Eternal Security

The doctrine of eternal security is not as difficult as it has been made out to be. At the heart of the matter is the question, "Once I become a Christian is it possible for me to fall away from God and lose my salvation?" Those who would answer "no" to this question usually don't know how this thinking ever even came about. Briefly, the doctrine of eternal security is rooted deeply in Calvinism. The five key beliefs of Calvinism are:

Total Depravity- man is born completely dead in sin and is powerless to even respond to God.

Unconditional Election- God chooses those whom he wishes to pardon by the blood of Christ and those whom he chooses not to forgive.

Limited Atonement- Christ's blood was only shed for those whom God chose for salvation.

Irresistable Grace- Since God has called and chosen certain people to receive His grace it is impossible for them to refuse Him.

Perseverance of the Saints- Since God has chosen certain individuals for salvation and forgiven them by Christ's blood and since they cannot resist God's grace they are kept by the power of God and cannot fall away from their faith.

This forms the acronym "TULIP." Today most "Calvinists" are only "Modified Calvinists." You will rarely ever meet a 5 point Calvinist but you meet 1 point Calvinists all the time. Can you guess which of the five points they believe? Right! Perseverance of the Saints! Why do people want to believe this doctrine? In my opinion people either don't want to worry about losing their salvation because they might continue sinning and feel safe in that lifestyle or because they don't understand what truly happens when one is baptized and becomes a Christian. What most 1 point "Calvinists" fail to see is that the whole system stands or falls together. The key to understanding Calvinism is CAUSATION (the belief that God causes all things to happen). The problem is that when you ask a 1 point Calvinist if they believe in free will they have violated the entire system of Calvinism because in their theology free will can not exist because then God would have to respond to man in some situations and thus wouldn't be completely in control of everything. The opposition to Calvinism is called Arminianism and the key to Arminianism is the belief the God is completely in CONTROL of everything that happens but he doesn't cause everything because He has given man free will.

Now aside from all of that theological baggage the Bible is much simpler (who would've thought that?). The Bible indicates that man truly does have free will. God put Adam in the Garden of Eden and gave him a real choice: obey God or disobey God. Adam's true free will is evidenced by the fact that both he and Eve disobeyed God. Let's focus now more on the topic of eternal security as seen in the Bible. Can a genuine Christian turn his back on God and lose his salvation? The Bible yells "Yes"!

In Luke 8 Jesus tells the parable of the sower. The seed that was sown was scattered on four different types of soil. The seed is the word of God and the soil are different people that the word comes to. Three out of the four soils accept the "seed" but only one soil retains the seed and brings forth fruit.

When Jesus was telling his disciples about the events they would experience he told them that they would be handed over and put to death but, "whoever stands firm to the end will be saved" (Matt 24:13). The parable that Jesus told immediately after his discourse on the destruction of Jerusalem's temple and the end of the age proves that it is possible for faithful believers to be unfaithful. Matt 24:42-51 shows that a faithful servant can turn wicked and be assigned to a place with the hypocrites where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth (24:51).

Read John 15. Jesus said that IF we remained in Him we would bear much fruit but if we didn’t we would be cut off and thrown into the fire (15:6). There is a genuine responsibility on our part to remain in the true vine.

Read Acts 5. Ananias and Sapphira were members of the early church. They lied to the Holy Spirit and paid for it. They obviously chose to disobey God.

In Colossians 4:14 Paul mentions one of his companions, Demas. At that time Demas was working with the church but at the end of Paul’s life he says that “…Demas, because he loved this world, has deserted me and has gone to Thessalonica" (2 Tim. 4:10).

Read Hebrews 6:4-12. This passage at first seems brutal and scary but those who fall away and persist in their rebellion are those who can’t come back to repentance. This passage does show that it is not only possible to fall away from the faith but that it is a reality that people fall away. One of the main purposes of the book of Hebrews was to encourage Jewish Christians to persevere in their faith in Christ and not fall away. How can we possibly believe that we can never fall away when it is written,

“You need to persevere so that when you have done the will of God, you will receive what he has promised. For,
"In just a little while,
he who is coming will come
and will not delay."

And,
"But my righteous one will live by faith.
And I take no pleasure
in the one who shrinks back."

But we are not of those who shrink back and are destroyed, but of those who believe and are saved” (Hebrews 10:36-39).

The Bible is filled with the reality that we must remain faithful to God. (James 5:19-20; Revelation 2:7, 2:10-11, 2:17, 3:1-6). The entire book of Revelation stresses the need for Christians to live victoriously to inherit eternal life with God.