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Chapter Eight
THE ETERNAL SECURITY OF THE BELIEVER
Editor's note:
What I am writing in this chapter is really an
introduction to my booklet "The Anchor Of Hope" in
which I fully discuss every aspect of the doctrine of eternal
security.
The Church of Christ joins with several other
denominations in teaching that a child of God can so sin as
to fall away and to be eternally lost.
I have had the privilege of helping several Christian
people "see" the truth of the eternal security of the believer.
I usually start studying with them by establishing the
following six points.
- We will settle this question completely and
entirely on the basis on what the Bible teaches (Isa. 8:20).
- The Bible does not contradict itself; it does not
teach both security and insecurity. This topic is discussed
later.
- We will not depend on human reasoning since
grace is a principle contrary to the thinking of the natural
man. We always reason that we get what we deserve, and
if each of us gets what we deserve we certainly will be
lost, and will have to be saved over and over.
- We cannot settle this question by citing human
experiences. Someone says, "I know you can fall away and
be lost, because the preacher ran off with the deacon's
wife." This proves nothing.
- We are not talking about professing Christians,
but about born again Christians.
- We are not talking about false teachers, but true
Christians.
When you once see the truth of salvation by grace
and of justification by faith, then you will see the wonderful
truth of the eternal security of the believer. If our salvation
depends in any measure at all on our good works
or on human merit, then we can fall away and be lost. But,
if our salvation depends completely and entirely on "the
finished work of Christ" (John 19:30), then we are eternally
saved.
The great bulk of the Scriptures clearly teach that
when God saves a person, He does a good job of it. True
believers are kept by the power of God (I Pet. 1:5).
There are only 14 or 15 references in the entire
Bible that "seem to teach" a person can "fall away," and
lose his salvation. For example, Galatians 5:4 says, "you
have fallen from grace." Those who teach that a child of
God can fall away and lose his salvation use this verse as
a "proof-text" to prove their position, but if they would
take the trouble to study the entire Book of Galatians, they
would discover what the Apostle Paul is saying. He is
telling the Galatians that they have fallen from grace in the
sense that they had turned from the principles of grace, and
were going back and living under the law. My friend, we
are not playing games! You had better study this verse in
the light of the context.
First Corinthians 15:2 is another verse used to
prove insecurity. In this verse we read, "by which also you
are saved, if you hold fast that word which I preached to
youunless you believed in vain."
What does it mean to believe in vain? Exactly what
it says. Baptist, Methodist, Church of Christ, Roman
Catholic and all other churches have many people in their
congregations who believe in vain. What does this mean?
It means they have a faith which has touched their head,
but has never touched their heart and made them to be a
new creature in Christ.
My friend, you would do well to stop searching the
Scripture to find insecurity "proof-texts," and start believing
on and resting on those explicitly clear passages which
teach the eternal security of the believer.
A Letter I Wrote
About 20 years ago I wrote a letter to "A Church of
Christ College President. " I sent a copy of this letter to the
Sunset School of Preaching. A few days later, 5 or 6
students came to my office demanding "to see the man who
wrote this letter." We had an interesting discussion for
about two hours.
I asked these young men to read Romans 8:29,30.
"For whom He foreknew, He also predestined to be
conformed to the image of His Son, that He might be the
firstborn among many brethren. Moreover whom He
predestined, these He also called; whom He called, these
He also justified; and whom He justified, these He also
glorified." Then I asked them, "How many of those God
foreknew did He predestinate?" They answered, "All of
them." Then I asked, "How many of those that God
predestined did He call?" They answered, "All of them."
Then I asked, "How many of those God called did He
justify?" They answered, "All of them." Then I asked
them, "How many of those that God justified did He
glorify?" And, of course there is but one answer, "All of
them. "
One of the young men spoke up and said, "That is
what it says, but that is not what it means."
I like the saying, "God said it, I believe it, that
settles it."
My friend, let me encourage you to base your faith
on a passage in a great doctrinal book like Romans, rather
than on an isolated verse which seems to contradict the rest
of the Bible.
Permit me to give you a brief word of testimony.
We are saved by the Gospel (I Cor. 15:2). The Gospel
means "Good News." Because I have failed 10,000 times,
it is not good news to tell me that I must hold out faithful
to the end. If such were the message of the Bible my heart
would constantly be filled with fear. I would be afraid that
I might die and go to Hell right after I had lusted after
some woman, or that I might be hit by a truck right after
I lost my temper. What a poor sort of salvation this would
be. I praise God this isn't the kind of salvation I have
enjoyed for the past 80 years. God has wonderfully chosen
me, saved me, and kept me by His marvelous grace and
power.
In praising the Lord, I often worship Him with the
words of George Matheson's great hymn:
0 Love that wilt not let me go,
I rest my weary soul in Thee;
I give Thee back the life I owe,
That in Thine ocean depths its flow
May richer, fuller be.
What a parody of the Glorious Gospel of the Grace
of God to teach that God saves us, and then commands us
"to hold out faithful to the end."
Now to Him who is able to keep you from stumbling,
And to present you faultless
Before the presence of His glory with exceeding joy,
To God our Savior,
Who alone is wise Be glory and majesty,
Dominion and power,
Both now and forever. Amen (Jude 24,25).
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