Please take notice of this amazing prayer from Jesus to His Father. “Holy Father, keep through Thine own Name those whom Thou hast given Me, that they may be one, as We are” (John 17:11). Peter, remembering that prayer years later wrote: “Who are Kept by the power of God through faith unto salvation ready to be revealed in the last time” (1 Peter 1:5). What an encouragement to those who are saved… they have been committed by Jesus, who for them, gave His own life to God for safe keeping. If God should fail (and He won’t) to keep a single one of those for whom Christ bought with His own blood, He would fail to conserve that which was accomplished by the death and resurrection of Christ. God forbid such a blasphemous thought. Believers can and must know they are being kept by the power of God and not by themselves. Paul realized the importance of this secure position and wrote to the Ephesians, “and to the faithful in Christ Jesus” (Ephesians 1:1, b). He then prayed that they might know “what is the exceeding greatness of His power to us-ward who believe” (Ephesians 1:19).
He described that power as: “His mighty power, which He wrought in Christ, when He raised Him from the dead and set Him at His own right hand in the heavenly places, far above all principality, and power, and might, and dominion and every name that is named, not only in this world but in that which is to come: and hath put all things under His feet and gave Him to be the head over all things to the Church” (Ephesians 1:19-22). No human mind can comprehend the exceeding greatness of this power, but all who believe can know that by a simple act of faith in Christ this power is exercised in their behalf. In raising Jesus from the dead, the omnipotent power of God transcended every power on earth. This power raised Christ from a death which was caused by the total penalty of all human sin. His resurrection placed Him far above every power that is named in this world and also in that which is to come. This amazing power comes from nothing less than the omnipotence of God. This unique power was far greater than all human sin, and it is surely greater than any and all sins committed by all of humanity. It is clearly stated that his power is exercised on behalf of everyone who believes in Christ. It is nothing less than a denial of the omnipotence of God to say that by sinning, or by ceasing to believe, or by means of the human will a saved person can be lost. (they cannot). This power is the greatest expression of God’s omnipotent power, and it may be accurately stated, “the universe will crumble before a single saved person can be lost.” To deny the eternal security of a believer is to deny the omnipotent keeping power of God.
WAS CHRIST RAISED FROM THE DEAD?
The resurrection of Christ pursuant to the authority of God’s infallible word guarantees the resurrection of all believers. Both resurrections are affected by the same power. “God hath both raised up the Lord, and will also raise up us by His own power” (1 Corinthians 6:14). Jesus Christ Himself stated the fact of His resurrection as a guarantee of the resurrection of all believers. He stated, “Because I live, ye shall live also” (John 14:19). This same truth is stated in Romans 8:11. “But if the Spirit of Him that raised up Jesus from the dead dwell in you, He that raised up Christ from the dead shall also quicken your mortal bodies by His Spirit that dwelleth in you.” It is sad, but true, that those who are lost and without eternal life, have no part in the resurrection of the redeemed. On the contrary, God’s Word to those who are saved, enables the believer to look forward to the resurrection. To deny the security of the believer questions the power of God to raise up those that are eternally saved. This erroneous belief implies that something might happen in the life of a believer that may interfere with the execution of God’s power. If this were remotely possible (and it is not) then there would be room to question whether the resurrection of Christ has actually taken place. It is clear that the denial of the security of the believer questions the power of God and the resurrection of Christ, the very ground for the hope of eternal life. This eternal life in Christ is “THE BLESSED HOPE” (Titus 2:13). This blessed hope is sure and blessed because the believer is the object of God’s love and safely under the sovereign grace of God. The unsaved or lost individual is not under the sovereign grace of God but rather is under the condemnation of the law, where sin reigns in his life unto death. “That as sin hath reigned unto death, even so might grace reign through righteousness unto eternal life by Jesus Christ our Lord” (Romans 5:21). God’s power is sovereign, independent, and limited by nothing or no one. It is supreme and absolute; therefore, where sin reigns to death, grace is not effectual and where grace is sovereign sin has no dominion. When grace has become sovereign sin can never again reign, as it is declared in His word, “For sin shall not have dominion over you: for ye are not under the law, but under grace” (Romans 6:14). Notice the wording … it is shall not (not does not) which indicates that the reign of sin unto death has been definitely brought to a certain end; therefore, the grace of God is the supreme power that reigns unto eternal life for everyone who believes in Jesus Christ. The sovereign grace of God means nothing less than that the believer is eternally secure. If the believer in Christ could ever be lost because of sin then sin would, of necessity, become a greater power than God’s eternal grace which is impossible. An example of God’s amazing grace may be seen in the life of David wherein even if he would commit iniquity, God’s mercy would not depart from him. “I will be his father, and he shall be my son. If he commit iniquity, I will chasten him with the rod of men, and with the stripes of the children of men: but my mercy shall not depart away from him” (2 Samuel 7: 14,15). This scripture demonstrates that one held in the mighty hand of a righteous and holy God does not limit the sovereignty of his amazing saving and keeping grace. To deny the eternal security of a believer in Christ is to deny the sovereignty of the grace of God. The misinformed individual who does not see that he is eternally secure and under the sovereign grace of God can never say with the Psalmist David: “O give thanks unto the Lord: for He is good: for His mercy endures forever” He can under no circumstance of life repeat this beautiful refrain. “O give thanks unto the God of gods: for His mercy endures forever. O give thanks to the Lord of lords: for his mercy endures forever. To him who alone does great wonders: for His mercy endures forever” (Psalm 136: 1-4). How can God be thanked and praised for something that is not fully known or believed by the one who claims to have that which saves him and endures forever?
It is abundantly clear that the doctrines of the grace of God demand the doctrine of eternal security and that the doctrines of grace are made void by the contention that one who has been saved can be lost. For those who are persuaded that the eternal security of every believer is not supported by scripture and that by inconsistent or poor behavior the believer can be lost must show and understand how this can happen. How can anyone who has received Christ as the only savior along with everything that accompanies his indwelling presence be lost when the possession of this eternal gift means eternal life? Further, how can anyone whose salvation does not depend upon human effort or merit, but entirely upon the power of God and the merits of Christ, be lost by some human act, either by function of the mind or by behavior in the body? How can one for whom Christ, by His death, paid the full penalty of the law and satisfied every demand of God’s righteousness and justice be made to pay that penalty again? How can one who has been eternally redeemed by means of the precious blood of Christ be returned to a state of condemnation? How can one who has been born of incorruptible seed and given eternal life by a sovereign God ever lose His so great salvation? How can one whom God declares shall not come into condemnation, come into condemnation?
How can one who is a new creature in Christ Jesus ever be condemned and cast into an eternal hell? The redeemed believer would of necessity need to be taken from Christ’s mighty hand and the sealing power of the Holy Spirit removed. (impossible) If every believer was foreknown of God and predestined to become conformed to the image of the Son of God, and all who were predesignated were called, and all who were called have been justified, and all who were justified have been glorified, at what point is it possible for any believer in Christ to be lost? Please pause to consider; is the believer who is foreknown, predestined, and conformed to the image of Christ, then to sustain this secure position by their human and imperfect behavior? Where is eternal security if the believer, by his continuing behavior, must make himself conformed to the image of Christ and continue until the final hour? It is not the continuing behavior of the believer that sustains, it is the once for all complete and finished work of Christ on the Cross that saves and delivers the believer for now and for all time. If God has made provision for every believer through the intercessory work of Christ, which is based solely on His righteousness and the fact that His death was the propitiation for all sin, how can such a believer be condemned to Hell and tormented forever? This is what is involved when anyone states so erroneously that one who has been saved can be lost. To believe that a child of God can be lost, because of poor behavior for which Christ died, is to deny the saving and unalterable Grace and power of God Himself.
If the Holy Spirit abides forever in the believer… if he is sealed by him and then witnessed as to Christ’s ownership … if he has been given the Spirit as a guarantee of something which can only be received in eternity, how can he be anything but secure for all eternity? If being an object of God’s wrath is to be lost and being an object of His love is to be saved, and if God declares that one who has become an object of His love shall always be an object of His love, which is the very purpose of salvation: how can one who has been saved ever be lost? If God declared that He is exercising the very same power on behalf of the saved one as He did when He raised Christ from the dead and set Him on His right hand, how can it ever be thought that one who has been saved could be cast into the lake of fire and condemned? It is clear then, that those who deny the eternal security of believers must honestly face each one of these questions and prove by the word of God that their position does not contradict but harmonizes with all of the eternal security doctrines that are clearly declared in the word of God. Until this is successfully accomplished such misguided teachers are without question subject to the charge that they are teaching contrary to the grace and truth that is clearly delineated in the word of God. Until this heretical pursuit is successfully accomplished, the eternal security of every believer will stand as the most emphatic and strongly attested revelation in God’s infallible word. What a tremendous responsibility rests on every believer in Christ. This unique privilege is to be a representative of our gracious Lord in Satan’s domain. Certainly, we can expect opposition and scoffers; Satan is as intent on obscuring the gospel as God is on revealing it!
“But if our gospel be hid, it is hid to them that are lost: in whom the god of this world has blinded the minds of them which believe not, lest the light of the glorious gospel of Christ, who is the image of God, should shine unto them” (2 Corinthians 4: 3,4). God has given to us the means whereby we may be an instrument in breaking through the darkness of unbelief… our means is the gospel. “For God who commanded the light, to shine out of darkness, has shined in our hearts, to give the light of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ” (2 Cor 4:6). Therefore, it is greater than a high privilege, it is our rightful obligation to tell others of our exclusive Savior. When we are motivated by His love “For the love of Christ constrains us; because we thus judge, that if one died for all, then were all dead” (2 Corinthians 5:14). Therefore, we must incessantly make known Him who loved us and gave Himself for us “I am crucified with Christ: nevertheless, I live; yet not I, but Christ Lives in me; and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by the faith of the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me” (Gal. 2:20). I challenge you to take up this reasonable service, in consistently following the Lord, as fishers of men, or will you allow the challenger of grace (Satan) to silence you? “The production of the righteous believer is a tree of life: and he who is wise wins souls” (Prov. 11:30).
The believer in Christ is given the ministry of reconciliation. The message he bears must be clearly presented…The clear message of salvation is… “He that believeth on Him is not condemned; but he that believeth not is condemned already, because he hath not believed in the name of the only begotten Son of God. He that believeth on the Son hath everlasting life: and he that believeth not the Son shall not see life: but the wrath of God abides on him” (John 3:18, 36). The unbeliever does not know that he does not know; therefore, the critical message is … Christ is the issue and therefore, the unbeliever must change his attitude toward Him as his attitude toward Christ will determine his eternal destiny. The issue is not the behavior of the unbeliever. Christ died for all of his bad and becomes all of his perfection. No one can live the Christian way of life until he is born again. Remember the Gospel is good news, it is bad news that man is lost and undone but the good news is Christ did something about his unrighteousness on the Cross and by a simple act of faith in Christ man can receive his perfect and eternal righteousness. Nothing is accomplished regarding the true issue of salvation by persuading the unbeliever to give up or deplore his sins or improve his behavior, join a church, be baptized, or give money. Salvation is acquired by Gods’ grace and not by any of man’s best but futile efforts.
“For by grace are you saved through faith (in Christ) and that not of yourselves, it is the gift of God, not of works, lest any man should boast” (Ephesians 2:8,9). “Be it known unto you therefore, men and brethren, that through this man is preached unto you the forgiveness of sins; and by Him ALL THAT BELIEVE are justified from ALL THINGS, from which you could not be justified by the law of Moses” (Acts 13: 38,39).
