Eternal Security
You CANNOT lose your salvation!
by David J. Stewart
Eternal Security is the Biblical doctrine that a believer CANNOT lose salvation in Christ Jesus. I recently spoke with a Church of Christ minister who believed that a Christian could LOSE their salvation by failing to maintain a "relationship" with God. Of course, that is a lie of the Devil. The Charismatic are also plagued with this false belief that a person can lose their salvation. The Bible teaches, If Saved, Always Saved.
Salvation is By Faith Alone in Jesus; and Not Works
If mankind has nothing to do with saving himself, then why would God require men to do something to maintain it? Salvation is of God; not men. Paul said to "work out your own salvation" in Philippians 2:12; the Bible doesn't say to work out GOD'S SALVATION. God saves a person, pulling them out of the fires of Hell; but now that person needs to be recycled. It is up to us whether we yield to the Holy Spirit or not in our daily life, to search and obey the Scriptures. However, salvation and discipleship are two separate things entirely. Whether or not a believer lives a holy life has nothing to do with the "free gift" (Romans 5:15) of salvation. Those who say otherwise are adding works to grace, which the Bible condemns (Romans 11:6). Salvation cannot be by God's grace AND man's self-righteous works. Revelation 22:17 states: "...And let him that is athirst come. And whosoever will, let him take the water of life freely."
We are clearly taught from God's Word that works are NOT essential to our salvation. Titus 3:5 states... "Not by works of righteousness which we have done, but according to his mercy he saved us..." And again in Ephesians 2:8,9 we are told, "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." We are all Hell-deserving sinners! We do NOT have anything to do with salvation except to receive God's free gift by FAITH. Salvation is receiving; NOT giving. Romans 4:5 reads, "But to him that worketh not, but believeth on him that justifieth the ungodly, his faith is counted for righteousness." This is how Abraham was saved in the Old Testament, i.e., his faith was COUNTED for righteousness (Genesis 15:6). Acts 10:43 teaches that Old Testament sinners were saved exactly as they are today... "To him give all the prophets witness, that through his name whosoever believeth in him shall receive remission of sins."
If I cannot do good works to get saved, then how can I do bad works to be unsaved?
Eternal life is a gift, paid for by Jesus precious, redeeming, literal, physical blood (1st Peter 1:18,19; Hebrews 9:12; Revelation 1:5). Shame on those heretics, such as Dan Corner, who corrupt the simplicity that is in Christ.
There is a perverted theology today that mixes faith in Christ with surrendering one's life to God in obedience. This false doctrine is called "Lordship Salvation" and it is evil. The very idea that one's lifestyle is a part of saving faith is damnable heresy. Opponents of Eternal Security all follow Lordship Salvation, and they all use the corrupted New International Version.
Perhaps you ask, what if a believer loses faith? A believer certainly may become discouraged, or falter in their faith for a time. John the Baptist became discouraged and wavered in his faith, even questioning if Jesus were the Christ (Matthew 11:3); yet, Jesus called John the greatest born amongst women (Matthew 11:3,11). Peter denied that he knew Christ, curding the name of Jesus; but the Holy Spirit convicted him and Peter later repented. However, none of these believers LOST their salvation and there's not one shred of Biblical evidence to show otherwise.
If you are a parent, your child didn't make a commitment to become your child; but rather, they were born to become your child. Likewise, we are born-again to become God's child. Just as a child has absolutely NOTHING to do with his or her own birth, neither does the Christian have anything to do with their spiritual birth. It is completely of God. Our part is done the moment we believe, receiving Jesus as the Christ, the Son of God. John 1:12, “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.”
If you don't believe the Bible, you can either get right or die wrong.
False Christians Never Saved to Begin With
A born-again believer does NOT convert to the Mormon faith or become an atheist. When a man claims that he "used to be a Christian," but now has become a Jehovah's Witness, he's a liar. He never was a Christian to begin with. He may have once had the philosophy of Christianity, or the organization of Christianity; but he never had genuine Christianity, which is found by faith in Jesus Christ alone.
You don't trust Christ one day and then forsake him the next, it doesn't work that way. A child of God will always be a child of God. If you don't have Jesus Christ today, it is ONLY because you never really trusted Him at all. In contrast to the other Apostles, Judas was a known unrepentant thief (John 12:6). We have no Scriptural reason to believe that Judas was ever a believer. This is why the Bible warns us to make sure we are saved—"Examine yourselves, whether ye be in the faith..." (2nd Corinthians 13:5). Most of America's churchgoers are still lost and on their way to Hell.
They have religion; but not Jesus Christ. They have been lied to by false prophets like Dan Corner, Ray Comfort and John MacArthur to think that they must live lives of obedience, holiness and faithfulness to be saved. They are self-righteous. Are you really a Christian? Churches today are filled with people who are not saved. Most people today have churchianity without Christianity. Please make certain you have been born-again. You need HIS RIGHTEOUSNESS! The road to Hell is paved with good intentions (Proverb 14:12; 2nd Corinthians 11:13,14). Please don't miss the gift of God.
Genuine Believers Cannot Lose God's Salvation
John 5:24 states: "Verily, verily, I say unto you, He that heareth my word, and believeth on him that sent me, hath everlasting life, and shall not come into condemnation; but is passed from death unto life."
If you're a believer on Jesus Christ, then you can NEVER lose your salvation. Jesus said in 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." Did you read that? We shall NEVER perish, and NO MAN can affect our salvation. Someone may pray to God for you to "burn in Hell" (a popular saying in society today); but that simply cannot happen to a believer. You choose your own destiny based upon your acceptance (or denial) of Jesus Christ as your personal Savior. Did you know that God CANNOT lie? According to Titus 1:2 God cannot lie! Well, God promised in Romans 10:13 to save anyone who trusts on Jesus' name... "For whosoever shall call [rely] upon the name of the Lord shall be saved" (Romans 10:13).
We are wonderfully reassured in 1st John 5:13 that we can KNOW that we are eternally secure: "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."
—1st John 5:13
I love this verse!... that we may "KNOW," not think, but KNOW that we have eternal life. How could anyone be so foolish as to think that a person could lose "eternal life?" If you can lose it, then is it eternal? No! When God promises us eternal life, that is exactly what He means. Jesus didn't say, "I give unto them temporal life"; no rather, He said, "I give unto them eternal life (John 10:28)." I am eternally secure in Jesus' arms...
"The eternal God is thy refuge, and underneath are the everlasting arms..." —Deuteronomy 33:27
Don't tell me I can lose my salvation! There is NO such teaching in the Bible!
You cannot lose your salvation, period. You can lose fellowship with God and the joy of one's salvation, buy you cannot lose your salvation. Can a son no longer be a son? Of course not! You can disown Him (which I think is horrible and unscriptural), but he's still your son. No matter what your son does, he's still your son. The same is true with our Heavenly Father. Jesus never forsakes us...
"Let your conversation be without covetousness; and be content with such things as ye have: for he hath said, I will never leave thee, nor forsake thee." —Hebrews 13:5
God cannot lie! (Titus 1:2). As a matter of fact, the Bible is speaking of Eternal Security when It tells us that God cannot lie... "In hope of eternal life, which God, that cannot lie, promised before the world began" (Titus 1:2). What a loving God! You can speak to people from many different religions and you'll discover a pervading sense of fear and uncertainty. They don't have the precious promises which the Bible offers to the Christian believer.
No wonder Jesus said:
"Come unto me, all ye that labour and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest." —Matthew 11:28
False religion enslaves people, placing souls into chains of bondage which are not easily broken. Oh don't be so foolish to believe their lies! You can KNOW that you are saved certain. You must realize that salvation is completely of God; NOT man in any way. Our faith is merely a key which unlocks God's saving grace. Salvation is a supernatural act of God in response to our faith. I did not save myself—Jesus saved me. If I did nothing to earn salvation, then how can I do something bad to lose it? Jesus paid a debt He did not owe, because we owed a debt we could not pay. Eternal life is the free gift of God, available ONLY through faith in Jesus Christ (Acts 4:10-12; John 14:6).
The Bible clearly teaches that eternal life is a gift. As a matter of FACT, the Bible even calls our salvation a FREE GIFT.