INSIGHT - February 27, 2005
“WHAT DOES GOD SAY ABOUT... ETERNAL SECURITY"
INTRODUCTION:
We are continuing in our series on “What does God say about...” Tonight we are going to address an issue that is not so much a “hot” topic but a confusing one. One of the things we want to do here at Discovery is to harmonize ALL of scripture, not just take a verse here or there and try to prove our position. That’s called “proof texting” and it can be dangerous. You can prove just about anything with that method. I’m reminded about the old preacher who had a scripture for everything. No matter what happened he could site a passage to support his position. One day he’s preaching and a fly flew into his mouth. While he was gagging someone shouted out, “Ok, preacher let’s hear a scripture for that.” He didn’t hesitate but said, “In Matthew 25:35 it says “I was a stranger and you took me in.” Now, we don’t want to do that we want to make sure we do our best to harmonize all of scripture. That is especially important on this topic.
Now, before we dive into the “meat” of this study we must understand one very important thing. What we are discussing tonight is a matter of opinion. You can have differing views on this subject and still be saved! There are certain matters that are essential to accept. Here at Discovery we call that “Our Position” and it is 10 things that make up our statement of faith and they are non-negotiable. Things like the Bible is the inspired Word of God, that God created the world, that the shed of blood of Jesus Christ and His resurrection provide the only grounds or way for salvation, that Jesus is returning, etc. But there are other areas that are non-essentials, that we can disagree on without dividing over! Like styles of worship, methods of church growth or programming, dispensational theories, roles of women in the church, etc., etc. This matter: ETERNAL SECURITY is open to interpretation. There are great Christians on both sides of this issue. So, tonight what I want to do is simply give you my findings, where I land on this issue. BUT... please understand: We can disagree on this issue and still be in heaven together. (That’s when you’ll find out I was right) We can disagree without being disagreeable and be one in the Lord.
I’ll make a deal with you on this. For my part I will do my very best to present both sides objectively. I think I can do that because as you’ll see I don’t agree with either position completely. But I would ask you to simply have a teachable spirit. Don’t say, “Lord, show me where I’m right” or be looking up proof texts to prove Tim wrong - but pray, “Lord, help me to understand your truth.” PRAY
I. COMPREHENDING THE CONTROVERSY:
The question before us tonight is this: “Is it possible for someone who comes to a saving knowledge of Jesus Christ to be lost again?” There are those who take the position that once you become a Christian there is no possible way for you ever to be lost again. You may sin temporarily, what some call “backsliding,” - the theological word for that is “apostasy” - but it is a period of disobedience, often willful disobedience, and yet still remain saved.
Now, let’s look at where this theology or position originated because I think it’s important to understand how people came to take this position. Back in the early 1500’s the Roman Catholic church was practicing the sale of indulgences, which in its’ very basic form said that you could earn salvation by what you gave to the church. The Bishop Dominic John Tetzel was predominant in this doctrine. Here’s how it worked. If you were being tempted and thought that you probably could not (or want to) defeat that temptation you could buy from the church an indulgence which would forgive you of the sin BEFORE you committed it! Isn’t that great? I think we should bring that back don’t you? Just think.. If we still had that there would be no temptation that I would have to resist. In fact St. Peters Cathedral in Rome was primarily built on the sale of indulgences. Now, this practice aroused the spiritual indignation of one Martin Luther. He saw this, and rightly so, as a corruption of the Bible and on Oct. 31, 1517 nailed his 95 thesis on the door of the Castle Church in Wittenberg, Germany telling the church how wrong they were. He said that the Bible taught that people are saved by placing their faith in Jesus, not buying or earning their salvation by some work. Luther started the Reformation which lead to Protestantism.
Now, that’s important because a contemporary of Luther was a man by the name of John Calvin. Calvin took Luther’s thesis’ and enlarged upon them. Calvin said, “not only are we saved by faith - not being able to earn it with money or good deeds - but those that are saved are chosen to be saved by God and have no choice in the matter. In it’s very basic form Calvin said that God chooses some people to be saved and some to be damned. Not only is there no way to earn salvation but you don’t even choose salvation, you are chosen. There is no free will. Calvin’s theology is called predestination. I’ve placed the 5 tenants of Calvin’s theology on your outline. It goes by the acronym of T.U.L.I.P. I don’t want to spend an enormous amount of time on it but as you’ll see it’s got a lot to do with our study. According to Calvin:
T = Total depravity of man. All of us are not only born with the nature or tendency to sin but with the guilt of sin. We inherit all the sin of every person before us. We are totally depraved at birth.
U = Unconditional election. God does not base His election on anything man does.. No choice.. No merit. He chooses who He wills as He wills.
L = Limited atonement. Jesus did not die for everyone, only for the elect.
I = Irresistible grace. Whoever God chooses, they cannot resist.
The reason for this little history lesson is because of this last letter in TULIP.
P - Perseverance of the Saints. You see part of Calvin’s theology of predestination is eternal security. It is a logical offshoot. If you are one of the “elect,” that is God elects you without your choice, then how could you ever lose your salvation or even fall away? Since God has elected or chosen you, you are in no matter what.
Do you see where this came from? In a reaction and attempt to counter the horrible teaching of salvation by works, purchasing your forgiveness, Calvin went to the other extreme and said, “Not only can you not earn it, you can’t even choose it.”
Now, there were others who reacted to Calvin’s reaction and went the other direction. They basically said, “We don’t agree with the sale of indulgences but we can’t agree that you get “elected” by God and we don’t believe that you will be saved no matter what. We believe you are cannot be secure.” So let’s move on to:
II. SEEING THE SIDES:
Seeing the sides in some scriptural detail. We’ll call Calvin’s final “P” and this side of the debate: Eternal security. It basically says, “Once you are saved you are always saved.” There are a number of passages that this side would use to justify their position. For example: John 10:27-28. Jesus says: “My sheep listen to my voice; I know them, and they follow me. 28I give them eternal life, and they shall never perish; no one can snatch them out of my hand.”Obviously this passage says that no outside force can take our eternity away, Satan can’t even snatch it from us. Here’s another one: Romans 8:1 - “So now there is no condemnation for those who belong to Christ Jesus.” The word condemnation there means “blame.” So, it doesn’t say there isn’t any sin but those who know Jesus won’t be blamed for their sin. That’s pretty secure. A little later in that same chapter - vss:33-35- “Who will bring any charge against those whom God has chosen? It is God who justifies. 34Who is he that condemns? Christ Jesus, who died - more than that, who was raised to life - is at the right hand of God and is also interceding for us. 35Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall trouble or hardship or persecution or famine or nakedness or danger or sword?” Paul answers that question in vs:37. “No, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him who loved us.” Nothing can separate us. The position is clear - Once you’re saved, even though you sin, nothing can separate you from the love of God - not even yourself.
Now, there are some problems with this view. First, what about the person who “backslides” and doesn’t seem to bounce back? What if they never become a fully devoted follower of Christ? Often the answer from those who hold this view is that person never was saved in the first place. In other words if they really were saved they wouldn’t stay in that backslidden state. Hmmmm. The first time I heard that I thought, “Wait a minute how secure it that?” Think about it. Let say that __?__ comes to Christ to accept His grace the same day I do. We both sincerely believe in Jesus, we both genuinely repent, we both confess and are baptized. Are we saved? Well, we would say.. sure, that’s God’s promise. He offers salvation and then says in Heb. 2:3 not to neglect it. But let’s say that a couple of years later, I backslide real bad and I am just a terrible person. Someone makes the statement that I am not demonstrating that I am in Christ because the fruit of my life is clearly void of it. So, in response to that someone says, "Well, Tim was never saved in the first place. His heart wasn’t right or something." Wait a minute.. You think: "I came to Christ the same day, and the same way. I knew by the Scriptures that were read to me that I had eternal life but so did Tim. Now, you say he didn’t really have it?" How can I tell then, that I really received it? I responded the exact same way... This person says "by your fruits.." Oh, now I’m back to what I do shows I’m saved. Then when I sin am I not saved? Do you see how this can cause confusion?
Another problem. How do you deal with free will? I mean if I’m going to accept Calvin’s “P” - isn’t that based on the totality of the predestination idea? That we are chosen by God without our choice and so therefore how can we lose something we didn’t choose to begin with? God is not an “Indian giver.” Yet Revelation 22:17 when Jesus issues the invitation to come to Him it says, “ Whoever is thirsty, let him come; and whoever wishes, let him take the free gift of the water of life.” Whoever wishes can come, not “those who are of the elect come.”
You see, if I accept the tenets of predestination and that’s where “once saved always saved” comes from, then why do I need to try to win others to Christ? There is no choice -they are either in or out so why bother inviting? This side is called eternal security.
Now, the other side of this issue we’ll call Conditional Security. It’s motto would be “Once you’re saved, you remain saved as long as your faithful.”But when you flagrantly sin - you are lost until you repent. This side has it’s own counter arguments, their own proof texts. For example:
In 1 Cor. 9:27 the apostle Paul has just talked about receiving an eternal prize, a “crown that lasts forever.” And then just verse later he writes: “I discipline my body like an athlete, training it to do what it should. Otherwise, I fear that after preaching to others I myself might be disqualified.” Disqualified from receiving the crown that lasts forever.
In Galatians 5:4 Paul uses the term “fallen from grace.” Yet instead of saying there’s no way anyone can fall from grace he says, “You who are trying to be justified by law have been alienated from Christ; you have fallen from grace.”
Or how about one of this sides most often (and powerful) proof texts: Hebrews 6:4-6. Here the Hebrew writer is writing to Christians about not staying on elementary spiritual food (5:11-13) but that they need to mature and distinguish good from evil and move to more mature teachings (vss:5:14 - 6:1-2) Then he writes this: “It is impossible for those who have once been enlightened, who have tasted the heavenly gift, who have shared in the Holy Spirit, 5who have tasted the goodness of the word of God and the powers of the coming age, 6if they fall away, to be brought back to repentance, because to their loss they are crucifying the Son of God all over again and subjecting him to public disgrace.” It is impossible to renew them to repentance.
Now, there are some problems with this side. When they say you remain saved as long as you are faithful... how do they define faithful? Is that any transgression? Is that just the big sins? Where do you draw the line? Is it 5 sins? 10? 100? Now you are unfaithful? And if you hold that it’s any sin that makes you unfaithful well then you better not lie and then walk out and get hit by a truck - because you haven’t had time to repent!
If this is the truth than are we not teaching “eternal jeopardy?” You’re saved one minute but not the next? I have one friend that calls it the “Hokey-Pokey” theology. “You put salvation in, and then salvation out, salvation in and you shake it all about.”Always afraid that you may have missed a sin and thus be damned because you didn’t repent? This view, by the way, is the primary reason for "last rites" given by the Catholic Church. Just in case there is something that we missed. And that’s not just a view held by Catholics. I’ve heard some Christian’s say things like. "I wouldn’t want to die on Monday if I missed the Lord’s supper on Sunday." And what really bothers me about this position is this: How do you live an effective Christian life if you are always worrying about falling from grace?
Did you know that during the construction of the Golden Gate Bridge in S.F. that during the first half of the construction 23 men fell to their deaths in the waters below. It was so dangerous that they stopped construction. Then they built a huge net under the bridge at a cost of $100,000, so if anyone did fall they would not be hurt. During the second half of the construction only 8 men fell and of course, none of them died.
But here’s the amazing thing.. during the last half of construction the work proceeded at 25% greater efficiency. Having the net under them didn’t make them more careless it made them more confident & more efficient. In order for you to be as efficient as possible in the Christian life- not worry, withstand trials, tell others about how good being a Christian is - we must have confidence in our salvation.
III. COMING UP WITH A COMPROMISE:
So, what’s the answer? I will give you my opinion... only because I don’t accept either view totally and I think I have a compromise. So you can take eternal jeopardy or eternal security and land there or you can accept what I’m about to say and be right. Up to you. :-) Seriously, what I’m about to explain is where I have come to peace with this issue. This is a matter of opinion!
Let’s deal with Eternal Security first. I can’t accept eternal security because of several Scriptures but these are the three that give me the most trouble Heb. 10:26-29, 2 Peter 2: & Rev. 2:1-5. Let’s look at them one at a time.
Hebrews 10:26 - 29. “If we deliberately keep on sinning after we have received the knowledge of the truth, no sacrifice for sins is left, 27but only a fearful expectation of judgment and of raging fire that will consume the enemies of God. 28Anyone who rejected the law of Moses died without mercy on the testimony of two or three witnesses. 29How much more severely do you think a man deserves to be punished who has trampled the Son of God under foot, who has treated as an unholy thing the blood of the covenant that sanctified him, and who has insulted the Spirit of grace?”
One of the questions you must always address when trying to figure out what a document says is “who is this written to?” Well, in this case the 19th verse of of this chapter tells us. “Therefore brothers...” “Let us..” vss:22, 23, 24, 25. He’s addressing Christians. And there is no change of audience between these verses and vs:26.
Now, a couple of insights here. Notice vs:26 he doesn’t say “If we deliberately sin” or even “if we keep on sinning.” It says “If we deliberately keep on sinning..” This is a person who has continued down a road of willful sin until he has become hard. And what is the result of someone who has been sanctified (set apart) by the blood of Christ? “Judgement and raging fire.”
2 Peter 2:20-23 - “If they have escaped the corruption of the world by knowing our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ and are again entangled in it and overcome, they are worse off at the end than they were at the beginning. 21It would have been better for them not to have known the way of righteousness, than to have known it and then to turn their backs on the sacred command that was passed on to them. 22Of them the proverbs are true: “A dog returns to its vomit,”and, “A sow that is washed goes back to her wallowing in the mud.”
Who is “they?” - They are people who have “escaped the corruption of the world by knowing our Lord and Savior and have become entangled in it..” and what? OVERCOME! The word “overcome” here is a military word meaning “defeated.” And he construction of the phrase “become entangled in it” implies that they have done it to themselves. These people are described as ones willingly moving into a position of willful disobedience. And notice how repulsive this position is.. Like a dog that returns to his vomit.. Ever seen that? And a pig that is washed - maybe won a blue ribbon - going back to wallow in the mud. Stupid pig!
One more - go back to 1 Cor. 9:27 where Paul talks about being disqualified for the forever crown. If anybody should of been confident and secure in his salvation it’s Paul and yet he says I’ve got to discipline myself all the time or I might not get the crown!
So, based on those and some other passages I cannot accept eternal security as it is explained by Calvin.
But I can’t accept conditional security or eternal jeopardy either because of several Scriptures,
Ephesians 1:13-14 - “And now you also have heard the truth, the Good News that God saves you. And when you believed in Christ, he identified you as his own by giving you the Holy Spirit, whom he promised long ago. 14 The Spirit is God’s guarantee that he will give us everything he promised and that he has purchased us to be his own people.”Now when you guarantee something what do you mean? You stand by the promise. Here the Holy Spirit is our guarantee of salvation.
Romans 8:33-35 - We read that one a little earlier. 35Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall trouble or hardship or persecution or famine or nakedness or danger or sword?”“No, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him who loved us.” There is no external force that can separate us from God’s love.
One more. 1 John 5:13- “I write these things to you who believe in the name of the Son of God so that you may know that you have eternal life.” That you may KNOW... not guess, not wonder.. KNOW that you have eternal life.
Now, by now you may be saying, “Ok, I get it. There are problems with both of these views.. So get to the answer already. Well, remember, this is my answer.. My opinion. This is how I have come to peace with these two views. But it is based on scripture.
I do not believe that you can lose your salvation like you lose your keys and I do not believe that it cannot be taken away from you by anyone or anything! But I do believe that you can willfully and deliberately throw your salvation back in God’s face. The Bible says in 1 Thess. 5:19 that we can quench the Spirit- put out His influence. In 1 Tim. 4:2 it talks about a conscience that can be seared as with a hot iron- become so hard it no longer responds. It’s not that you can’t be forgiven it is just that you no longer have any DESIRE to repent. God hasn’t rejected you, you have rejected Him. God hasn’t taken away your salvation, you have deliberately, stubbornly chosen to throw it back.
In WWII the Air Force popularized the phrase: “point of no return.” That point was the spot where their fuel was over half depleted and they no longer could return to home base for fuel. Most often in those bombing missions the planes would drop their pay load on the target and then land at a designated spot for fuel before they went home. But, if trouble developed before they got to their target a decision had to be made to scrap the mission and return home before they passed the point of no return.
I believe there is a spiritual point of no return. A point where a saved person can get so depraved, so hard that it is impossible to return them to repentance. This person has become so far gone that even though they know the truth, even though they responded to Jesus before, they have effectively thrown their salvation back in God’s face. Now, two things here:
1. We don’t know when that point is passed, only God does. We dare not try to judge when that happens. So, if you know an individual who has accepted Christ but now is in the throws of a tremendous backslide, don’t give up on them! Even though they may appear as hard as cement.. we can never tell if they’ve passed the point of no return.
2. If you are worried about whether you are there or not - you’re not. This person would not begin to even think about whether or not they are too far gone.
But this makes Biblical sense to me and combines the two ideas. I can be secure in my salvation knowing I cannot lose it or have anything or anyone rip it from me. But... I can, if I choose - refuse, by my own free will, the inheritance that God has given me. Now, that brings me to two lessons that I want to leave you with tonight.
1. Rebellion is dangerous, you be respectful. Satan is a clever adversary. He will do anything he can to lure you from the Father’s house. Once you become a Christian if it was never possible to lure you away, why would he continue to tempt you? But, if he can lure you far enough away so by your own choice you become entangled and overcome then he’s won one more victory. So, here’s the point. Don’t become flippant with sin. Understand that sin is a downward spiral that can destroy you!
I know of an associate minister who grew up a Christian and got entangled in gambling. It started very small but got to the point where he was gambling on 7 to 8 basketball games a day. He kept thinking, “I’ll be okay, I’ll win it back.” In 1993 he bet $20,000 on UK vs UL -it was a sure bet! He lost! What did he do? He embezzled $20,000 from the church! But instead of paying the debt he bet it on dogs and lost $200,000 in one day! He got arrested and imprisoned. Now, God worked through it but he will tell you to this day that it started small and grew to that problem.
That’s the way sin is.. It grinds and it binds and it blinds. Sin is not something to trifle with. Don’t play the game of wondering how far from God you can get and then come back.. Go a little further... and a little further. I think these passages especially from Hebrews 6 & 10 are teaching us that you can go so far that your heart becomes so hardened with sin that you don’t care anymore - you don ‘t hear God’s voice.
2. Our salvation is secure, you be thankful. God doesn’t want you to live in spiritual jeopardy. It is not a matter of sinning and falling out of grace - playing Hokey Pokey salvation. Jesus Christ has done everything for us to secure us a place in heaven.
But.. Shouldn’t that fact make us so thankful that we want to do everything we can to show him our gratitude? One of the problems with eternal security is that it can make someone feel like they have a license to sin. Some feel so strongly about once you’re saved you’re always saved that they feel they can do anything they want and maybe they’ll get a smaller house in eternity but they will to be in the slums of heaven is okay. Or like someone once said to me, “Why do I have to go to church or serve or give my money or even deny myself any and every pleasure.. Aren’t I saved no matter what I do?” You know what that is? A very selfish and ungrateful attitude toward the One who gave His life that you might live! We go to church and learn, we share the Good News with others, we live as faithful a life as possible - not to earn anything but to express to God that He is everything! Listen, it is a good day when you get to the point in your spiritual life that you do all you do how of a joyous, grateful heart - thanking God for His salvation!
Helen Parker died several years back of cancer. She used to write for the Christian Standard. Her last article was entitled, “My most unforgettable journey.” She told about the time as a 5th grader that she was sent to the Louisville School for the Blind. She was so homesick all that first year but finally came the time for summer vacation. She would miss her new found friends but she was so excited about going home. She wrote: “That night I was going home, I was going to be with those who love me, sleep in my own bed - I couldn’t wait. I had to ride a train to my hometown some 2 hours a way. About half way there I realize I hadn’t called my parents to tell them my schedule. Panic rose in my throat - “Who’s going to be there to greet me?” As a blind girl what was I going to do? I didn’t know the train station. Finally the conductor yelled, “Parkerville, pulling into Parkerville.” The conductor saw her and said, “Here young lady I’ll help you.” But when they got off the train they waited for a moment and the conductor finally said, “I don’t think there’s anyone here to meet you.” Helen wrote: “My lip began to quiver, tears started to well up in my eyes and then came the voice of my mother - “Helen stay right where you are honey, I’ll be right there.” She came to her put her arms around her and said, “It’s so good to have you home.”
Oh, don’t you see.. That’s what will happen to us some day. We’ll leave this old school of hard knocks and we’ll end up in a place where we’ll hear the voice of the One who would rather die than live without us say, “It’s so good to have you home.”
And that’s not only something you can count on but should fill our hearts with thanksgiving and joy.
Prayer
