Is the Believer Eternally Secure?

Bernie Koerselman

Can anyone or any demonic force drag us against our will from the safety and shelter of our Lord? If we are determined to believe and be faithful, is there any force in heaven or on earth that can snatch us from our position in Christ and cause us to be damned? Praise God, the answer is NO! Paul answered that conclusively for us:

"For 1 am convinced that neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither the present nor the future, nor any powers, neither height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord (Romans 8:38 39).

The Holy Spirit would not have allowed Paul to write that if it were not true.

Likewise, the Lord Jesus said the same: "My sheep listen to my voice; I know them, and they follow me. 1 give them eternal life, and they shall never perish; no one can snatch them out of my hand. My Father, who has given them to me, is greater than all; no one can snatch them out of my Father's hand (John 10:27 29).

End of subject. We are secure. Together, Paul and Jesus have enumerated every external thing or person or power that we can imagine could come against us. Paul even went further saying, "nor anything else in all creation," to make sure anything anyone could imagine would be covered. There is no power in heaven or on earth that can separate us from the love of God in the Lord Jesus Christ or that can snatch us out of the hand of our Father or the Lord Jesus! We know that with certainty because Jesus said, "All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me" (Matthew 28:18).

Though there has been little physical, religious persecution in America, in much of the world Christians are subject to great persecution and even slaughter. That would seem to put in question the prior statements about our security in Christ. But no, just the opposite. Paul taught us: "No temptation has seized you except what is common to man. And God is faithful; he will not let you be tempted beyond what you can bear. But when you are tempted, he will also provide a way out so that you can stand up under it (1 Corinthians 10: 13).

We may wonder how that can be when we read of the thousands upon thousands of committed believers who were slaughtered by the Roman Catholic Church. Many were slowly burned to death at the stake. Yet, they kept the faith and would not deny their Lord and his word. Often the victim would be offered, even pleaded with, to renounce his views and save his life. But these early martyrs knew that Jesus said, "Whoever wants to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for me will find it." Yes, they traded their earthly life for eternal life. Paul, not knowing whether he would live or die while imprisoned in Rome said, "For to me, to live is Christ and to die is gain" Philippians 1:21).

The great temptation at the end of the age will be to deny Christ and accept the mark of the beast. Jesus said many will recant the faith (Matthew 24:10) but that will be their choice. God will not permit a temptation even one to deny the faith to come against us that we are not able to bear. If (or when) we face torture or execution for our faith, we can remember with assurance, "Our Lord Jesus knows we can face this and not succumb to the temptation to deny him."

If they have escaped the corruption of the world by knowing our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ and are again entangled in it and overcome, they are worse off at the end than they were at the beginning. It would have been better for them not to have known the way of righteousness, than to have known it and then to turn their backs on the sacred command that was passed on to them. Of them the proverbs are true: 'A dog returns to its vomit,' and, 'A sow that is washed goes back to her wallowing in the mud` (2 Peter 2:21- 23).

He begins by describing a true believer one who has escaped the corruption of the world by knowing our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ. Continuing, Peter recognizes that some again become entangled in the world, and overcome. Their final condition, he says, is worse than if they had never known about Christ.

This explanation prohibits the interpretation that this person is just a believer who is being disciplined by God, but who is really saved. How could any believer be worse off than if he had never known of Christ? The end of those without Christ is hell. It appears the punishment in hell is greater for those who have not persevered, who have proved unfaithful after once having known and been in the faith. Peter concludes his letter with the further warning: "Therefore, dear friends, since you already know this, be on your guard so that you may not be carried away by the error of lawless men and fall from your secure position,' (2 Peter 3:17).

Peter recognizes that our position in Christ is secure, just as we saw as we began this study. But he says we can fall from our secure position which agrees with the previous scriptures. He warns us to be on guard. He knows that we can be carried away by the error of lawless men.

VI. Notice how similar is the teaching of Jesus. He contrasts two servants, one who is faithful and perseveres, another who tires and falls away:

'Who then is the faithful and wise servant, whom the master has put in charge of the servants in his household to give them their food at the proper time? It will be good for that servant whose master finds him doing so when he returns. I tell you the truth, he will put him in charge of all his possessions.

"But suppose that servant is wicked and says to himself, 'My master is staying away a long time,' and he then begins to beat his fellow servants and to eat and drink with drunkards. The master of that servant will come on a day when he does not expect him and at an hour he is not aware of. He will cut him to pieces and assign him a place with the hypocrites, where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth" (Matthew 24:45-51).

Note first that both are servants. Both began in the faith serving the Lord. Both are servants with responsible positions in charge of others. Jesus commends the first and assures he will be rewarded for his faithfulness. Not so with the second servant. It didn't matter that he had once been so faithful that he was promoted to a position of responsibility. It only mattered that when the master came back the servant was not fulfilling the duties assigned to him. Instead he was abusing those in his charge and engaging in a licentious life style.

Note the severity of the punishment. It is more severe than in any other parable told by Jesus. Is it because he was an overseer of others? (See James 3:1). He was "cut to pieces" and consigned to hell with the hypocrites.

VII. Jesus taught that there are people (branches) who will be in him (the vine), but who will produce no fruit. He said God will cut off such branches (John 15:2) (people) and throw them into the fire! He said it this way:

If anyone does not remain in me, he is like a branch that is thrown away and withers; such branches are picked up, thrown into the fire and burned" (John 15:6).

This passage is interpreted very differently by those who claim the doctrine of once saved, always saved. But for those who do not start with that predisposition, the passage is plain. The difference in this passage from prior passages is that the believer must produce fruit. If he does not, he will be cut off. In prior passages we've seen that same result for those who deliberately continue to sin or who are once again entangled in the world.

Jesus taught a parallel teaching in the parable of the talents (Matthew 25:14 - 30). You remember that each servant was given a different number of talents to invest before the master left on a journey. Most did well, doubling the amounts entrusted to them. One servant did not. He was given a talent but buried his talent in the ground, offering it back to his master when he returned. In the parable of the vine and the branches, the branch (the believer) was given the life giving sap from the vine but did not use it to produce fruit. In both parables, the servant accomplished nothing with what was given him.

The end is the same for each. Jesus said of the servant who wasted his talent: "Throw that worthless servant outside, into the darkness, where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth" (Matthew 25:30).

These two parables show punishment and damnation for not producing fruit, not using that given to us by God to produce gain for the Kingdom. Is this what Paul referred to when he said, We are God's workmanship, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do?" (Ephesians 2:10). If so, it would be a case of disobedience, refusing (or failing) to do that which we were commanded to do, which God prepared in advance for us to do.

A further corroboration is found in the parable of the sower (Matthew 13:3 -8, Mark 4:3- 8, and Luke 8:5 -8). The seed was sown on four kinds of soil. Only one of the soils produced a crop. Of that soil, Jesus explained, "The one who received the seed that fell on good soil is the man who hears the word and understands it. He produces a crop, yielding a hundred, sixty or thirty times what was sown" (Matthew 13:23). The true believer perseveres and produces fruit, a crop, according to what God has given him to do.

What about the other three soils? Two of those are material to this study. The first is not. Of the first Jesus said that the seed sown on the path is like a person who hears the message but does not understand it; the evil one comes and snatches away what was sown in his heart (Matthew 13:19). The second, seed sown on rocky soil, represents a person who hears the word and receives it with joy. He becomes a new believer. But since he has no root, he lasts only a short time. When trouble or persecution comes because of the word, he quickly falls away (Matthew 13:20-21). He didn't persevere. The third is one where the seed was sown among thorns. He also hears the word, but the worries of this life and the deceitfulness of wealth choke it, making it unfruitful (Matthew 13:22).

Of the four soils which received the seed, only one persevered and produced fruit. The second and third, though receiving the seed hearing the word failed to persevere. Those who produce no fruit may be disobeying the will of God by failing to do those good works which God prepared in advance for us to do" (Ephesians 2: 10).

From the foregoing scriptures we see that bearing fruit for the kingdom is important. Could we actually lose our salvation because we failed or refused to do those good works which God prepared in advance for us to do? Perhaps that is a form of rebellion against God.

 When people in the same vocation talk to each other about their profession, they speak differently than they do to those outside their vocation. Doctors talk to each other in their own language about their unique concerns. The same is true with lawyers, dentists, architects, farmers, bricklayers, coal miners, factory workers, and pastors.

Only a pastor can truly empathize with the hopes and heartbreaks of another pastor. Only he can understand the needs, the problems, the discouragements another pastor faces. As pastors share with one another, they can uniquely encourage each other.