CHAPTER
THREE
ETERNAL
SECURITY
"These things have I
written unto you that believe on the name of the
Son of God; that ye
may know that ye have eternal life, and that ye
may (continue to)
believe on the
name of the Son of
God."1 JOHN
5:13
There are
passages in the Gospel of John, which are often
misrepresented, or taken out of context, in an
attempt to prove the concept of eternal
security.
Those unwilling to search the scriptures
diligently and rightly divide the Word of truth
will surely fall into a pit. My
goal, in contending for the truth of these
passages, is to help to insure it will not be
the Pit.
I believe these misrepresentations have
caused unsound doctrine, which leads to
wrong
conclusions,
often leading
to conduct not pleasing to the Lord. At
the risk of sounding like a prophet of
doom,
I
will
prove that
scripture does not verify what modern doctrine
states.
John writes in the first
chapter of his gospel: "But
as many as received Him, to them gave He power
to become the sons of God, even to them that
believe on His name". (vs.
12)
This is the authority/power/right to
become God’s children. It is
not, as many in the eternal security camps are
promoting, becoming secure forever by simply
reciting 'the sinner's prayer'.
How many
times, after someone has repeated this type
prayer in a church building or during a
religious program on TV, have they been told:
"Congratulations! Now
you’re born again! You’re
saved!
You have eternal life and you’re on your
way to heaven!!" Is
that all there is to becoming a child of
God?
Simply say you’re ‘sorry’ and ‘accept’
Christ and His righteousness as a kind of
‘shield’ against God’s wrath, so that (even if
you continue in sin), you will be welcomed into
heaven when you die, because ‘nothing can ever
again separate you from
God’?
According to John 3:3, to
become a child of God, we must first be ‘born
again’.
Our spiritual death needs to be
reversed.
Nicodemus’ position in the old covenant
allowed him to see the things of God in the
terms of the physical; he could see that Jesus
came from God by the miracles He performed.
However, because he was not yet ‘born of
the Spirit, he was unable to understand the
things of the Spirit, hidden mysteries which are
spiritually discerned.
Jesus said, "Except
a man be born again, he cannot see . . . or
enter . . . the Kingdom of God".
(John
3:3-5)
Are not these His recorded words? Do not
change them! It
is not possible to see the reality of the
spiritual kingdom without spiritual eyes, and
you cannot enter a kingdom you cannot see. Nor is
Jesus promising an
‘unconditional entrance into heaven when
you die’ because you are able to see that the
kingdom exists. The invitation to enter the
kingdom of God is given in this life and will be
the inheritance of
the righteous, prepared for them
from the foundation of the world.
What is provided
for is the potential to become children of
God.
Once we perceive there is a kingdom we
must labor to enter His rest. We
must strive to enter in at the strait gate.
Many will seek to enter the kingdom and
will not be able to, because they are workers of
iniquity.
"And
this is life eternal, that they might know Thee
the only true God, and Jesus Christ, whom Thou
hast sent."
(John
17:3)
‘That they might know You’ is the key
phrase in Jesus’ prayer for His apostles and for
those who would believe on Him because of their
testimony.
John often uses the same
phraseology Jesus did, making such phrases
especially important to examine. This
point should not be lightly dismissed, but often
is!
Just as the New Testament more fully
reveals the gospel of the kingdom of God
contained in the Old Testament, the letters of
the apostles, who were personally instructed by
Jesus, expound His teachings. Chapter
seventeen of John is exclusive to his account of
the gospel. Wisdom
dictates we should let the apostle explain their
meaning.
He records Jesus’ words in
his gospel account and tells us what it means to
know God in 1 John 2:3-4: "And hereby we do know that
we know Him, if we keep His commandments. He that
saith, I know Him, and keepeth not His
commandments, is a liar, and the truth is not in
him."
Biblically speaking,
‘knowing’ is more than simply knowing
about
someone or even having an acquaintance with
them.
Paul tells us the relationship of the
husband and wife is a mystery concerning Christ
and His church. In
both relationships they are to be joined
together as one flesh; we are to be bone of His
bone and flesh of His flesh.
If we are keeping His commandments, we
know Him.
This is ETERNAL
LIFE!
Those who
believe the doctrine of eternal security or
perseverance of the saints believe they are
saved in their sins, and so presume John
17:20-26 guarantees eternal life to those who
are
‘born again’ or
'elect'. This is
a case of setting up idols and placing a
stumbling block of iniquity in front of one’s
face before coming to the
prophet.
Rather we should allow the Word of God to
teach us.
John 17:20-21
-
".
. . but for them also which shall believe on Me
through their word . . . That they all may
be one . . ." This
verse is referring to every believer, from the
Apostles to all who would believe
because of their testimony. The word ‘may’ is a
subjunctive word. This means it is being
used to express condition, hypothesis,
contingency, possibility, etc., rather than
actual fact.
Verse 22 - ".
. . even as we are one . . ."
This form of verb is an indicative: used
to express an act, state or occurrence as
actual.
Neither this passage nor
the second chapter of 1 John guarantees eternal
security or perseverance of the elect. Rather
it refutes them. The
actual fact is that Jesus and the Father are
one, and Jesus has made it possible for us to be
one with Him and the Father.
Possible, because it is God's will and
Jesus' prayer for us who believe.
The terms of the covenant are mandatory,
not optional.
How were the Father and
Son one?
What does it mean to be one with
them?
The Father and Son were one in Spirit; so
unified in purpose and character, that you saw
the Father when you saw the Son.
When people observe us, do they see the
Father and Son?
The Son always made the Father’s will his
own.
Is His will ours, always?
The purpose of our being one with the
Father and Son is to be made as they are:
perfect, . . . as our
Father in heaven is perfect.
I HAVE LOST NONE
"Jesus
answered, I
have told you that I am He: if therefore ye seek
Me, let these go their way: that the
saying might be fulfilled, which He spake, Of
them which Thou gavest ME have I lost
none."
(John
18:8-9)
"And now I am no more in the world . . .
Holy Father, keep . . . those
whom Thou hast given me . . . While I was
with them in the world, I kept them in Thy name
. . . and none of them is lost, but the
son of perdition; that the scripture might be
fulfilled." (John
17:11-12)
Many use these verses for
proof texts that we can never be ‘lost’ once we
are 'saved'.
They are interpreted to mean the elect have been given
to Jesus and, because He loses none
given to Him, are secure no matter
what.
If you read carefully, you
will see that the verses above are a direct
reference to the twelve apostles. Verse 11 of
chapter 17 states that while He was with
them on earth He had kept them.
Now that he would no longer be in the
world, He was returning them to the Father’s
keeping. He
protected them during His arrest, (18:8),
keeping them until the end of His life on earth,
that the scripture might be
fulfilled.
This is why there is no
contradiction between Jesus having not lost any
of those given to Him and telling Peter that,
when He returned, if he found him not doing as
He had commanded, He would cut him in two and
appoint
him a place with the
unfaithful.
It is commonly believed if
you don’t accept the eternal security doctrine
you are promoting a 'saved
and lost’ theory: I can
have eternal life and lose it and have to 'get
saved' all over again.
A well-known television
preacher from Atlanta, Georgia, while refuting
the possibility of ever ‘losing your salvation’
asked this, sarcastically: “So, how long is
eternal life anyway?”
The answer is: just as
long as you abide in the Son. Jesus
said,
"Be
faithful unto death, and I will give you the
crown of life." (Revelation
2:10)
The one enduring to the end will be
saved.
For
".
. . if anyone draws back, My soul has no
pleasure in him." (Hebrews
10:38)
The truth is that eternal
life is in the Son, and to have eternal life we
must remain in the Son unto the
end. We are
being saved. Saved
from sin, not
in sin. Hell is
the result of unrepentant sin, and sin results
in death:
spiritual/soul death. Jesus
came to save us from the sin, which would send
us to hell. He is
able to save to the uttermost all those who come
to God by Him. I
need have no fear of death or hell, because He
has removed my trespasses from me and all my
former lawless deeds He will
remember no more. If
I continue to abide in Him and not in sin, then
I can have a good and sure
hope.
This is not the same as persevering (in your
sins) or walking in known sins right to the door
of heaven.
Nor is it abiding in Protestant icons, as
opposed to the authority of the scriptures.
I was
talking with some of the brothers who believe
the eternal security doctrine instead of Jesus’
words.
One of them told me that he and his wife
wanted a ministry to homosexuals.
When I asked him why, he said, "Well, you
have to get them saved." I
inquired,
"Okay, you get them 'SAVED',
why can’t they go to heaven in their sin,
if you can go to heaven in
yours?" He
contemplated this for a moment and then
replied,
"I don’t know..."
The truth is the doctrine
of ‘eternal security’, as taught in most of our
churches today, promotes sin and contradicts
Jesus who taught sinlessness! Leaving
a life of sin is not a new teaching or strange
doctrine.
Others teach a doctrine
called ‘perseverance of the saints’. What is
a saint?
According to Webster’s dic-tionary, the
word comes from the Latin ‘sanctus’, meaning
holy or consecrated. A
holy person is defined as free from sin,
spiritually perfect or pure, perfect in a moral
sense.
The doctrine called
‘perseverance of the saints’ maintains a
positional
sainthood while on earth, for those said to be
‘in covenant’, who will then become ‘true’
saints when they reach heaven. Such
doctrine would have one persevering in sin, not
sainthood.
Why refer to yourself as a saint when you
are not holy? This
doctrine also implies jumping straight from
justification to glorification, without the
biblical mandate of sanctification, confusing
holiness with glorification. We are
be
called to be saints in this present age so that
we will be glorified at the Lord’s return. The
very term ‘perseverance’ implies a walk, a way
of conducting oneself.
This doctrine is held by
those who also teach they cannot stop sinning
until they die, yet will still be saved in the
end.
If we are under the bondage of any sin,
we have a different master than Jesus, "for
by whom a person is overcome, by him also he is
brought into bondage". (2
Peter 2:19) We
are either slaves of sin or slaves of
righteousness and we cannot serve two
masters.
The early church would disciple up to
three years; all who wanted to come into the
church, teaching them that all unrighteousness
had to be turned from. No
partial repentance, no regarding of iniquity in
one’s heart would be
acceptable in the sight of God or the
church!
They understood Paul’s instruction to the
Ephesian elders, that to be free from the blood
of all men, it was necessary to teach the whole
council of God.
This they did. The
latter day church does
not.
IN
CHRIST
"I
am the true vine, and My Father is the
husbandman.
Every branch in Me that beareth
not fruit He taketh away: and every
branch that beareth fruit, He purgeth (prunes) .
. .
Now ye are clean (pruned)
through the word . . . Abide in Me. . . as the
branch cannot bear fruit of itself. . . "If a
man abide not in Me, he is cast
forth as a branch, and is withered; and men
gather them, and cast them into the fire, and
they are burned." (John
15:1-6)
We must be bearing
the fruit of the Spirit or we will be cast out,
wither and die. There is
no security unless we are abiding in Him
who is eternal!
Whoever abides in Him does not
sin.
The strength, to cease from sin and to
yield fruit, flows from the vine. If
we are not abiding in Him we have no way to tap
into that strength, for without Him we can do
nothing. The
Father Himself will take out of Christ any
branch that is not yielding fruit, and it is
cast on the burn pile. This is
no idle threat!
Paul understood this clearly when he
wrote,
"I
keep under my body, and bring it into
subjection: lest
that by any means . . . I myself should be a
castaway." (1
Corinthians 9:27)
Jesus gave strong warning
to the apostles, in Luke 12:35-46. These same
apostles were present when Jesus was teaching
such
‘hard’ things to His disciples that all
but the twelve turned back and walked with Him
no more.
If we seek the Lord with
our whole heart we will find Him --- so
say the scriptures. If
we are abiding in Him at the end of our sojourn
here, He will raise us up at the last day to
receive the reward of the faithful. We
cannot be abiding in Jesus if we are abiding in
sin.
We must become like Him,
(not having a righteousness that comes from the
law, but a righteousness that is by
faith), know
Him and truly abide. "Then said Jesus to those Jews
which believed on Him, ‘If
ye continue in my word, then are ye My
disciples indeed."
Demons believe and tremble, but their
actions are evil.
Our actions (fruits) are to be pure. To
be free indeed is to be set free by Him from the
bondage of sin.
A freedom we must continue
in. Can you now
say, Amen?
May it be so!
“Whoso
eateth My flesh, and drinketh My blood, hath
eternal life
.
.
.
he that eateth My flesh, and drinketh My
blood, dwelleth (abides)
in Me, and I in him. . . so he
that eateth Me, even he shall live by Me. . . he that
eateth of this bread shall live for ever."
(John
6:54,56-58)
Jesus was speaking in
figurative language. If
this were a matter of the literal eating of the
flesh of Jesus, and the drinking of His blood,
only those who were with Him while He walked the
earth in the flesh, could have had eternal
life. If
the disciples, who went away and walked with Him
no more, mistakenly believed He was
speaking in this manner, they would have been
able to return to Him when they discovered that,
over the course of time, He was not disappearing
bite by bite and pint by pint.
They knew it was not the
‘literalness’ of His words that made the
sayings hard.
The sayings were hard
because this eating and drinking, this abiding,
meant having to depart from all sin! This is
still a hard saying today and would cause many
disciples of Jesus to turn back and walk with
Him no more, if this truth was preached from
pulpits today.
This eating and drinking
is not only figurative, but the symbolism is
clear in the physical.
Not a once in a lifetime event, it is a
process that is to continue throughout our whole
lives.
Those who are eating and drinking,
not those who have eaten and drunk. In the
same way abiding is a perpetual state of
being -- in His will, His righteous-ness, His
Kingdom
--
eating and drinking is a perpetual union
with His words. We
must feed on Him, or we will die.
After the other disciples
left, Jesus inquired of the twelve if they were
going to go also.
Peter answered, "Lord,
to whom shall we go? Thou
hast the words of eternal life."
He
answered this way because Jesus had already
explained the flesh profits nothing; the words
He spoke are spirit and
life.
We must understand the
reason for Jesus coming to the earth. It was
to save sinners from the bondage of sin,
which then saves them from sin’s eternal
consequences. For us
to become a citizen of His kingdom and be
granted salvation we must submit to His Lordship
and live under the authority of King Jesus. We
submit in the same way we abide in His love, by
obeying His commandments. Jesus is the
Word made flesh. We
are to continue in His word and taste and see
that the Lord is good.
All the preceding phrases,
abiding in Him, knowing God, keeping His
commandments, eating His flesh and drinking His
blood, are relative to being in Christ
Jesus, as found in Romans 8:1. "There is therefore now no
condemnation to them which are in Christ Jesus,
who walk not after the flesh, but after the
Spirit." If we truly are in
Him and walking according to the Spirit, we
cannot be walking in sin according to the flesh.
(vs.
5-8)
The Spirit cannot lead us into sin, for
there is no sin in Him.
Those who claim to be in Him must depart
from iniquity.
if we are abiding in Him, as His
Word requires there can be no
condemnation.
Because of what is generally taught, many
suppose there is no condemnation even if
they are walking according to the
flesh.
Little children, let no one deceive
you.
Do not believe you can be walking in sin
at His appearing --- or
at your death --- and
have no condemnation. That is CARNAL SECURITY.
SCRIPTURAL
SECURITY
It
might be timely to encourage some with an
explanation of the words of Jesus, “The
kingdom of Heaven suffereth violence and the
violent take it by force." (Matthew
11:12) "Ye have not yet
resisted to blood, striving against sin."
(Hebrews
12:4) In
other words, the exhortation is not to faint or
give up the struggle with inbred sin, there is
victory to be had! We
cannot be passive, this laboring is a concerted,
perpetual effort: seeking life and
immortality by patient continuance in well
doing.
The kingdom consists in
righteousness; not in the trespasses and sins we
used to walk in and have been commanded
to turn from. Being
overcome in a fault (sin) needs to be gone after
with vigorous force. Be
persistent! If
your struggle has been unsuccessful thus far,
explore new ways of gaining the victory.
One way,
often neglected, is to involve the
brethren.
Being accountable to one another is very
affective.
Here is an old rabbinical teaching which
is still good counsel today: "Whosoever shall
have lived wickedly and luxuriously may repent;
however, there will be need of much time to
conquer an evil habit, and even after
repen-tance our whole life must be guarded with
great care and diligence, after the manner of a
body, which, after it hath been a long time
afflicted with a distemper, requires a stricter
diet and method of living; for though it is
possible, to break off the chain of our
irregular affections at once, yet our amendment
cannot be secured without the grace of God,
the prayers of righteous men, the help
of the brethren, and our own sincere
repentance and constant care. It is a
good thing not to sin at all; it is also good,
having sinned, to repent."
We must be
diligent to follow the early Christian
behavior of devoting ourselves to the
Apostle’s teaching, prayer and the breaking of
bread
--- communion and fellowship with other
believers
--- as we labor to enter into the
kingdom. I
hope this is a benefit to those who are
struggling with sin and want to be
delivered!
". . . Abstain from
all appearance of evil.
And the very God of peace sanctify . . .
your whole spirit and soul and body be preserved
blameless unto the coming of our Lord Jesus
Christ.
Faithful is He that calleth you, who also
will do it." (1 Thessalonians
5:22-24) "And you, that
were
.
. . enemies . . . by wicked works, yet now hath
He reconciled. . . to
present you holy and unblamable and unreprovable
in His sight: if ye
continue in the faith. .
." (Colossians
1:21-23) "Whereby
are given unto us exceeding great and precious
promises: that by these ye might be partakers of
the divine nature, having escaped the
corruption that is in the world through lust."
(2
Peter 1:4)
This is a true saying and
worthy of acceptance: the
Roman Church knows they cannot go to heaven in
their sin --- they invented Purgatory so they
can work it off after they die! To be
different from them the Protestants invented
Eternal Security and Perseverance of the Saints,
so that they can slough it off at death!
These teachings are contrary to Hebrews
12:14:
"Follow peace with all
men, and holiness, without which no man shall
see the Lord." So the
warning has become a fact, "For the
time will come when they will not endure sound
doctrine; but after their
own lusts shall they heap to
themselves teachers, having itching ears; And
they shall turn away their ears from the
truth.
.
." (2
Timothy 4:3-4)
"I beseech you therefore,
brethren, by the mercies of God, that ye present
your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable
unto God, which is your reasonable service. And
be not conformed to this world: but be
ye transformed. . . that ye
may prove what is that good, and acceptable, and
perfect, will of God." (Romans
12:1-2)
This
scripture teaches consecration, which means
to
make or declare to be sacred; to appropriate for
sacred uses; to set apart or dedicate as
holy.
Polycarp, writing in
110AD, wrote concerning these things in his
letter to the Philippians: "And when Paul was
absent he wrote you letters; if you study them
carefully, you will be able to build yourselves
up in the faith that has been given to you,
'which is the mother of us all', while hope
follows and love for God and Christ and our
neighbor leads the way. For if anyone is
occupied with these, he has fulfilled the
commandment of righteousness, for one who has
love is far from all sin." (3:2,3)
This was ‘The Rule of
Faith’, then so well known, and such an accurate
insight into apostolic teaching on sin as it
comes to us in the Scriptures.
“ . . .
If we love one another, God dwelleth in us, and
His love is perfected in us." "Herein
is our love made perfect, that we may have
boldness in the Day of Judgment: because as He
is, so are we in this world."
(1
John 4:12,17)
There is no eternal life
without knowing God. To know
Him we must abide in Him. To keep
His command-ments and be made perfect in love is
to be like Him while in our flesh in this
world.
All competent Bible scholars know
believing encompasses obedience. If you
say you believe in the Lord and do not obey
Him, your belief
is not a saving faith; it is the kind demons
have. If
we all would mount up with faith and take hold
of the true meaning of Jesus' words, believe the
apostle who recorded them and explains the
Lord's phrases, we would not need to hold to a
doctrine that promotes a false sense of
security.
We would know if we were in Him
according to the scripture.
The eternal security doctrine tells you
that acceptance by the Lord is virtually
unconditional, but John says this is not
so.
Knowing Him is predicated on holy
living.
"He that believeth on the
Son of God hath the witness in himself: he that
believeth not God hath made Him a liar; because
he believeth not the record that God gave of His
Son.
And this is the record, that God hath
given to us eternal life, and this life is in
His Son.
He that hath the Son hath life; and he
that hath not the Son of God hath not
life.
These things have I written unto you that
believe on the name of the Son of God; that ye
may know that ye have eternal life, and that
you may (continue to) believe on the
name of the Son of God." (1
John 5:10-13) The
life is in the Son;
it is in us only if we are in the Son. We
can have, and know we have, this eternal
life
--- if we are abiding in Him, and walking
as He walked --- for
we will have the witness
(evidence) of the Spirit.
The fruit of the Spirit of Christ is
love,
joy, peace, patience, kindness, good ness,
faithfulness, gentleness, and
self-control:
this is our witness.
Abide in the vine and you will produce
its fruit. If
you continue to believe
you need not fear being cut out to
wither, die and be burned, for perfect love
casts out fear.
