These things I have written to you who believe in the name of the Son of God, that you may know that you have eternal life, and that you may continue to believe in the name of the Son of God. Now this is the confidence that we have in Him, that if we ask anything according to His will, He hears us. And if we know that He hears us, whatever we ask, we know that we have the petitions that we have asked of Him. (1 John 5:13-15)

Eternal Security

God so loved the world He sent His only begotten Son to die for all men, redeeming them by His blood. The price of salvation is measured in the act of grace, as Jesus gave His life to save man from the wrath of God. Jesus manifested the glory of the Father through His teachings and miracles, but men rejected Him. The Jews were the chosen of the God who refused to accept the man from Nazareth as God. Their lineage with Abraham did not guarantee them salvation. Throughout the teaching of Jesus, He commanded men to obey the word of the Father and that unless a man did the will of the Father, they could not be saved.

Salvation has always been conditional. Jesus came to bring the power of grace to the Jews, and they rejected Him. The salvation for the Jew could only be found in believing Jesus was the Christ, the Son of the Living God. After the feeding of the five thousand, many believers of Jesus turned and walked no more with Him. They had believed He was the longed-for Messiah, but when Jesus taught things they did not like, they rejected Him, showing that it was possible to be a believer and turn away from grace.

The doctrine of “Eternal Security” is also known as “Once Saved, Always Saved.” This doctrine is how John the Baptist referred to the Pharisees who came to his baptism when he reminded the Jewish leaders that to believe since they were the seed of Abraham, they had special privileges with God was false. When men began to teach original sin, a natural outgrowth of the false doctrine established the need for man never to lose his salvation, ergo, the believer’s eternal security. Is it possible to live in such a manner it is impossible to lose the salvation found in Christ? Does a believer have the confidence that no matter how they live, God will save them? What are the consequences of eternal security?

There are many examples of God’s faithful people being rejected by the Lord because they refused to obey Him. The nation of Israel is a central theme in the Old Testament. Isaiah described Israel as a vineyard planted by the Lord to produce the choicest grapes (Isaiah 5). God expected the vineyard to bring forth good grapes, but it brought forth wild grapes. Israel turned away from the grace of God. Many disciples of Jesus turned away from Him. In the early church, saints of God who enjoyed the grace of eternal life turned their backs on Jesus. Ananias and Sapphira (Acts 5) were children of God, bought with the blood of Jesus. Because they lied to the Holy Spirit, they were struck dead as an example of God’s wrath upon disobedience.

Paul listed the names of several Christians who turned away from God’s love and mercy. Demas forsook Paul, “having loved this present world” (2 Timothy 4:10). Hymenaeus and Alexander suffered spiritual shipwreck whom Paul “delivered to Satan that they may learn not to blaspheme” (1 Timothy 1:20). Hymenaeus is mentioned again with Philetus in 2 Timothy 3:17-18 whom Paul said had strayed concerning the truth, saying the resurrection is already past. These men had caused others to have their faith overthrown. Paul warned the Ephesian elders of those who would rise up among them speaking perverse things (Acts 20:29-30). Jesus called the church at Sardis a “dead church.” Still, there were a “few names even in Sardis who have not defiled their garments, and they shall walk with [Him] in white, for they are worthy” (Revelation 3:4). Paul said there was a Christian at the church in Corinth who was guilty of sexual immorality that was not even found among the Gentiles (1 Corinthians 5).

The Bible never teaches the unconditional security of the believer as once saved, always saved. When men suggest there is nothing a person can do to lose his salvation, they deny the teachings of the Holy Spirit. Those in Jesus Christ are not condemned (Romans 8:1) as long as they are in Christ. The Hebrew writer clearly shows the possibility of those “were once enlightened, and have tasted the heavenly gift, and have become partakers of the Holy Spirit, and have tasted the good word of God and the powers of the age to come” (Hebrews 6:4-5) to fall away and crucify Jesus again (Hebrews 6:6). In Hebrews 10:26-31, a child of God can sin willfully and trample underfoot the Son of God. Peter described those who had escaped the pollution of the world and become entangled in sin again to their destruction (2 Peter 2:18-22).

Kyle Pope writes, “The Bible makes it clear that a person can obey the gospel and then sin in such a way as to be lost and separated from God once again. There is security that rests in Christ, but this security is conditioned upon abiding in Christ and in His word. To teach otherwise is to diminish the necessity of Christ’s death and mock the very justice of God.” (Ready To Give A Defense, p 43)