Hi to all my Forum Friends,
The article below "Can A Christian Lose Salvation?" from GotQuestions.Org came to me this morning in an e-mail. And, it seems to summarize the question of "eternal security" so well -- that I want to share it with all my Friends. I believe it touches on all the pertinent points of that discussion: "Can a person who is a true Christian really lose or walk away from his/her salvation?" And, the Biblical answer obviously is, "NO."
Keep in mind that when we build a theology, that theology MUST agree with, i.e., not contradict, all of Scripture, all 66 books. Some who want to weaken the Christian faith, or others who want to spend their Christian life always looking over their shoulder from fear that some sin may rob them of their salvation -- will cherry pick specific verses or passages and focus only on those in an attempt to disprove eternal life. But, in doing that, they have to ignore many other Scripture verses/passages.
And, they have to ignore what the word "eternal" in "eternal life" means. "Eternal" means "never ending." The dictionary tells us that "eternal" means: "lasting or existing forever; without end or beginning." So, how can a promised existence which God tells us is eternal(John 6:47)-- not last forever? To deny "eternal security" for those in Christ -- is calling God a liar. I will not do that!
THAT is why it is so important to build our theology upon the full 66 books of Scripture -- and why it is so important for a church to teach expositionally through the Bible, skipping no verses.
When a church teaches topical sermons and Bible studies, those leaders/teachers can pick and choose which topics, i.e, which parts of Scripture they want to accept -- and which parts they want to ignore. That cannot be done when teaching expositionally through Scripture.
One of the most commonly quoted Scripture passages used by non-believers and those in the liberal theology camp who want to disprove the teaching of a Christian believer's "eternal security" is found in Matthew 7:
Matthew 7:21-23, "Not everyone who says to Me, 'Lord, Lord,' shall enter the kingdom of heaven, but he who does the will of My Father in heaven. Many will say to Me in that day, 'Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in Your name, cast out demons in Your name, and done many wonders in Your name?' And then I will declare to them, 'I never knew you; depart from Me, you who practice lawlessness!' "
Let's pause for a moment and consider what Jesus is teaching here, especially what He teaches in verse 23, "And then I will declare to them, 'I never knew you; depart from Me, you who practice lawlessness!' " If Jesus NEVER knew them -- they most definitely were NEVER true Christian believers.
Two Christian groups which I believe do not look at the full 66 books of Scripture, but cherry pick to support their chosen theologies, and are therefore erroneous, yet still Christian -- are Calvinism and Arminianism. Calvinism teaches that only the few called Elect who were chosen before the Creation will go to heaven, and the vast majority called Reprobates who were also chosen before Creation will spend eternity in hell.
That does not represent the God I worship who tells me, "He who believes HAS eternal life" (John 6:47). Calvinists will tell us, "God does not allow the Reprobate to believe." Then, why did He create them? The God I love and worship would NOT create human beings just for the purpose of sending them into eternal suffering.
And, the Arminians tell us that Jesus Christ died to offer eternal life to all people as taught in John 3:16. To that point, I agree with them. But, then they tell us that there are sins which will cause the true believer to lose his/her salvation. They walk through life always afraid they will commit that unforgivable sin which will cast them into hell.
Romans 5:1 tells us, "Therefore, having been justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ." What kind of peace is that, if we have to always be worried about stepping on a "spiritual banana peeling" and falling into hell? To trust in that theology -- one must ignore a lot of Scripture.
GotQuestions.Org tells us of these two theologies:
This is the age-old theological debate between Arminians (those who hold to conditional security) -- and Calvinists (those who hold to what it called “eternal” security or Perseverance of the Saints). Where the Arminian can trot out dozens of biblical passages that point to the believer’s conditional security, the Calvinist can point to an equally large array of biblical passages to support the view of eternal security. . . (http://www.gotquestions.org/conditional-security.html)
With that introduction, let me share with you the GotQuestion.Org article I received this morning:
Question: "Can a Christian lose salvation?"
http://www.gotquestions.org/Ch...-lose-salvation.html
Answer: Before this question is answered, the term “Christian” must be defined. A “Christian” is not a person who has said a prayer, or walked down an aisle, or been raised in a Christian family. While each of these things can be a part of the Christian experience, they are not what “makes” a Christian. A Christian is a person who has, by faith, received and fully trusted in Jesus Christ as the only Savior (John 3:16; Acts 16:31; Ephesians 2:8-9).
So, with this definition in mind, can a Christian lose salvation? Perhaps the best way to answer this crucially important question is to examine what the Bible says occurs at salvation, and to study what losing salvation would therefore entail. Here are a few examples:
A Christian is a new creation. “Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; the old has gone, the new has come!” (2 Corinthians 5:17). This verse speaks of a person becoming an entirely new creature as a result of being “in Christ.” For a Christian to lose salvation, the new creation would have to be canceled and reversed.
A Christian is redeemed. “For you know that it was not with perishable things such as silver or gold that you were redeemed from the empty way of life handed down to you from your forefathers, but with the precious blood of Christ, a lamb without blemish or defect” (1 Peter 1:18-19). The word “redeemed” refers to a purchase being made, a price being paid. For a Christian to lose salvation, God Himself would have to revoke His purchase that He paid for with the precious blood of Christ.
A Christian is justified. “Therefore, since we have been justified through faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ” (Romans 5:1). To “justify” means to “declare righteous.” All those who receive Jesus as Savior are “declared righteous” by God. For a Christian to lose salvation, God would have to go back on His Word and “un-declare” (or deny) what He had previously declared.
A Christian is promised eternal life. “For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life” (John 3:16). Eternal life is a promise of eternity (forever) in heaven with God. God promises, “Believe and you will have eternal life.” For a Christian to lose salvation, eternal life would have to be taken away. If a Christian is promised to live forever, how then can God break this promise by taking away eternal life?
A Christian is guaranteed glorification. “And those he predestined, he also called; those he called, he also justified; those he justified, he also glorified” (Romans 8:30). As we learned in Romans 5:1, justification is declared at the moment of faith. According to Romans 8:30, glorification is guaranteed for all those whom God justifies. Glorification refers to a Christian receiving a perfect resurrection body in heaven. If a Christian can lose salvation -- then Romans 8:30 is in error, because God could not guarantee glorification for all those whom He predestines, calls, and justifies.
Many more illustrations of what occurs at salvation could be shared. Even these few make it abundantly clear that a Christian cannot lose salvation. Most, if not all, of what the Bible says happens to us when we receive Jesus Christ as Savior would be invalidated if salvation could be lost.
Salvation cannot be reversed. A Christian cannot be un-newly created. Redemption cannot be undone. Eternal life cannot be lost and still be considered eternal. If a Christian can lose salvation, God would have to go back on His Word and change His mind -- two things that Scripture tells us God never does.
The most frequent objections to the belief that a Christian cannot lose salvation are (1) What about those who are Christians and continually live an immoral lifestyle? and (2) What about those who are Christians, but later reject the faith and deny Christ?
The problem with these two objections is the phrase “who are Christians.” The Bible declares that a true Christian will not live a continually immoral lifestyle (1 John 3:6). The Bible declares that anyone who departs the faith is demonstrating that he never truly was a Christian (1 John 2:19). Therefore, neither objection is valid. Christians do not continually live immoral lifestyles, nor do they reject the faith and deny Christ. Such actions are proof that they were never redeemed.
No, a Christian cannot lose salvation. Nothing can separate a Christian from God’s love (Romans 8:38-39). Nothing can remove a Christian from God’s hand (John 10:28-29). God is both willing and able to guarantee and maintain the salvation He has given us. Jude 24-25, “To Him who is able to keep you from falling and to present you before His glorious presence without fault and with great joy -- to the only God our Savior be glory, majesty, power, and authority, through Jesus Christ our Lord, before all ages, now and forevermore! Amen.”
Recommended Resources: "Eternal Security" by Charles Stanley
Other recommended readings on this subject are found at:
What is conditional security? -- http://www.gotquestions.org/conditional-security.html
If our salvation is eternally secure, why does the Bible warn so strongly against apostasy? -- http://www.gotquestions.org/apostasy-salvation.html
Is eternal security a "license" to sin? -- http://www.gotquestions.org/license-sin.html
Once saved always saved? -- http://www.gotquestions.org/on...ed-always-saved.html
Can a Christian "give back" salvation? -- http://www.gotquestions.org/give-back-salvation.html
My Friend, if you are a Christian believer, if you have by grace through faith in Jesus Christ (Ephesians 2:8) believed and received His "paid in full" gift of eternal life -- YOU are in the family of God.
And, when God adopts you -- NO ONE can snatch you out of His family or out of His hands (John 10:28-29). Therefore, you CAN have peace with God through Jesus Christ (Romans 5:1) for "Therefore there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus" (Romans 8:1). So, have a nice day and rest in our Lord, for He is our Rest.
God bless, have a wonderful, blessed day,
Bill