There is a lot of confusion today regarding the doctrine of the 'security of the believer.' There are a great number of believers who think that they can possibly lose their salvation. I can't think of anything more detrimental to a Christian's growth, than this error. The Bible is very clear on this subject of assurance of salvation. The best defense against any doctrinal error is the Word of God itself. What I will do in this paper is give an exposition on some of the verses I believe will help prove that once a believer is saved he or she will always be saved, both now and for eternity.
This paper is written at the request of one of my lovely granddaughter, Julie. The verses I will use will not necessarily be in sequence, as I will use them as I remember them.
1. John 3:16, "For God so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in Him should not perish, but have everlasting life."
"For God so loved the world."
Jesus is having a conversation with Nicodemus answering some of his questions. The sixteenth verse is one of the most well known verses in all Christendom. Jesus begins by saying that God the Father so loved the world. There is much confusion about this first phrase. The group that believe in the brotherhood of man and the Fatherhood of God take this phrase as to mean that God loves all mankind equally. I will tell you that this is far from what Jesus Christ is saying. What the Lord is saying to Nicodemus is, the offer of salvation is open to all, the 'whosoever' later in the verse. God loves mankind as objects of His creative act, with a love that is concerned that it is not His will that they perish. God loves His children with a divine love as a Father loves His children. In the first chapter of John's Gospel the twelfth verse John explains that all who believe in Christ have the authority to be a child of God, "But as many as received Him, to them gave He power (authority) to become the [children] of God even to them that believe on His name." The verse says that the moment a person believes on Christ, he or she becomes a child of God. That very moment, not after you die, but you become a child of God the very instant you believe. God so loved the world as potential children.
"That He gave His only begotten Son."
The demonstration of God's love is in the giving of His only begotten Son. This supreme sacrifice is made in such simple terms that even a child can understand them. God gave His Son so that He might redeem mankind. All a person has to do is believe that Christ did in fact die for them.
"That whosoever believeth in Him."
Here is the universal 'whosoever.' God did not offer His Son just for the Jews, but for all mankind. How very simple is this, this 'whosoever' includes you and me.
"Should not perish."
When a man or woman goes to hell, it's his or her choice. Everyone has an equal opportunity to believe. Unbelief is a choice as certain as belief is a choice.
"But have everlasting life."
Result: Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ and you will be saved, reject the Lord Jesus Christ and you will be damned (John 3:18). Every spirit will live forever, either in heaven or in hell, it's our own choice.
2. John 3:36, "He that believeth on the Son hath everlasting life; and he that believeth not the Son shall not see life, but the wrath of God abideth on him."
Everlasting life is a present possession, not just a hope for the future. We have everlasting life now. Our bodies will die, but our spirits will live forever. God doesn't save us now and then leave it up to our own strength to get us to heaven. Think about the term 'everlasting life.' God gives us everlasting life, and then we lose it; how is this everlasting life?
3. 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."
Christ characterizes Himself as the Good Shepherd in this portion of John's Gospel account. He is assuring His followers that they are safe in His care. Christ went to the cross to secure our salvation, and it is a sure thing that He and He alone will keep us safe and sure in our salvation. Christ did not save us by his wonderful grace, and then turn us over to our own works.
4. 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."
If we could lose our salvation, there would be something we could do to secure it and not lose it. Our salvation is strictly a grace act of God on our behalf, and we could not do a thing to keep it. Thank God He keeps me, for if I had to keep myself, I would have been lost years ago.
5. Colossians 3:3, "For ye are dead, and your life is hid with Christ in God."
Here the apostle Paul is telling the church at Colossi that their position in Christ is a spiritual position, and that it is as secure as it ever could be. This is a positional truth Paul is ex-pounding; he is telling the believers that their spiritual lives are hid with Christ in God. How could we be any more secure than this?
6. Romans 8:35,38,39, "What shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or peril, or sword? For I am persuaded that neither death, nor angels, nor principalities, nor powers, nor things present, nor things to come, 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."
Here in this passage Paul is demonstrating the vastness of God's love for every believer. Once we become children of God it is impossible not to remain children. Once you believe something, you can't in all honesty; say you no longer believe it. Our salvation is based on what we believe and not what we do. God saves us based on Christ's work on the cross, and He keeps us safe based on Christ's work on the cross.
7. I John 5:10-13, "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 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 ye may believe on the name of the Son of God."
Here John is comforting the believers throughout Asia Minor that their salvation is secure in Christ. Everything he wrote in his first epistle was designed to teach them eternal security. I find it interesting that John does not say, if any man believes and is baptized, or if any man believes and is a member of a church, or if any man believes and keeps the ten commandments, or if any man believes and doesn't sin, or if any man believes and prays daily, or if any man believes and gives to charities he has life; no! What he does say is that a person must believe on the Son of God to receive eternal life, no more, no less. It is faith plus nothing that places us into the family of God. If we are to receive a reward from the Father we will have to follow Christ and His teachings and study God's Word to know what these things are. This is a subject for another paper. I hope I have helped you Julie. Keep studying and make Grandma and Grandpa proud.
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