A friend of mine posted this in email, and with his permission, I am posting this for you. Some people doubt eternal security (in other words, assurance of salvation), and think they can lose their salvation. I never looked at it from this light before, but I thought this was a really great way to look at the Scriptures. See how absurd it would be for us to claim that we can lose our salvation, and fall OUT of God's amazing grace. Consider these things:
If a man could lose his salvation, the following would have to happen....
(Note: These are in no particular order.)
He would have to perish, which Christ said could never happen (John 10:28).
Christ would have to cast him out, which He promised never to do (John 6:37).
Christ would have to leave him, which He said He would never do (Heb. 13:5).
God would have to break the salvation “chain” of Romans 8:29-30 which clearly declares that every justified person will be glorified (that is, will enjoy final salvation).
The Holy Spirit would have to leave him, which is impossible since he is sealed unto the day of redemption (Eph. 4:30).
He would have to be unsanctified (1 Cor. 1:2; 6:11).
He would have to be unwashed (1 Cor. 6:11).
He would have to be unjustified (1 Cor. 6:11).
He would have to be unredeemed (Tit. 2:14; 1 Pet. 1:18-19).
He would have to be unsealed (Eph. 1:13-14).
He would have to be unbaptized and somehow removed from the body of Christ (1 Cor. 12:13).
He would have to be excommunicated from the body of Christ so that he is no longer a member of His body, of His flesh and of His bones (Eph. 5:30).
He would have to become un-chosen (Eph. 1:4).
He would have to forfeit the gift of eternal life (John 10:28).
He would have to cease being a sheep in Christ’s flock (John 10:27-28).
God would have to break His promise of Philippians 1:6 and not complete the great work which He began in him when he believed.
He who had passed from death unto life would then have to pass from life unto death (John 5:24).
He would have to come into judgment, even though God promised him this would never happen (John 5:24; Romans 8:1).
He would have to die spiritually, even though Christ promised him this would never happen (John 11:26).
He would have to be plucked out of God’s hand which Christ promised would never happen (John 10:28-29).
He would have to prevent God from accomplishing His will (John 6:40) and Christ would have to break His promise to raise him up at the last day (John 6:40).
God would have to disown him as His child (John 1:12; 1 John 3:1).
God would have to break His promise of 1 Corinthians 11:32 (that the believer will be chastened as a child but not judged with the world).
He, who was once a child of the devil but who became a child of God, would have to then go back to being a child of the devil, a transition which is never contemplated in Scripture (compare 1 John 3:10).
He who was born into God’s family would somehow have to become unborn, a Biblical absurdity (John 1:13).
The Holy Spirit would have to leave him, even though Christ promised the Spirit would abide with him forever (John 14:16).
God’s power would have to fail and God would have to be unsuccessful at keeping the believer safe all the way to his final salvation (1 Peter 1:5).
Something would have to separate him from the love of God, which God promised would never happen (Rom. 8:35-39).
God would have to be against him, even though God said that He is for him (Rom. 8:31-34).
Christ would have to stop interceding for him (Hebrews 7:25; Romans 8:34 and compare Luke 22:32).
Christ would have to stop being his Advocate (1 John 2:1).
Christ’s prayer and promise that God would keep His believers would have to fail (John 17:11).
Christ would have to break His promise that He will be with him in heaven (John 14:1-3; 17:24).
Christ’s promise that all things will work together for good would have to fail (Rom. 8:28).
God’s great purpose to conform him to the image of His Son would have to fail (Rom. 8:28-29).
God would have to remember His sins and iniquities once more, something He promised never to do (Hebrews 8:12; 10:17).
God would have to allow him to experience the second death (the lake of fire), something which Christ promised would never happen (Rev. 2:11).
God would have to allow his name to be blotted out of the book of life, something which Christ promised would never happen (Rev. 3:5).
God would have to break His promise to never impute sin to the one who is justified (Rom. 4:8).
He who was blessed by God by faith (Eph. 1:3) would have to be removed from the place of blessing and be under God’s curse (1 Cor. 16:22).
The child of God would have to become a child of wrath (Eph. 2:3).
He who was quickened would have to be deadened (Eph. 2:1,5).
He who was healed would have to become unhealed (1 Pet. 2:24).
He who was reconciled to God would have to become at enmity with God once again (2 Cor. 5:18-19; Col. 1:20).
He who was made nigh by the blood of Christ would have to become alienated from Him (Eph. 2:13).
He who was delivered from so great a death would have to be given back over to so great a death (2 Cor. 1:10).
He who became an heir of God would have to be disinherited (Rom. 8:17; Tit. 3:7).
He who became rich would have to become spiritually poor once again (2 Cor. 8:9).
He who became a new creature would have to become uncreated (2 Cor. 5:17; Eph. 2:10).
He who was seated in heavenly places would have to lose his seat (Eph. 2:6).
He who was positioned in Christ (2 Cor. 5:17) would have to lose his position.
He who was called unto eternal glory would have to be uncalled (2 Pet. 5:10).
He who was a stone in God’s building would have to be removed from that structure (Eph. 2:20-22; 1 Pet. 2:5).
Christ would have to lose part of His bride (Ephesians 5:27).
He would have to be un-identified with Christ in His death and resurrection (Romans 6).
He would have to lose his citizenship in heaven (Phil. 3:20).
He would have to be un-preserved (Jude 1).
God, who promised to keep him from falling would have to allow him to fall and fail to present him faultless (Jude 24).
His reservation in heaven (an inheritance “reserved in heaven”) would have to fail or become invalid (1 Peter 1:4).
God would have to reverse or strip him of his status as being part of chosen race, a kingly priesthood, a holy nation, a people for a possession of His, and throw him back into darkness and out of His wonderful light (1 Peter 2:9).
He would have to be snuffed out as a child of light in the Lord (Eph. 5:8).
The Father would have to undo His work of making him fit for sharing the portion of the saints in light, and untranslate him out of the kingdom of the Son of his love, and deliver him back into the authority of darkness (Col. 1:12-13).
Christ would have to shut his eyes closed again, turn him back into darkness and the power of Satan, unforgive his sins, take back the inheritance He gave him, and un-sanctifying him (Acts 26:18).
George Zeller, 4/16/15
Eternal security advocates most often cite Jn 10:28-29 to prove their view that believers can never lose their salvation. However in its proper context, vss. 28-29 are predicated on v.27. Eternal life and not being plucked out of the Father's hand are only promised to those sheep who "listen" and "follow" the shepherd. No such assurance is ever given to sheep who disobey by not listening and following. So these verses actually prove the opposite of what is claimed.
ReplyDeleteThe notion that we are guaranteed salvation by citing Rom 8:30 as an "unbroken chain" is also mistaken as well. Just because one is called, justified and glorified does not entail that we cannot break the "chain" and short circuit our glorification by our own actions. The Apostle Paul himself cited such an example in Gal 1:6: "I am astonished that you are so quickly deserting the one who CALLED you to live in the grace of Christ and are turning to a different gospel..." It is clearly evident that Paul is addressing believers as he refers to them as "called;" yet they turned or fell away. Moreover one cannot turn away to a different gospel unless one turned to the true gospel to begin with. This refutes the Reformed belief that those who fall away were never believers in the first place.
That is why Paul writes this warning to the brethren in Rome: "Therefore, brothers and sisters, we have an obligation—but it is not to the flesh, to live according to it. For if you live according to the flesh, you will die; but if by the Spirit you put to death the misdeeds of the body, you will live" (Rom 8:12-13). Believers who sow to the flesh and continue to engage in habitual sin risk spiritual death.
Thank you for your response. What your comments imply is that our salvation is "works" based. What the Word of God shows us throughout all the dispensations throughout the ages is that we cannot save ourselves, we continually fail. It is only through Jesus Christ that we can be saved. If it were our good works that could save us, then our bad works could unsave us, but it is ONLY through the finished work of Christ that anyone can get to heaven. That is the most important point, and bottom line. We will still sin, as we are in this flesh, and we can fall out of fellowship with God until we make things right, but this occurs after we are saved. We can't make things right with God before we are saved; we can only accept God's gift of salvation for our sin. "For the wages [what we earn] of sin is death; but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord" (Rom. 6:23). Ephesians 2:8-9: "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." Praise the Lord! We are saved because of the righteousness of Christ, not our own works of righteousness. Titus 3:5-7: "Not by works of righteousness which we have done, but according to his mercy he saved us, by the washing of regeneration, and renewing of the Holy Ghost; which he shed on us abundantly through Jesus Christ our Saviour; that being justified by his grace, we should be made heirs according to the hope of eternal life." Our justification comes only by His grace.
DeleteYou are right to point out works based salvation - that is - works done in the flesh which do not save anyone. However there is a distinct difference between works done in the flesh and works done out of obedience to the Spirit. No where in the Bible is works done out of obedience to God ever condemned. I am not advocating faith + works = salvation. I am advocating faith = works = salvation. Inner saving faith is manifested by outward works of obedience. After all, we were created to do good works (Eph 2:10). That is why James wrote "You see that a person is justified by works and not by faith alone" (Js 2:24) and "So also faith by itself, if it does not have works, is dead" (Js 2:17). Faith and works go hand in hand; you cannot have one without the other as both must be evidenced in a believer's life.
DeleteThat is why I cited the importance of obedience in my previous post. The atonement provided by Jesus' sacrifice did not save us from our sins so that we could keep on sinning. Rather his sacrifice made it possible for us to obey; to resist sin and temptation in our lives as his regenerated children.
The million dollar question which is the topic of your blog post is whether Christians are eternally secure. I replied that only sheep who listen and follow are secure. Also, I pointed out Paul's observation that one can be called and justified yet still turn away and not end up being glorified. In order for you to hold on to your view, you would have to somehow explain away the plain meaning of these verses.
In regard to Rom 8:12-13, Paul’s warning is a somber one as these verses describe the potential death of born-again believers, referred to as the brethren in v. 12. If this death were not a real possibility, the warning would be nonsensical. We also know that this warning pertains to spiritual death – not physical death – because everyone dies physically irrespective of how we live our lives. Moreover, one must have spiritual life in order to be in danger of spiritual death. You cannot threaten a spiritually dead person with spiritual death. Such a person is already dead. Therefore, it must be concluded that these are regenerate brethren who are being warned of dying. Also note that this verse is conditional – not unconditional – as indicated by the word “if.” IF believers walk according to the flesh = they will die. IF believers walk according to the Spirit = they will live. Verse 13 cannot be said to apply to unbelievers because only believers have the choice as to whether to walk according to the Spirit or according to the flesh. Unregenerate persons have no such choice as they remain dead in their sins and can only walk according to the flesh. Thus, it stands to reason that Paul’s warning of spiritual death; i.e. eternal separation from God is directed to Christians who live in rebellion and knowingly engage in habitual sin.
Therefore it stands to reason that it is not absurd to reject eternal security.
Please see my next blog for a response.
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