True Shepherd’s voice. “And I know them,” says Jesus. Jesus knows everything. He can’t be fooled. There are no mistaken-identity sheep who were temporary-sheep, and then later transformed back into goats or wolves or pigs to Jesus’s surprise. “And they follow Me,” He goes on to say. This is plain. It’s just a fact. The real sheep follow Him. It’s not a trial period of temporary ovinism. Once He turns them into sheep, they follow the Shepherd.
Another objection, though, by those who oppose the doctrine of eternal security is: “What if these sheep go astray?” That’s pretty easy to answer from the Bible: If they go astray, then the Shepherd brings them back.
For ye were as sheep going astray; but are now returned unto the Shepherd and Bishop of your souls.
I Peter 2:25
Many arguments against the doctrine of eternal security are based, despite John 1:12-13, on certain notions about human free will. Here, that argument is normally manifested as something like this: “If these sheep choose to follow the Shepherd, can’t they just choose to unfollow Him?” The disconnect here is a failure to understand that they can only choose in accordance with their nature. Sheep are created by God’s will, so they have been given a sheep-nature. They are free in the sense that they are free to do what God made them to do. A popular caricature at this point of the discussion is for an opponent of eternal security to claim that this would just make Christians into God’s puppets, but this, too, is incorrect. Transformed sheep are not puppets. Their transformation makes them more truly free than they ever were when they were in bondage to sin.
Safe and Secure: Salvation Is of the Lord
May 26, 2022 at 4:01 pm | Posted in Uncategorized | 9 CommentsTags: doctrine of eternal security, eternal security, eternal security of the believer, everlasting security, John 6, Jonah 2, objections to eternal security, once saved always saved, perseverance of the saints
The doctrine of the eternal security of the believer is: All those to whom God in Christ Jesus grants eternal life will, without fail or exception, be held securely and safely by God’s power, and the eternal life they have received cannot be revoked, rejected, lost, stolen, given back, or otherwise reversed. This doctrine goes by different names:
1. Everlasting security
2. Once saved, always saved
3. The perseverance of the saints
4. The preservation of the saints
When it comes to the doctrine of eternal security, probably the most-asked question is: “Can I lose my salvation?” or “Can a Christian lose his/her salvation?”
It’s important to make a distinction between these questions, and to emphasize that one of the questions deals specifically with “Christians,” because a lost person (a non-Christian) can’t lose salvation any more than a circle can lose its right angles. By definition, salvation would have to be granted in order to be lost.
Also, it is important to note that salvation is granted or given (because it is by grace), not earned or achieved. If we grant that premise, then we must acknowledge that the questions posed above are illegitimate and need to be rephrased. If we are not clear that salvation is by grace alone, and therefore is not by works or some combination of grace and works, then we have a different topic to cover: salvation by grace alone, or salvation by a combination of grace and works? If you believe that salvation is not by grace alone, I would encourage you to read the Bible or at least click and read here, here, here, and here.
Now, back to the topic of eternal security. We need to ask, “Who grants salvation to people?” God does:
But I will sacrifice unto thee with the voice of thanksgiving; I will pay that that I have vowed. Salvation is of the LORD.
Jonah 2:9
“Of” means “in every respect and sense.” Some translations will say “comes from” or “belongs to” and those ideas are included, but salvation is exclusively the Lord’s domain. He does not owe it to anyone and He can not be bribed, nor will He share the glory for granting it with any human being.
But as many as received him, to them gave he power to become the sons of God, even to them that believe on his name: Which were born, not of blood, nor of the will of the flesh, nor of the will of man, but of God.
John 1:12-13
I have started this lesson on eternal security with verses which are not normally the prooftext verses for that doctrine. I will get to some verses like that later, but what I have found is that most people who reject the doctrine of eternal security have a fundamental misunderstanding about from where exactly salvation comes, and Who exactly is in charge of it. Eternal salvation is not a cooperative effort: God does not require, nor does He allow, our assistance in the granting of spiritual birth. Most people jump straight to John 3 and Jesus’s conversation with Nicodemus when referencing the term “born again,” but you can see it is already here in John 1.
Therefore, we must start off with the right question. NOT: “Can I lose my salvation?” or “Can a Christian lose his/her salvation?” INSTEAD:
1. Can I lose the Lord’s salvation which He has granted to me?
2. Will God take away the salvation He previously gave to me?
3. If I didn’t save myself, why do I think of it as “my” salvation?
These questions indicate a more Biblical understanding of the concept of salvation, and one that places the emphasis where it should be, and one that gives glory to the One Who deserves the glory for saving sinners who had absolutely no hope on their own.
Now we should be able to look at some of the verses which clearly address the doctrine of eternal security and handle some of the objections to those verses.
All that the Father giveth me shall come to me; and him that cometh to me I will in no wise cast out.
John 6:37
So that we can avoid an accusation that we have snatched a verse out of its context, let’s see what is happening in John 6 that prompts Jesus to make this statement:
Then said they unto him, Lord, evermore give us this bread.
John 6:34
Some of Jesus’s followers wanted Him to duplicate the miracle of the manna that the Old Testament Israelites had experienced in the wilderness, as recorded in Exodus, and to make it so that they would never go hungry. Throughout the early and middle chapters of the Gospel of John, Jesus was separating those who wanted to use Jesus to meet earthly needs from those who would truly believe that He was God in the flesh.
And Jesus said unto them, I am the bread of life: he that cometh to me shall never hunger; and he that believeth on me shall never thirst.
John 6:35
The bread that they could eat with their mouths was temporary, but Jesus Himself IS (“I am”) the bread of everlasting life.
But I said unto you, That ye also have seen me, and believe not.
John 6:36
This prompts the question, “So, who will come and who will believe?”
All that the Father giveth me shall come to me; and him that cometh to me I will in no wise cast out.
John 6:37
Q. How many will come to Jesus?
A. “ALL” that the Father gives Him.
Q. How do they come to Jesus?
A. They are given to Him by the Father (“the Father giveth me”).
Q. Will there be any given by the Father who won’t come to Jesus?
A. No (“shall come to me”).
Q. Who are the ones that will come to Jesus?
A. Only the ones who are granted eternal salvation (“him that cometh to me I will in no wise cast out”).
Now, the objection to this by those who don’t like the doctrine of eternal security goes something like this: “But what about the ones who don’t want to be kept secure? Who pry themselves lose? Who sneak out the back door? Who slip through His grasp?” And in order to support their objections they will say that John 6:37 is contradicted by other verses that talk about people “falling away.” They will take verses that deal with the doctrine of assurance of salvation, rather than the security of salvation, and give these more weight than this very clear and incontrovertible statement in John 6:37, despite its use of words like “all,” “shall,” and “in no wise.”
In other words, those who oppose the doctrine of eternal security will assert that John 6:37 doesn’t say that people can’t remove THEMSELVES from God’s security. The problem with this assertion is that it is a case of special pleading which focuses on the idea that God Himself won’t cast them out, but that they might cast themselves out, while ignoring that this would make a Jesus a liar when He said “all” and “in no wise,” because if people could remove themselves from God’s security they would be overcoming God’s power and will. Jesus made the pronouncement that God will not cast out those given to Jesus, and omitted the idea that they might cast themselves out, because this would have been unthinkable to His listeners, and would, in fact, be logically impossible.
Who can cast themselves out of their own salvation? Literally everyone, because such a salvation is not real. Who can cast themselves out of God’s salvation? Literally no one, because they belong to God.
Next time, we will look at other verses which specifically prove the validity of the doctrine of eternal security.
Objections To the Doctrine of Everlasting Security Answered (Objection 7)
January 10, 2022 at 2:02 pm | Posted in Uncategorized | 2 CommentsTags: eternal security, eternal security of the believer, everlasting security, once saved always saved, perseverance of the saints, suffering
Objection: How can you believe in the doctrine of eternal security when you haven’t been in my position? At the time of the greatest moment of suffering and doubt in my life, I was driven to study everything the Bible says about eternal security and I realized it wasn’t true.
Answer to Objection: I’m not sure what it is about the doctrine of eternal security that brings out some of the worst logical fallacies on the part of those who oppose it. Previously, we have seen attempts to refute the doctrine based on its advocacy by people who did bad things, and attempts to disprove it based on the personal claims of famous people. Neither of these have to do with the truth of what the Bible says about it.
Now we see two more logical fallacies in this question. First, your claim that you made up your mind about the doctrine during a time of intense suffering and soul-searching is no doubt true, but it in no way means that your personal conclusions are true. This is what is known as the logical fallacy of argumentum ad verecundiam – an argument from authority. Just because the person making the argument is in a special position, that does not make the argument valid or true. Example: Only a handful of people have ever been to the top of Mount Everest, but if one of those people became convinced that Jesus was not the Son of God while he was up there, that person’s belief wouldn’t make it true, since the Bible specifically says that Jesus IS the Son of God.
Second, your question shows the logical fallacy of “appeal to emotion,” and, more specifically, “appeal to pity.” The last thing I want to do is disparage the validity of what you were going through that ultimately ended up in you having a wrong view of eternal security, but I am forced to point out that Bible study resulting from intense suffering does not in any way guarantee that the opinions you form after that period of Bible study have to be correct or true. Example: A person who narrowly escaped burning to death, suffering intense pain from third degree burns all over his body, might be driven to study the Bible and come to the conclusion that God doesn’t love people since He allowed him to suffer so much, but that conclusion would still be wrong, because the Bible clearly says that God DOES love people.
Objections To the Doctrine of Everlasting Security Answered (Objection 5)
November 29, 2021 at 11:20 am | Posted in Uncategorized | 5 CommentsTags: Biblical Q&A, Calvinism, Charles Spurgeon, eternal security, eternal security of the believer, everlasting security, John Calvin, once saved always saved, perseverance of the saints
Objection: How can you believe in the doctrine of “once saved always saved” when John Calvin taught that doctrine and he was partly responsible for having someone burned at the stake?
Answer to Objection: My belief in the doctrine of the eternal security of the believer is not based on John Calvin or any other theologian. It is based on what the Bible explicitly says.
Think about the premise of what you are saying. I’m not a Calvin apologist, but let’s assume he did awful, horrible things, and, that, like you say, he taught that, once God saved a person, that person would persevere to eternal salvation. A Bible teacher’s actions do not disprove what the Bible says. I haven’t read everything Calvin wrote, but he did believe that Jesus was the Son of God. By your logic, you now have to reject the belief that Jesus was God’s Son because Calvin taught it. Do you see how what you are saying doesn’t make sense?
Under your system, you must reject all Biblical truth that is taught by people of whose personal actions you disapprove. But then what do you do when someone who did NOT do something bad teaches eternal security? For instance, Charles Spurgeon believed in eternal security and he was never involved with anyone being burned at the stake. Now what do you do?
When evaluating theological doctrine, the Bible is where you go to determine whether it’s true or not. Neither the personal honor, nor the personal sins, of those who are known for teaching a particular doctrine are relevant in evaluating the absolute Truth of Scripture (Acts 10:34; Colossians 3:25; Romans 3:4).
Objections To the Doctrine of Everlasting Security Answered (Objection 4)
February 9, 2011 at 9:34 am | Posted in Eternity, Luke, Matthew, parables | 11 CommentsTags: Deuteronomy 30, eternal security, free will, Luke 8, Matthew 5, once saved always saved, parable of the soils, parable of the sower, perseverance of the saints, truthfulness of Christ
Objection: I believe that I can lose my salvation because Luke 8:13 says, “They on the rock are they, which, when they hear, receive the word with joy; and these have no root, which for a while believe, and in time of temptation fall away.” To me this is going back to free will. We have the free will to walk away.
Answer to Objection: Luke 8:13 is not teaching that you can lose your salvation. You need to read the whole parable that Jesus is teaching. Some people hear the Word of God, but it lands on their stony heart. It is like seed on a rock. It can not send down roots. There may be a thin layer of soil on the rock, so that it looks for a little while like something is growing from the seed. But sunlight shines down on it (the heat of temptation), and it shrivels and dies and falls away. If it had roots, the heat would have made it grow, not die. These are people who look like they got saved until temptation came, and it was revealed that they never got saved to begin with. They did not “lose their salvation.”
Objection: But what about Deuteronomy 30:17-20: “But if thine heart turn away, so that thou wilt not hear, but shalt be drawn away, and worship other gods, and serve them; I denounce unto you this day, that ye shall surely perish, and that ye shall not prolong your days upon the land, whither thou passest over Jordan to go to possess it. I call heaven and earth to record this day against you, that I have set before you life and death, blessing and cursing: therefore choose life, that both thou and thy seed may live: That thou mayest love the LORD thy God, and that thou mayest obey his voice, and that thou mayest cleave unto him: for he is thy life, and the length of thy days: that thou mayest dwell in the land which the LORD sware unto thy fathers, to Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob, to give them.”
Answer to Objection: Deuteronomy 30:17-20 does not teach that you can lose your salvation. When God renewed His covenant with the people of Israel as they prepared to cross over into the promised land of Canaan, He told them that if they disobeyed, they would die. If they obeyed, they would live long and prosper. They could be blessed for obedience or cursed for disobedience. This is speaking about prolonging their days upon the land, and the “length of their days on the earth,” not eternal salvation. Eternal salvation is by grace through faith, not through keeping the Old Testament Covenant.
Objection: What about Matthew 5:13?
Answer to Objection: Matthew 5:13 is not teaching that you can lose your salvation. “Ye are the salt of the earth: but if the salt have lost his savour, wherewith shall it be salted? it is thenceforth good for nothing, but to be cast out, and to be trodden under foot of men.” Salt in Bible times could go bad or spoil, and then it would be useless for bringing out the flavor in food, and for preserving food. Jesus is saying that you are no good as a disciple if you won’t bring the truth of God’s Word to the people with whom you come into contact. We should cast people out of the church fellowship and positions of ministry if they are not acting as salt and light.
I have seen God convince some people of the truth of eternal security. Some people I have seen simply do not want to believe it. It is important that we do not try to find Bible verses that will fit into what we want to believe. There are whole ministries and denominations out there built around teaching that Christians can lose “their” salvation. These preachers think that people will just sin as much as they want to after they’re saved, and that we can’t trust God to get saved people to do what He wants us to do. But we must let the Bible tell us what is true even if we don’t happen to like it. I hope you will prayerfully consider that Jesus can not lie. If He has promised to take all those who have once been saved, and to keep them saved forever, what makes you think this is the one exception where He would lie? If you think you are keeping yourself saved, then you are giving yourself the glory, and you may be trusting in you, instead of trusting in Christ. But if God is keeping you saved, then He gets the glory, and you must put all your trust in Christ and not in yourself.
The Deep End 
What about the “If”s in Hebrews?
November 23, 2020 at 3:21 pm | Posted in Uncategorized | 5 CommentsTags: commentary on Hebrews, eternal security, eternal security of the believer, Hebrews 10, Hebrews 3, Hebrews 6, once saved always saved, perseverance of the saints, Sunday School lessons on Hebrews
Question: There are a lot of “if”s in the Book of Hebrews. Many of them make it sound like it’s possible for a Christian to lose his or her salvation. Is it possible that the writer of Hebrews believed that Christians could lose their salvation?
Answer: The author of the Book of Hebrews is the Holy Spirit. The human instrument which He used to write it is not certainly known. For a long time it was believed by most Bible commentators that the Apostle Paul was used to write it, and I still believe that to be the case, although the majority view has changed, and most Bible scholars now believe someone other than Paul was used to write it. Regardless, though, of the identity of the human instrument, the Holy Spirit would not cause or allow the teaching of one book of the Bible to contradict the teaching of other books of the Bible. We need to establish that first and foremost.
By my count, there are 24 “if”s in the Book of Hebrews. Some of them, like Hebrews 3:6, 3:14, 6:6, and 10:38, do deal with the doctrine of the eternal security of the believer, or what some would call the perseverance of the saints.
Hebrews 3:6
One of the key themes in Hebrews is that Christ is greater and better than all the Old Testament types which foreshadowed Him. In Hebrews 3:6 the Holy Spirit is showing that Moses was a faithful servant in God’s covenant “house” (the nation of Israel), but Christ is actually the “Son” in His own Father’s true spiritual household of faith, and that we who truly belong to Him will demonstrate our own brotherhood and sonship in that household by continuing to find our hope and joy in Him despite any persecution, trials, or suffering we experience between now and “the end” (the time when our faith becomes sight). This thought is reiterated a few verses later:
Hebrews 3:14
Note how the “if”s do not imply that true “house members” and true “partakers” may fail to hold fast to the end. Rather, they indicate that failure to hold fast reveals false converts to be: (1) mere squatters in God’s household and; (2) people who appeared to partake of Christ without really doing so. (This is similar to the thought stated in Colossians 1:23.)
Hebrews 6:6
Here the Holy Spirit uses an “if” to illustrate a hypothetical. For those who say that true believers can lose the salvation granted to them by God in Christ, they would have to (in order to be consistent) also admit that “re-salvation” would be impossible. Of course, this would make God a liar, which is the real impossibility – as explicitly stated later in the same chapter (vv. 17-19).
Hebrews 10:38
Of course, those who “draw back” demonstrate that that are not the “just.” In other words they were never truly justified, unlike those who have believed “to the saving of the soul,” as shown in the very next verse.
The word “if” can be used in different ways. My daughter likes to play a game called “the floor is lava.” She hops from chair to couch to pillow to desk, trying not to let her feet touch the floor. I tell her that, IF the floor was really lava, I know she wouldn’t be so daring. No one hearing me say that would actually believe that our living room floor might suddenly turn to lava, but it makes a point.
On the other hand, I sometimes tell her, “IF you jump on the couch like that again, you are going to be in trouble.” That gives the “if” a whole different connotation. In a similar way “if” has various applications in Hebrews.
It can be a warning word, as in Hebrews 3:7. God will not be pleased IF we spurn His Word.
It can be a conditional word (Hebrews 3:8). Jesus would not tell us something IF it weren’t true.
It can be a hypothetical word (Hebrews 7:11). IF we could perfectly obey God’s law, we wouldn’t need a Savior. Obviously, it is established throughout Scripture that we can not be perfect, just as it is established that God’s salvation is a gift given by Him to those who are truly saved, and that it is not a gift of temporary life, but of eternal life, which, by its very definition and nature, can never be lost, refused, stolen, rejected, given back, or taken away.