Eternal Security
/“He has done the work for us”
Many Christians believe that they are in danger of losing their salvation, that their eternal life is in jeopardy each time they succumb to sin. Eternal Security is the idea that when an individual accepts Jesus Christ as their Lord, regardless of ongoing struggles with sin, remains within the family of God. Understanding our eternal security as believers can be a difficult thing for some to fully comprehend or believe, but if we simply go to the word of God, we clearly see what it means to be “sealed with that holy Spirit of promise.”
Ephesians 1:13-14 In whom ye also trusted, after that ye heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation: in whom also after that ye believed, ye were sealed with that holy Spirit of promise, 14 Which is the earnest of our inheritance until the redemption of the purchased possession, unto the praise of his glory.
Praise God that working for our salvation is impossible, he has done the work for us. God tells us this in Ephesians 2:8-9, “For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God: 9 Not of works, lest any man should boast.”
We immediately see that it is God’s grace that is extended to us that does the saving; the only part we play in our salvation is responding to his grace correctly with the faith that the word of God gives us (Rom 10:17). What that looks like practically is acknowledging that your sin separates you from a Holy God. The only way to be saved from an eternal death (Rom 6:23) is through believing on the finished work of Jesus Christ and confessing that you need him to be your Lord and saviour.
Romans 10:9 That if thou shalt confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus, and shalt believe in thine heart that God hath raised him from the dead, thou shalt be saved.
“Consider the implications”
With that being said, we see that the power of our salvation comes from none other than the Almighty himself (John 8:58). If the power of my salvation was in my control, then there would be every reason in the world to be afraid that I may lose it. If I am being honest, I have a hard time not losing my wallet or keys. Thankfully, we are not dealing with human power; we are dealing with I AM.
Revelation 22:13 I am alpha and Omega, the beginning and the end, the first and the last.
We serve a mighty God who is faithful and just to keep his promises. The Bible actually says that it is impossible for him to lie (Hebrews 6:18), so let’s take a look at some of these promises that God has given us concerning our salvation as New Testament believers.
Consider the implications of what it really means for you to be able to sin enough for God to finally give up on you and for your salvation to be revoked. As we discussed earlier, our salvation comes from the power of God’s grace (Ephesians 2:8-9); whether we choose to accept that grace is on us, but any way you slice it, he promises to secure his children’s salvation until the day we die or the day that Christ comes back for his bride.
Ephesians 4:30 And grieve not the holy Spirit of God, whereby ye are sealed unto the day of redemption.
There is often fear in the heart of a believer who is struggling with recurring sin which says, “I have really done it this time. There is no way I’m still saved.” Yet God tells us 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.”
“God did not intend for us to be unsure of our salvation”
So God has already confirmed that he will not cast us out. Another problem with thinking we can lose our salvation is that if you are able to work your way out of salvation, that implies that you were able to work your way into salvation in the first place. This is contrary to what we have already seen in scripture: “not of works lest any man should boast” (Eph 2:9). When counseling someone through this, it is important that you teach them why you cannot lose your salvation based on what the word of God says, but also making sure that you are not making any excuses for the sin that caused them to get to that point. We shouldn’t be saying, “Well brother, once saved always saved,” with no Biblical backing as to why. You may be unintentionally encouraging someone who is not saved to continue in sin, feeling justified in it, while not recognizing their need for a saviour.
For your continued salvation to be based on whether or not you sin from day-to-day or moment-by-moment would be a terrifying thing, because everyone knows that they will probably end up sinning before they are done reading this blog post. God did not intend for us to be unsure of our salvation or for us to fear losing it (1 John 5:13). We can be confident we are saved because we can confirm what God tells us in the Bible. God reassures us here in Romans 8:15-16, “For ye have not received the spirit of bondage again to fear; but ye have received the Spirit of adoption, whereby we cry, Abba, Father. 16 The Spirit itself beareth witness with our spirit, that we are children of God:”
Living in fear of losing your salvation and relationship with God is placing ourselves back into the bondage that he set us free from on the cross. We see that believing that you can sin enough to lose your salvation would make God weak and a liar. It is contrary to the promise God made when he said he would finish that good work that he started.
Philippians 1:6 Being confident of this very thing, that he which begun a good work in you will perform it until the day of Jesus Christ.
As we saw in Ephesians and here in Philippians, His Spirit has sealed us until the day of Christ.
“That word ‘eternal’ means exactly what you might think”
Some people say you can give your salvation away, giving it back to God. Eternal security, however, is not an issue of free will; you have the free will to make any choice you want. Instead, it is an issue of logic. The following verses confirm that these ways of thinking are not godly.
2 Corinthians 5:17 Therefore if any man be in Christ, he is a new creature: old things are passed away: behold all things are become new.
Romans 6:4 Therefore we are buried with him by baptism into death: that like as Christ was raised up from the dead by the glory of the Father, even so we also should walk in newness of life.
1 Peter 1:23 Being born again, not of corruptible, but of incorruptible, by the word of God, which liveth and abideth forever.
We have been born again and are a part of God’s family. We have been made new creatures in Christ. Our lives are changed and hid with him forever. We cannot be separated from God’s family, just like we cannot be separated from our earthly families. I adore my parents. They love the Lord and have taught me so many things about life and God, but let’s say that for some reason I just wanted to disown them. Just because I say that they are no longer my parents doesn’t mean that I am no longer their child. The same is true of the relationship we have with our heavenly Father. God says in 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.”
That word “eternal” means exactly what you might think: without end, never to cease, everlasting. The salvation that God gave us is without end; it’s forever. On top of that, he promises that it is not only forever, but that no man will be able to pluck you out of his hand. Last time I checked, I myself am a part of the huMAN race, so even I do not have the ability to pluck myself out of his hand. Just in case you were worried about absolutely anything else being able to steal your salvation, he again reassures us that we are saved through his power, not ours, and that we are united with the almighty I AM.
Romans 8:38-39 For I am persuaded that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor powers, nor things to come, 39 Nor height, nor depth, nor any other creature, shall be able to separate us from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord.
“Walk in the freedom of your salvation”
We do not have to fear losing our salvation, and the reason why is simple: God tells us so in his word. Being afraid that you may lose your salvation will result in a roller coaster type of walk with Christ. One day it might feel as though you are on top of the world when you’re close to him and aren’t struggling with some ongoing sin; then when you sin and things aren’t great, you feel like you are in the lowest of lows in total despair. Proverbs 11:1 says that this is no way to live. The idea that God is malicious and is waiting for you to mess up so he can revoke your salvation is likening him to operations of evil men. Human love might be conditional, but God’s love is different. His way of thinking is different.
Isaiah 55:9 For as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways, and my thoughts higher than your thoughts.
God tells us in Romans 5:20, “Moreover the law entered, that the offence might abound. But where sin abounded, grace did much more abound.” We cannot sin past what his grace can forgive (1 John 1:9).
Romans 6:1 says, “Shall we continue in sin that grace may abound?” The next verse says, “God forbid.” Walk in the freedom of your salvation, believer. Be obedient to the word of God, trust his promises, lean into the local church, be filled with the Spirit of God and you won’t fulfill the lusts of the flesh. We have a mission to share the good news of Jesus Christ to the world, and if you are worried about whether you have lost your salvation, you will be paralyzed, and Satan will have succeeded in making you obsolete in God’s army.
Alex Allen is a member at Midtown Baptist Temple and a leader in C&YA. He is a part of Temple Worship and leads a men’s small group Bible study in Grandview.