HOW TO DISCUSS ETERNAL
SECURITY
“Let
he who has my word, speak my word faithfully” (Jeremiah
The
doctrine of God’s sustaining grace, often called “Eternal Security”, is
an
important part of the gospel message. We are not only brought to faith
by the
grace of God alone, we are kept in faith by the grace of God alone.
That fact
should be of great comfort to every believer. Nevertheless, there are
churches
that rob believers of that assurance, often leading them to live in
constant
fear of losing salvation. As a result, those who come from such a
background
sometimes go to the opposite extreme, claiming that once a person is
saved they
can never lose salvation. Now, because most people approach this topic
from two
extremes, I know that what I have just said is going to raise a red
flag.
Therefore, I ask that you please hear me out.
I firmly believe that we,
“are kept by the power of God through faith unto
salvation” (1Peter 1:5). That is what the Bible clearly teaches.
However, the
minute I replace what the Bible says, with the man-made cliché, “once
saved
always saved”, I have departed from God’s Word. If you cannot see the
problems
caused by that cliché, let me explain.
If I
am “kept by the power of God”, as the Bible says, then I have no
problem with
any of the passages that warn us of the danger of losing salvation.
After all,
if we could not lose salvation God would not have to keep us from
losing it.
However, those who replace the words of Scripture with the cliché,
“once saved
always saved,” feel driven to explain away any passage of Scripture
that
contradicts that cliché. And, whenever they explain away a passage of
Scripture
they compromise their testimony, while making that passage of no effect
(Mark
For example, suppose that
you tell someone who is burdened with the constant fear of losing salvation, that they cannot lose salvation no
matter what
they do. And, he then replies by saying, “I cannot believe that,
because the Bible says, “some will depart from the
faith,
giving heed to seducing spirits, and doctrines of devils” (1Timothy
4:1). How
would you answer him? If you explain away the words of 1Timothy 4:1 you
undermine your testimony. How? Because the words, “Those who are not of
God
will not accept what we say,” tell us that those who will not accept
what the
writers of Scripture have said are “not of God” (1John 4:6). Why should
I
believe anything you say if you do not believe what the Bible says?
Now,
suppose that I tell someone who
is burdened with the constant fear of losing salvation, that they
should believe God’s promise to keep him from falling (1Peter 1:5, Jude
24).
And, he then replies by saying, “I cannot believe that, because the Bible says, “some will depart from the faith,
giving heed to seducing spirits, and doctrines of devils” (1Timothy
4:1). In
that case, he would be the one refusing to accept what the Bible says,
not me.
On the contrary, I do not need to explain away the words of 1Timothy
4:1 because
the only people who give “heed to seducing spirits,
and doctrines of devils” are those who are not trusting in Christ to
keep them
from falling.
I
could then go on to explain that, just as the passages that warn
sinners of the
danger of hell, are intended to show us our need for God’s saving
grace, the
passages that warn us of the danger of falling are intended to show us
our need
for God’s sustaining grace (Jude 1:24, Romans 7:4). In both cases God
wants us
to trust in His grace, not in our own efforts. And, by believing His
promise to
keep you from falling you commit your soul to His care.
Because I teach what the Bible
actually says instead of trying to replace the words of Scripture with
man-made
clichés or “principles, I have no problem with any of the passages that
warn of
the danger of falling. Why should I? Without God’s help I could not
keep myself
saved for ten minutes! Not only is my salvation a gift of God’s grace,
faith
itself is a gift of God’s grace (Ephesians 2:8-9, 1Corinthians 12:3).
Furthermore, we should never explain away the passages that warn us of
the
danger of falling, because God uses those passages to keep us from
losing our
salvation. And, whenever we explain them away we make what they say “of
no
effect” (Mark
[These
passages warn us of the danger of losing our salvation: Luke
8:13, Galatians 1:6 and 5:4, 1Timothy
In
order to understand what I am saying it is important to realize that
the
passages that warn us of the danger of falling are law, while the
passages that
assure us that God will keep us from falling are gospel. The law is
God’s
warning to the unrepentant, while the gospel is God’s promise of mercy
to all
who repent (1Timothy 1:9-11, Romans
What
I have just said is very important, because those who replace the words
of
Scripture with the cliché, “once saved always saved” lead those who sin
(like
David did in the matter of Uriah) to
believe that
they have no need to repent, thus hardening them in sin by giving them
a false
assurance of salvation. If you think this is unimportant, you need to
realize
that anything that gives the unrepentant a false assurance of salvation
is a
false gospel.
Those
who burden believers with the constant fear of losing salvation, and
those who
claim that once a person is saved they can live in sin with an
unrepentant
heart and still be saved, are both failing to rightly divide the word
of truth
(2Timothy 2:15). Those who are burdened need to be comforted with God’s
promise
of grace, while those who think that they can live in sin and still be
saved
need to be warned that they are deceiving themselves (1John 1:6,
1Corinthians
6:9-10).
All who claim to be teaching God’s
Word can be divided into two camps: 1- Those who believe that the true
doctrine
is plainly stated in Scripture for all to see; and, 2- Those who
believe that
the true doctrine is the correct explanation of Scripture. If you do
not think
this is important, let me remind you that every cult leader assumes
that the
Bible is a book of mysterious sayings, while claiming that he or she
has the
correct explanation. In contrast, the Bible says, “no prophecy of
scripture is
of any private interpretation,” tells us that the message God wants us
to get
from His Word is nothing “other than what you read,” and tells us that
the true
doctrine is plainly stated in Scripture, “line upon line, line upon
line; here
a little, and there a little” (2Peter 1:20, 1Corinthians 1:13, Isaiah
28:9-10).
If
the Bible warns the unrepentant of the danger of falling it is because
they
need that warning. At the same time, if the Bible assures those who
repent that
He will keep them from falling (Jude 24) it is because they need that
assurance. Therefore, it is important to teach everything the Bible
says, and
not to try to improve on Scripture by replacing what it actually says
with
man-made clichés and “principles”.
Just
consider how many problems are caused by the simple cliché, “once saved
always
saved”. There are those who use that cliché as an excuse to continue in
sin, or
to never darken the door of a church. There are those who use that
cliché to
justify specific sins, or even suicide. And, there are those who do not
even
know that they need to repent, because that cliché has given them a
false
assurance of salvation.
Now, I know that many
pastors try to get around these problems by claiming that those who
fall into
open sin (as David did) were never really saved, or that only those who
are
truly saved are always saved. But, these attempts to bandage the
problem can
contradict other passages and cause other problems. What we really need
is to
get back to the Bible, and back to what it says, while rejecting
man-made
clichés that only confuse the issues and undermine the testimony of
those who
are trying to share the gospel.
Conclusion
Those who tell believers that they can
live in sin and still be saved are just as wrong as those who tell them
that
they have to keep themselves saved. If I could not lose salvation, or
could
keep myself saved, I would not need to be “kept by the power of God”
(1Peter
1:5). However, because I do need to be kept by the power of God, I find
great
comfort in the fact God keeps me by His grace, for without His help I
would
surely fall.
Therefore, believing that God will keep you by His grace goes hand in hand with believing that you are saved by grace (Ephesians 2:8-9). Those who think that they can keep themselves saved are just as foolish as those who think that they can save themselves. At the same time, those who think that they can harden their hearts in unrepentance (by denying their sin or willfully flaunting God's law) yet still be saved, are under a delusion (Galatians 5:4, Hebrews 10:26-27, 2Peter 3:6). Such people need the warning of God's law, while those who have a repentant heart need the assurance that God will keep them by His grace.