Thoughts On Eternal Security
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From Faith Pulpit, Spring 2016. Used by permission.
It has been twenty-four years since the topic of eternal security was last addressed in the Faith Pulpit. In the February 1992 issue Dr. Myron Houghton presented the four major views on security and then explained how Romans 8:28–30 supports eternal security. In this issue Dr. Alan Cole, professor of Bible and theology at Faith Baptist Bible College, extends the discussion by presenting additional evidence to support the view that genuine believers cannot lose their salvation.
I appreciate the article Dr. Myron Houghton wrote in 1992 about eternal security, and I completely agree with his position. The article provides valuable help to Christians regarding this important issue. Since Dr. Houghton’s article examined Romans 8:28–30, I want to explore several other passages that support eternal security.
Psalm 51:12
The context of this psalm is David’s repentance for his sin with Bathsheba. He was guilty of a number of sins, including murder and adultery. He confessed in verses 1–4 that he was a sinner. He used several designations for sin such as “transgressions” (v. 1), “iniquity” and “sin” (v. 2), and “evil” (v. 4). In verse 5 David stated that he was a sinner even before birth. In verses 7–12 he requested to be “purged” (v. 7) and to have his sins “blotted out” (v. 9). In verse 12 he asked God to reinstate the joy of salvation that once was his.
It is noteworthy that David requested to have his joy returned but not his salvation. As terrible as David’s sins were—and they were terrible—he did not request to be “resaved.” In verse 11 David requested that he not lose the special anointing of the Holy Spirit that was given to a king or leader of the theocratic kingdom. This ministry of the Holy Spirit does not refer to salvation but to an empowerment that enables the leader to guide and direct the kingdom of Israel. When David was anointed to be king, the “Spirit of the Lord came upon David from that day forward” (1 Sam. 16:13). David had witnessed Saul lose this anointing (1 Sam. 16:14), and David was afraid of the same thing happening to him. In Psalm 51:12 David pleaded with God that he have his joy restored. He was not asking to be saved once again.
John 6:39, 40
In John 6:39 Christ stated, “This is the will of the Father who sent Me, that of all He has given Me I should lose nothing, but should raise it up at the last day.” Jesus here affirmed that He will not lose those who have been given to Him by the Father. In other words, He will not lose to condemnation, or hell, those who have received Him as their Savior. If individuals have been given to Christ through salvation, then they will be resurrected. Just as their resurrection is secure, so also is their salvation.
John 10:28, 29
In John 10:28 Jesus declared, “And I give them eternal life, and they shall never perish; neither shall anyone snatch them out of My hand.” The expression “never perish” is a strong term. The word “never” is a double negative in Greek (ou ma), showing the strongest denial. This expression then denies the possibility of an individual ever losing his or her salvation. Christ also illustrated the security of the believer by stating that “neither shall anyone snatch them out of My hand.” The believer is kept safe in the hand of the Almighty Savior.
In verse 29 Christ further emphasized this point by stating that the believer is in the hand of God the Father Who “is greater than all.” There is no one strong enough to steal a believer from the Father. At different times I have heard the argument that although one cannot snatch another from God’s hand, we can snatch ourselves from God’s hand. The double negative, however, contradicts such a possibility. Furthermore, Christ denies that anyone, including us, can be snatched from God’s hand. A finite person cannot overpower the infinite God. Genuine believers are safe in the hands of God the Father and God the Son.
Romans 8:35–39
In Romans 8:35 the Apostle Paul asked the following question: “Who shall separate us from the love of Christ?” For the Christian to be separated from the love of Christ would mean that the genuine believer had lost his or her salvation. In the rest of verse 35 Paul listed several misfortunes that might indicate one has lost his salvation. In verse 37 Paul denied that these events can cause one to be separated from the love of Christ. In verses 38 and 39 Paul further denied possibilities that might cause one to think that he or she is outside the love of Christ. Paul strongly contested that one cannot be separated from the love of Christ. In other words, one cannot lose his or her salvation.
Philippians 1:6
Paul expressed in Philippians 1:6 a strong indication of a believer’s security. “Being confident of this very thing, that He who has begun a good work in you will complete it until the day of Jesus Christ.” Christ will continue the work of sanctification which He has begun in Christians at the point of salvation until the Day of Christ, which is the rapture. For this work of sanctification to continue, Christ must keep the believer saved. If a person is genuinely saved (initial sanctification—“begun a good work in you”), he will remain saved throughout his life until he reaches final sanctification at the rapture (“will complete it until the day of Jesus Christ”).
1 Peter 1:5
Peter declared in this verse that we are “kept by the power of God.” The point is not that a believer must keep himself or herself saved. The point is that it is God who keeps the individual saved. One must ask if God has enough power to do this work. The obvious answer is “yes.” He is all powerful. For a person to be able to lose his or her salvation is to affirm that finite sin can overcome an infinite God. This kind of affirmation is incorrect.
These additional references help support the position that a genuine believer cannot lose his or her salvation. Once an individual truly trusts Christ, he or she is secure in Christ. There is not a sin that can “unjustify” one who has been justified. A person cannot be plucked from God’s hand or Christ’s hand, and a person cannot be separated from the love of Christ.
Conflicting Situations
When I have discussed this issue with my students, I have been asked about situations in which people claim to be saved but their actions deny what they claim to be true. How do we understand cases like these?
First, we must remember that we cannot see into a person’s heart. Only God knows for sure the spiritual condition of the individual.
Second, we should remember that this type of individual is in one of two conditions. He or she is either lost and facing God’s eternal condemnation (John 3:18), or the individual is living a fleshly lifestyle and is facing God’s discipline (Heb. 12:7–11). Neither of these situations is a place where a Spirit-filled Christian should want to be.
Third, we should treat the individuals where they are at the moment. If a person is acting as if he or she is unsaved, then that is how we should regard them. In dealing with the Pharisees, John the Baptist called on them to “bear fruits worthy of repentance” (Matt. 3:8). Two verses later he warned them that “every tree which does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire” (Matt. 3:10). Further, Christ stated that we can discern false prophets by their work (Matt. 7:15–19). “Therefore by their fruits you will know them” (Matt. 7:20).
Fourth, we should remember that not everyone who claims to be saved is actually saved. Christ warned that there are individuals who will claim to be saved, but in reality they are not (Matt. 7:21–23). In the judgment of the sheep and goats, Christ made a similar statement (Matt. 25:31–46).
These reminders are not cited in order to set ourselves up as judges of another person’s salvation. We should make comments such as these to another individual only after much prayer and with love, grace, and tact. For genuine believers, passages such as the ones discussed here provide great comfort in the confidence that they have eternal security.
Alan Cole Bio
Alan Cole is the chair of the Bible and Theology Division of Faith Baptist Bible College in Ankeny, Iowa. Dr. Cole has degrees from Bob Jones University, Detroit Baptist Theological Seminary, and Central Baptist Theological Seminary. Prior to joining the Faith faculty in 1999, Dr. Cole taught at Pillsbury Baptist Bible College. Alan and his wife Nancy (a Faith alum) have two sons and are active members of Community Baptist Church in Ankeny.
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Don and Mark: I understand how a surface reading of Romans 4:5 (“And to the one who does not work but believes in him who justifies the ungodly, his faith is counted as righteousness”), in isolation, would seem to be a rebuttal to my point. But that is begging the question (I think this is the proper use of the phrase, Aaron!): where does the ability/decision to believe (in Him) come from? where does the ability/decision to exercise that faith come from? In both the Nazarene and (non-Calvinist) Baptist circles, the standard response is that it must come from the individual, because if it comes from God that makes the individual passive or violates the individual’s free will. Alternatively, there is an acknowledgment that the faith itself also comes from God, but there is still a role for the individual to decide or to act on the gift of faith from God — which others decline to exercise even though the gift of faith is available to them too. Sooner or later, it still comes back to the belief that to some extent, great or small, the individual plays a role in the decision to believe/exercise faith. The problem is that that decision distinguishes him/her from those who refuse/fail to make the same (right) decision. Nazarenes and Baptist are loathe to label that difference — they generally won’t agree that it reflects a difference in intelligence (obviously there are believers of all intelligence levels); they will strenuously avoid identifying the difference as spiritual sensitivity or better character, morals, etc., because they see the “works” problem looming if they explain it that way. Generally, their ultimate response is something along the lines of “I just believed and that other person didn’t, but I’m not better than them.” To me, it’s plain that if one person believes and another does not, and if God is not solely responsible for the difference, then the difference has to be attributable to something meritorious in the believer — call it a disposition, “just a decision,” or whatever. Monergism/Calvinism (based on scripture) solves (or moots) that problem. Any other approach doesn’t.
Calvinists frequently use the argument that people who think they believed in Jesus think they are better than others. Well if you are inclined to argue that way, HOW MUCH MORE ARROGANCE would you feel if you think God loved you, but not the other guy? God PICKED ME. Wow, talk about potential for arrogance.
Did that prove anything? No.
I’ll stick with a clear reading of Scripture, which never says faith is a work.
How do I know? What about 1 Corinthians 3:11-15. When Paul talks about people’s works being burned, even if they are all burned up, they are still saved! Faith is not a work.
Matthew 3:2 John said “Repent ye: for the kingdom of heaven is at hand.”
Matthew 4:17 Jesus said “Repent: for the kingdom of heaven is at hand.”
I don’t see Jesus saying “wait to be regenerated, then you can repent and believe…”
You said “faith = works” (citing an inspired BJU prof, how much higher authority can there be?)
I respond with a verse that clearly says “faith does not equal works”
you respond by sidestepping the passage with the tired old argument that faith is not faith, it’s that special zap you get from God, so that he will save you by his own faith instead of your own, because the other way around would be, you know, works…
I could respond back with Rm 4.5 again and ask you to do a grammatical analysis, identifying subjects and objects, but no doubt you would cite some higher authority and deny the plain word of God yet again.
so I’ll just get off the merry go round and leave you to go on your merry way. Just one last thought, however. It is way too easy to dismiss the scriptures by calling it’s plain meaning “superficial”
[dmyers]Don and Mark: I understand how a surface reading of Romans 4:5 (“And to the one who does not work but believes in him who justifies the ungodly, his faith is counted as righteousness”), in isolation, would seem to be a rebuttal to my point. But that is begging the question (I think this is the proper use of the phrase, Aaron!): where does the ability/decision to believe (in Him) come from? where does the ability/decision to exercise that faith come from? In both the Nazarene and (non-Calvinist) Baptist circles, the standard response is that it must come from the individual, because if it comes from God that makes the individual passive or violates the individual’s free will. Alternatively, there is an acknowledgment that the faith itself also comes from God, but there is still a role for the individual to decide or to act on the gift of faith from God — which others decline to exercise even though the gift of faith is available to them too. Sooner or later, it still comes back to the belief that to some extent, great or small, the individual plays a role in the decision to believe/exercise faith. The problem is that that decision distinguishes him/her from those who refuse/fail to make the same (right) decision. Nazarenes and Baptist are loathe to label that difference — they generally won’t agree that it reflects a difference in intelligence (obviously there are believers of all intelligence levels); they will strenuously avoid identifying the difference as spiritual sensitivity or better character, morals, etc., because they see the “works” problem looming if they explain it that way. Generally, their ultimate response is something along the lines of “I just believed and that other person didn’t, but I’m not better than them.” To me, it’s plain that if one person believes and another does not, and if God is not solely responsible for the difference, then the difference has to be attributable to something meritorious in the believer — call it a disposition, “just a decision,” or whatever. Monergism/Calvinism (based on scripture) solves (or moots) that problem. Any other approach doesn’t.
Maranatha!
Don Johnson
Jer 33.3
“But you do not believe because you are not of my sheep.” (John 10:20)
G. N. Barkman
[G. N. Barkman]“But you do not believe because you are not of my sheep.” (John 10:20)
Greg, is that verse saying “you cannot believe” or “you are not believing”?
Maranatha!
Don Johnson
Jer 33.3
Don, I’m not sure I understand your point. If one does not believe “because he is not one of Christ’s sheep,” then both “do not” and “cannot” are true.
G. N. Barkman
ἀλλ᾽ ὑμεῖς οὐ πιστεύετε· οὐ γάρ ἐστε ἐκ τῶν προβάτων τῶν ἐμῶν, καθὼς εἶπον ὑμῖν
- “You are not believing” is in the present tense and the active voice. This means the recepients are doing the action of the verb, and they’re doing it in a continuous manner. Their unbelief is a present, ongoing state of affairs that they’re doing
- The conjunction γάρ is causal (“because”), and it explains the reason for this unbelief. Every major translation understands the conjunction to be causal (e.g. KJV, NKJV, ESV, NASB, NET, etc.)
Therefore, the reason why they do not believe in Jesus is because they are not of His sheep. In a word, unconditional, single election to salvation is the only way a person will believe in Jesus and His Gospel.
Tyler is a pastor in Olympia, WA and works in State government.
Election is not the same thing as regeneration preceding salvation, or faith being a work.
Also, just because an conjunction is grammatically causal does not mean it is the ULTIMATE cause in a theological sense that you intend it to be.
Jesus was sent to the lost sheep of the house of Israel (Matthew 15:24). The sheep referenced in John 10 are the Jews who have believed on Jesus.
“And other sheep I have, which are not of this fold: them also I must bring, and they shall hear my voice; and there shall be one fold, and one shepherd.” (John 10:16)
The other sheep could be Gentiles, but most likely are Jews who were not residing in Israel at that time. Gentiles were referred to as dogs in the Gospels (Matthew 15:26).
“Jesus answered them, I told you, and ye believed not: the works that I do in my Father’s name, they bear witness of me. But ye believe not, because ye are not of my sheep, as I said unto you.” (John 10:25-26)
The Jews who did not believe on Jesus are not of His sheep. They must believe to become His sheep.
“If I do not the works of my Father, believe me not. But if I do, though ye believe not me, believe the works: that ye may know, and believe, that the Father is in me, and I in him.” (John 10:37-38)
Note Jesus is extending an invitation to the Jews who are not His sheep to believe.
Wow. What a convoluted way to take a clear statement by Christ, and turn it on its head.
“You do not believe because you are not of my sheep” cannot mean, “You are not of my sheep because you do not believe.” These are complete opposites. Jesus does not say that you believe to become one of His sheep. He says that you do not believe because you are not one of His sheep. If you believe, it is because you are one of His sheep. If you do not believe, it is because you are not one of His sheep.
G. N. Barkman
[G. N. Barkman]Wow. What a convoluted way to take a clear statement by Christ, and turn it on its head.
“You do not believe because you are not of my sheep” cannot mean, “You are not of my sheep because you do not believe.” These are complete opposites. Jesus does not say that you believe to become one of His sheep. He says that you do not believe because you are not one of His sheep. If you believe, it is because you are one of His sheep. If you do not believe, it is because you are not one of His sheep.
/quote]
Then why does He extend an invitation in verses 37 and 38?
The Scripture teaches that Christ’s lost sheep are brought to faith by the preaching of the gospel, which is applied by the Holy Spirit.
There is no contradiction here. The Bible has many invitations to believe the word of God. Those who are Christ’s sheep believe, but they have to have a message proclaimed to have something to believe. This is how God has chosen to identify and draw His sheep unto Himself.
The fact that there is an invitation in verse 38 does not cancel the clear meaning of verse 26 that the reason people do not believe is because they are not of His sheep.
G. N. Barkman
You wrote:
Also, just because an conjunction is grammatically causal does not mean it is the ULTIMATE cause in a theological sense that you intend it to be.
You’re quite right. In order to prove unconditional, single election to salvation, I’d have to a whole lot more work than briefly examine one sentence! This is the difference between cookbook proof-texting and biblical theology.
But, I will say that the single verse of Jn 10:26 does teach that the reason why a person does not believe is because they do not belong to Christ. The greater significance this statement has in a comprehensive soteriology is another story!
You are also right to point out that the discussion on whether regeneration precedes faith is entirely different from a discussion about election to salvation.
Tyler is a pastor in Olympia, WA and works in State government.
[G. N. Barkman]The Scripture teaches that Christ’s lost sheep are brought to faith by the preaching of the gospel, which is applied by the Holy Spirit.
There is no contradiction here. The Bible has many invitations to believe the word of God. Those who are Christ’s sheep believe, but they have to have a message proclaimed to have something to believe. This is how God has chosen to identify and draw His sheep unto Himself.
The fact that there is an invitation in verse 38 does not cancel the clear meaning of verse 26 that the reason people do not believe is because they are not of His sheep.
The passage is dealing with God’s dealing with His chosen nation Israel. The church is not in view here. The flock are those Jews whom the Father gave to the Son; those that believed. God desired for all to come to Him.
They resisted the Father
“ I have spread out my hands all the day unto a rebellious people, which walketh in a way that was not good, after their own thoughts; A people that provoketh me to anger continually to my face; that sacrificeth in gardens, and burneth incense upon altars of brick” (Isaiah 65:2-3)
They resisted the Son
“O Jerusalem, Jerusalem, thou that killest the prophets, and stonest them which are sent unto thee, how often would I have gathered thy children together, even as a hen gathereth her chickens under her wings, and ye would not!” (Matthew 23: 37)
They resisted the Holy Spirit
“Ye stiffnecked and uncircumcised in heart and ears, ye do always resist the Holy Ghost: as your fathers did, so do ye.” (Acts 7:51)
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