WHAT ABOUT ETERNAL SECURITY

Some good believers say once you're saved you are always saved, regardless of what you do, and others say you can lose your salvation. One school of thought is called Calvinism (after a late 1500 theologian John Calvin) and the other is called Arminanism (after a later 1500 theologian Jacob Arminius).

Both are based on scripture, but their conclusions are drastically different,

CALVINISM (eternal security) emphasizes the sovereignty of God and His devine choice.

The doctrine of eternal security says once a person has been saved, he can never be lost afterwards, no matter what he might do.

ARMINANISM stresses man's free will and responsibility.

The Arminian view is that man has a free will and it is this free will that determines his condition, even to the point of vacillation between the positions of salvation and being lost.

* No question, God is soverign and He can do whatever He wants to do...But He will always be consistant. So we can determine His predictable reaction by viewing scripture.

To properly evaluate this issue, we will investigate 4 questions ~

1. Can a saved person be lost? To answer that, let me ask another question, Can a born again Christian cease being a born again Christian? YES! There are countless illustrations in the Bible of people who were at one time in the Grace of God and then fell from Grace...Nadab and Abihu, sons Aaron ~ Korah ~ Dathan ~ Abirim ~ King Saul.

Consider these verses...

Luke 8:13 ~ Jesus said, "Many, in times of temptation fall away after receiving the Word."

And then these examples,

Acts 5:1-10 ~ Ananias & Sapphira

Ex. 32:33 ~ "Whosoever has sinned against Me, I will blot out of My book."

Deut. 30:17-20 ~ "But, if your heart turns away, you shall surely perish."

Ezek 3:20-21 ~ "When a righteous man turns from his righteousness and commits iniquity, he will die in his sin."

John 8:31 ~ "If you continue in My Word, you are My disciple."

Gal. 5:4 ~ Paul accused the church of having "fallen from grace".

II Peter 2:20 & Heb. 6:4-6 ~ These and many other scriptures show us that once a person is saved he/she can lose his/her salvation. Once they do they are, of course, no longer Christians.

2. Are we saved and are we kept saved by works or by faith? (Do we have to worry about losing our salvation?)

Eph. 2:8 & Heb. 10:38 ~ "The just shall live by faith." Salvation is given, not by works or acts of righteousness, but by faith, and it is maintained the same way.

II Peter 1:5-7 ~ Righteousness in the life of a believer is a matter of spiritual growth, a progressive sanctification. A believer may at times sin, but he/she should not doubt his/her salvation as long as there is faith in Christ Jesus as the center of his/her salvation. Every time a believer sins they, don't have to get saved all over again.

3. What about sin in the life of a believer? Does he lose his salvation at that time?

I John 1:9 ~ When a believer sins, he has forgiveness for that sin. There is a difference, however, between inadvertent sin and consciously choosing to sin and there is a difference in the severity of sin!

Rev. 22:19 ~ Salvation can be forfeited: A believer can be lost if he/she disregards the continued checks of the Holy Spirit. He/she can even reach the point where he/she rejects Jesus as his/her Savior and he/she no longer believes. We each have a free will.

John 10:28 ~ This is where the teaching of eternal security originates. It is not only preposterous, but is very unbiblical.

4. What are the fruits of this doctrine? Many people are in hell because they were told that when they were saved they were eternally saved regardless of how they lived their lives. The truth is that believers are eternally secure on God's terms, not on man's terms. The Bible does teach Conditional Eternal Security.

Every Bible docrine should be measured by the plain facts of scripture and by solid principles and true examples of life, not by erroneously interpreting a few texts in total disregard of other scriptures on the same subject. Teachers of unconditional security, like other false doctrines, do away with all scriptures that are not in harmony with their pet theory. Doctrine and teaching should come from comparing all scriptures on a subject. When this is applied to the few passages that are used to support unconditional security, they will be found to be in perfect harmony with the many hundred passages that clearly teach conditional security.

The truth is that the Bible does teach a true, eternal security for any believer who puts forth an honest effort to meet a few simple conditions which God clearly states and provides the grace for.

This is the key questions ... Is man a free moral agent? Calvinism and eternal security teachers say "NO", that man is predestined by God to be lost or saved and no man can change it. They believe that man has no power to choose to serve God or to walk away from God. But there is no passage that proves that man is not a free moral agent all the days of his life. After a person is born again and begins to live for the Lord, he can permit the old flesh to regain control and go back to the old ways.

Gal. 6:7-8 ~ James 5:19-20 ~ Ezek. 18:4 ~ Ro. 6:14-23 ~ Ro. 8:1-13. It is Satan who attempts to enslave humanity...God always gives us the freedom to choose to serve Him.
I Tim. 2: ~ II Peter 3:9 God wills that all be saved and come to the knowledge of truth. God's plan is "whosoever will" and He will not operate contrary to His own Word.

Mark 16:15 ~ Jn. 3:15-20 ~ Jn. 4:13-22 ~ Jn. 14:6 ~ Rom. 1:16 ~ Heb. 7:25 ~ I Jn. 1:9, 5:1 ~ Salvation cannot be given by God without man's choice.

Isa. 59:2 ~ Rom. 8:1-13 ~ II Tim. 2:12 ~ I Cor. 15:2 ~ I Thes. 3:8 ~ Heb. 10:26-29 ~ II Peter 2:20-21 Neither can man continue to be saved apart from his free choice. The power of choice on man's part to get saved and keep saved does not make will power more sovereign then God's own power of grace. It simply means that God, having given His plan, has also given man a free will to choose.

James 2:9 ~ God said that anyone who is a respecter of persons is a sinner, so would God be a sinner if He predestined some to be saved and some to be lost. Eternal security is a theroy that violates the laws of God, nature, and logic.

John 8:31 ~ Ro. 11:20-24 ~ "If you abide in My word, then you are truly desciples of Mine."

The word IF is used 1,522 times in the Bible and it implies that there are conditions to meet to be finally saved.

We are eternally and forever secure when we meet the conditions as a child of God.

Taken from a message given by Donald H. Dinninger, pastor of Old Town Christian Outreach Center

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