Does Everlasting Really Mean Forever?
Sermon 3 in the series, "Free Grace in Focus – A Biblical Answer to Lordship Salvation"
Chuck Sligh
August 29, 2010
Much of the main points in this sermon come from a booklet titled “You Can Be Eternally Sure.” The booklet has been lost and the author and publisher is unknown.
TEXT: John 10:28 – “And I give unto them eternal life; and they shall never perish, neither shall any man pluck them out of my hand.”
INTRODUCTION
I want to begin by asking you a question: Once you’ve trusted in Jesus for eternal life and you have the assurance that God has forgiven you of sin and given you eternal life, can you then lose your salvation, or give it up, or somehow ever be lost in your sins again? Many people would answer “yes” to that question, but I assure you that nothing is as far from the teachings of the Bible as could be.
Let’s look at our text again, and let me ask a few more questions for your further consideration:
--When Jesus said in our text that He gives eternal life to His sheep—which are believers in Jesus Christ—did He REALLY mean “eternal”—as in “never ending”?
--When He said “they shall never perish,” did he really mean never, ever, under any circumstances would they perish?
--When He said, “Neither shall any man pluck them out of My hand,” did He really mean that NO one, EVER, including Satan or a believer himself, will EVER pluck a believer out of His hand?
Over the last few weeks I have tried to make abundantly clear the freeness of salvation—that there are no works you can bring to the table for God to save you, that no intention to do good works or surrender to the rulership of Christ plays a part in genuine salvation, and that there is indeed NOTHING you can do to earn or contribute to your salvation. Salvation is TOTALLY free, and the ONLY way we can receive God’s forgiveness and eternal life is by simply believing in or trusting in Jesus who died on the cross for your sin.
Today I want you to see that His salvation is FOREVER and can never be lost, given up or taken away. There are many scriptures that prove this, and many lines of logic reinforcing it, and only a few problem texts in the Bible that SEEM to teach otherwise, but which on closer investigation say nothing of the sort. The subject is just too vast for one sermon, or even a year of sermons, because the biblical data piles up one scripture upon another until it is an edifice difficult to deny.
So rather than ransack the Bible for all that it has to teach us about the eternality of the believer’s salvation, let’s simply look at just the words of Jesus in just one book of the Bible. You’re in the Gospel of John, so let’s just examine some more words of Jesus in John and see what they teach us about eternal security.
1. FIRST, I WANT YOU TO SEE THAT EVERLASTING LIFE IS EVER-LASTING LIFE. – Turn with me to the most well-known scripture in all the Bible – John 3:16 – “For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life.”
Jesus is talking to Nicodemus here and He promises “everlasting life” to the one who believes in Him for it. Since it is “everlasting life,” it cannot last 10, 20 or 30 years, and then be lost. By definition, everlasting means eternal, never ending, lasting ever, lasting forever. If “everlasting life” could be lost, it has the wrong name. It should be called “temporary life” and to be accurate, Jesus would have had to say, “For God so loved the world, that he gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him…perhaps might not perish, but shall have temporary life.”
See how absurd this is? Since “everlasting life”, i.e., life that lasts forever, is the only kind of life God gives, then if you believe in Him for that life, you are eternally in a state of saving grace.
2. SECOND, I WANT YOU TO SEE THAT ONCE YOU ARE A CHILD OF GOD, YOU’RE ALWAYS A CHILD OF GOD. – In John 3:3, in that same conversation with Nocodemus, Jesus said this – “Verily, verily, I say unto thee, Except a man be born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God.”
Illus. – Some time ago, a boy sued his parents for divorce because he no longer wanted to be their child. But there’s not a court in the world that can undo that boy’s birth. Even if this parents disowned him, that would never change the fact of his birth and the life given him because of that birth. Once his parents’ child; always his parents’ child.
When Jesus talks about being “born again,” He’s comparing spiritual birth to physical birth. The instant you believe in Jesus for eternal life, you’re born again as a child of God. And once you become a child of God, you can never be “unborn.” Once you become a child of God, you’ll always be a child of God.
3. THIRD, REMEMBER THAT IF YOU EVER TAKE ONE DRINK OF THE WATER OF LIFE, IT LASTS FOREVER. – Speaking to the woman at the well, that’s exactly what Jesus meant in John 4:13-14, where we read, “Jesus answered and said unto her, Whosoever drinketh of this water shall thirst again: 14 But whosoever drinketh of the water that I shall give him shall never thirst; but the water that I shall give him shall be in him a well of water springing up into everlasting life.”
Referring to water from a physical well, Jesus says, “Whoever drinks of this water WILL THIRST AGAIN.” Sometime today, you’ve probably already had something to drink, but you’ll thirst again, and drink again, a number of times today, and every day of your life. Physically, we have to drink again and again and again to stay alive.
In contrast to physical water, Jesus speaks of Himself as spiritual water springing up into everlasting life. He says that once you drink this water (that is, once you believe in Him for eternal life), you “shall never thirst” for it again! If you could lose your salvation, you would have to drink again and again to maintain eternal life much like you have to drink again and again to maintain physical life. But one drink of the water of life—Jesus Christ—quenches spiritual thirst FOREVER.
4. JOHN ALSO TEACHES THAT ONCE WE ARE SAVED, IT’S A “DONE DEAL.” – He says in John 5:24 – “Verily, verily, I say unto you, He that heareth my word, and believeth on him that sent me, hath everlasting life, and shall not come into condemnation; but is [the word in the Greek is “has”] passed from death unto life.”
Jesus declares eternal security to be a “done deal” as He describes the believer’s past, present and future….
--In the PAST, the believer “has passed from death unto life.”
--In the PRESENT, the believer “has everlasting life.”
The word “hath” here is in the present tense.
Your everlasting life will not begin when you die.
The very moment you trusted in Jesus Christ for eternal life, you immediately received eternal life—life that will never end.
--In the FUTURE, believers “shall not come into condemnation” (judgment).
Once you place your trust in Jesus Christ to save you, it’s a “done deal” from the moment you trusted Him until the moment you go on to glory—past, present, future.
5. FIFTH, JESUS PROMISES HE WILL BY NO MEANS CAST OUT ANYONE WHO COMES TO HIM. – Listen to what Jesus says in John 6:37 – “All that the Father giveth me shall come to me; and him that cometh to me I will in no wise cast out.”
Jesus statement that “All that the Father gives me shall come to me” has deep implications for you if you are a believer. You see, when you trusted in Christ, you probably thought YOU had “found Jesus.” The truth of the matter is that JESUS found you.
In Romans 8:29-30, Paul tells us, “For whom he did foreknow [that means He loved them beforehand, unconditionally, not according to their goodness or any works they’ve done], he also did predestinate [that is, he chose them beforehand, or he “elected” them, to use the theological term, which is why the Bible calls saved people “the elect.” Verse 30 continues] 30 Moreover whom he did predestinate, them he also called [that is, through the Holy Spirit, He pulled at your heart, He drew you, giving you longings to come to Him]: and whom he called, them he also justified [that is, He declared them not guilty of sin any longer; or He “saved” them eternally from sin and judgment]: and whom he justified, them he also glorified [that is, he saves you to the very end—to heaven—to glory where you will receive your glorified, sinless body to live in eternity in heaven].”
Looking at this in detail will have wait for another day, but I want you to see an unbroken chain here regarding the elect in verses 29-30. Here’s the unbroken chain: ALL whom God foreknew He also predestinated; and EVERYONE He predestinated, He also called to Him; and EVERYONE He called to believe on Christ, and are therefore justified; and EVERYONE who gets justified, is glorified.
Do you see it?—Paul makes no exceptions; nobody falls through the cracks; nobody somehow moves away from their state of saving grace.
Now that’s what Jesus was driving at in John 6:37 – “All that the Father gives me SHALL come to me.” – All whom the Father foreloved and were predestinated by God the Father WILL be drawn to faith in Christ and WILL be justified. But the chain doesn’t end in justification. It ends in glorification—God bringing those whom He foreknew and predestinated and called and justified ALL THE WAY TO HEAVEN IN GLORIFICATION!
But let’s face it: if keeping our salvation depended on us, none of us would have any hope of staying saved because even after we’re justified, we sin; we let the Lord down; we don’t always follow in discipleship as we should; we fail. So Jesus ends this verse with these reassuring words: “…and him that cometh to me I will in no wise cast out.”
The Greek phrase here is very emphatic that there is NO CONDITION in which one of the elect could ever be cast out by Jesus. NOTHING can break the cord between you and God if you’ve trusted in Him to save you, and His love is not conditional or dependent on your performance, like some parents’ love is or some friendships are. He says that by NO MEANS would He EVER thrust you out of His family.
Let me ask you a question: When you trusted in Jesus, did you trust Him as your Savior? Paul says this in Titus 2:13 – “Looking for that blessed hope, and the glorious appearing of the great God and our savior Jesus Christ.” Commenting on this verse, Curtis Hudson said this:
[Jesus] is referred to as “Savior” at least twenty-four times in the New Testament.…Now what is a savior? Suppose you are drowning. There you are in the middle of the ocean. Suppose someone threw you a book entitled Three Easy Lessons on How to Swim. Would he be a savior? No. Perhaps you could call him a educator, but you could not call him a savior.
Suppose another man came by, got out of his boat, jumped in alongside you and demonstrated various swimming strokes, showed you exactly how to swim. Would he be a savior? Of course not. He might be a good example and give a good demonstration, but he is not a savior.
What if he lifted you into his boat, dried you off, gave you dry clothing, fed you, took you within ten miles of the shore, and then threw you out again into the ocean? Would you be a savior? Absolutely not!
A savior is one who takes you safely ALL THE WAY TO THE SHORE. When God says He gives you eternal life and He will never cast you out or lose you, He means it, because He is a true Savior. [Curtis Hutson’s, The Eternal Security of the Born-Again Believer (page 13-15).]
6. NEXT, JESUS ASSURES US THAT IT ALL DEPENDS ON HIM, NOT YOU OR ME – John 6:39 – “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.”
Jesus reveals in this passage that God the Father has commanded Him to not lose a single one the Father has given Him. Therefore, if you believe in Jesus for eternal life, your eternal security does not depend on YOUR obedience to Jesus, but on JESUS’ obedience to the Father. Nor does it depend on your continued faith in Him, for Paul says in 2 Timothy 2:13, “If we believe not, yet he abideth faithful: he cannot deny himself.”
If just one person received eternal life and later lost it, then Jesus would have disobeyed the Father and not have done His will. Since Jesus always obeys the Father and always does His will, then all believers are eternally secure. He promises to raise up EVERY ONE OF THEM on the last day. Our salvation’s continuance is dependent upon Jesus Christ, not on us.
That the eternality of our salvation depends upon Jesus, and that He will raise up all the elect on resurrection day is also emphasized by the Apostle Paul….
--We saw it in Romans 8 where Paul shows that salvation is a continuum from God’s foreknowing us in eternity past to the very end product: glorification.
--In Philippians 1:6, Paul says “Being confident of this very thing, that he which hath begun a good work in you will perform it until the day of Jesus Christ.” If you have been saved, God started the good work of salvation in you by foreknowing you, predestinating you, drawing you, and justifying you. But what God starts, He finishes, so He will perform His good work of salvation in you until the day of Jesus Christ, that is, the day the Lord returns.
--Paul’s use of the idea of us being sealed by the Holy Spirit also emphasizes getting us all the way to glory. For instance, he says in Ephesians 4:30 – “And grieve not the holy Spirit of God, whereby ye are sealed unto the day of redemption.” “The day of redemption” is the day we finally are glorified. So Paul says that we are sealed by the Holy Spirit until we are glorified. By sinning, Paul says we grieve the Holy Spirit, but he doesn’t say we lose our salvation when we grieve the Holy Spirit through sin. Paul emphatically reminds us that we’re still sealed until the day of redemption—ALL THE WAY TO THE END.
Also, Jude expresses the same thought in Jude 24, where he says, “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.”
7. NEXT, JESUS TELLS US THAT WE ARE SAFE IN A DOUBLE GRIP BY THE GODHEAD. – Look at John 10:28-29 – “And I give unto them eternal life; and they shall never perish, neither shall any man pluck them out of my hand. 29 My Father, which gave them me, is greater than all; and no man is able to pluck them out of my Father’s hand.”
Verse 28 was our text, but these two verses put together are a powerful testimony of Jesus’ intention to assure us that when we believe in Him, it’s a forever transaction.
Notice first of all the words “eternal” and “never perish.” We’ve already discussed that when Jesus says He offers us “eternal” life, He means just that—life that never ends. And He promises that those who are His sheep will never perish. If God saves us, but then we could lose our salvation, Jesus’ words here would be an empty promise.
Then He says, “neither shall any man pluck them out of my hand.” Now the word “man” in the KJV is not in the original, which is why it is italicized. So Jesus is actually saying, “Neither shall ANY pluck them out of my hand.” That means that no PERSON, no DEVIL, no BEING, no POWER, no FORCE, no SIN shall ever pluck the believer out of Jesus’ hand.
When you think of this word picture depicting us in Jesus’ hand, don’t think of yourself as standing on God’s open hand, where you could fall off. Bible scholars say the picture here is of Jesus holding us in his fist, protecting us from any person, being or power in the universe plucking us from His grip. And then verse 29 says we also cannot be plucked out of the FATHER’S hand. You know what He’s saying?—He’s saying we’re in JESUS’ hand, and the FATHER’S hand covers the Son’s so that even if someone or something could pry open the FATHER’S Hand, the strongest power in the universe, they’d still have to pry us out of the SON’S hand, also the strongest power in the universe.
CONCLUSION
Now what’s the point of this?—Why am I preaching the eternal security of the believer?
Some believe that preaching the free grace of God and the assurance of the believer and the eternal security of the believer will cause believers to take lightly the commands of Christ. The Bible tells us that tragically, some believers will do just that, though they will deeply regret it when their works are judged at the Judgment Seat of Christ, and when they receive few rewards, or no commendation---no “well done”---from our Lord and in the kingdom when the faithful are rewarded with authority and honor, and those who were not will mourn.
But usually, believers do not take Christ’s commands lightly when they receive assurance and understand their standing before God. In fact, it’s not until a believer has experienced the assurance of his salvation and his security in Christ that he can be free to serve the Lord effectively.
Illus. – The Golden Gate bridge connects San Francisco and Oakland, California. During the construction of the first part of the bridge, no safety devices were used and 23 men fell to their death in the waters far below.
In constructing the second part, it was decided to install the greatest safety net in the world, even though the cost amounted to over $100,000, a huge sum in that day. It saved the lives of at least ten men who fell to it without injury. In addition to that, the work went on about 25% faster with the men relieved from the fear of falling. The knowledge that they were safe left the men free to devote their energies to the tasks in hand.
To be assured of our salvation sets us free to serve the Lord free from the fear of Hell. Jesus made these wonderful promises because it was His desire for you to take Him at His Word and believe His promises.
If you’ve been trusting in anything other than Jesus Christ to save you, I adjure you to repent of trusting in yourself, or your goodness, or any work or religious act to save you yourself, and simply believe Jesus when He says, “Verily, verily, I say unto you, He that heareth my word, and believeth on him that sent me, hath everlasting life, and shall not come into condemnation; but has passed from death unto life.” (John 5:24)
And once you’ve done that, rest in HIS power to keep you saved all the way to glory, and just get busy loving and serving God with all your heart.
Illus. – 3-year old Tyler felt secure in his dad’s arms as Dad stood in the middle of the pool. But Dad, for fun, began walking slowly toward the deeper end, gently chanting, “Deeper and deeper and deeper,” as the water rose higher and higher on Tyler.
Tyler’s face registered increasing degrees of panic, as he held all the more tightly to his dad, who, of course, easily touched the bottom.
Had the little boy been able to analyze his situation, he’d have realized there was no reason for increased anxiety.
--The water’s depth in ANY part of the pool was over his head.
--Even in the shallowest part, had he not been held up, he’d have drowned.
--His safety anywhere in that pool depended on Dad.
As with little Tyler in the pool, the truth is we’ve never been in control over our eternal salvation.
We’ve always been held up by the grace our heavenly Father.
Believe it; REST in it; get busy for God because of it.
(Charles Ryrie, So Great Salvation, Victor Books, 1989, p. 137ff.)
(If interested in the PowerPoint used in this sermon, you may request it from me at chucksligh@hotmail.com.)
