Eternal Security
Ephesians 1:13 – “In whom ye also trusted, after that ye heard [more correctly, having heard – there is no intent to show a sequence of events1] the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation: in whom also after that ye believed [having believed – again, no sequence], ye were sealed with that holy Spirit of promise ….” The in whom refers to Christ, and what follows is the result of being “in Christ,” a central theme of the first part of Ephesians. We have something else revealed here that is accomplished through faith in Christ: we were sealed, or, more accurately, marked, with the Holy Spirit as promised by the Lord (John 16:13; 2 Corinthians 1:22). Jesus said that the Spirit would come to “guide [us] into all truth”; this involves a process of guidance (it is not a single event) into rightly dividing the word of truth (2 Timothy 2:15). We, who are in Christ, have been sealed by the Holy Spirit; therefore, the presence of the Spirit must be evident in our lives (Romans 8:4). In ancient times, the seal was used to confirm the authenticity of an item, and to affirm its approval under the authority of the owner of the seal; likewise, we have been given the Holy Spirit by God to affirm that we are His: “But ye are not in the flesh, but in the Spirit, if so be that the Spirit of God dwell in you. Now if any man have not the Spirit of Christ [the Seal of God], he is none of his” (Romans 8:9).
The question that arises is this: “Can this Seal be removed?” Is it possible for the Spirit of God to depart from our lives? Is our eternal destiny eternally secured by this Seal? There are many within Evangelical and Baptist traditions who strongly insist that our eternal destiny has been secured and cannot be changed. Calvinism promotes the doctrine of the perseverance of the saints (what they actually mean is the preservation of the saints), with the idea that the elect (by which they mean those who have been chosen for salvation by God from eternity past) are eternally secure – but that is a totally different application of a similar sounding teaching.2 Within Evangelicalism, the loudly acclaimed success of evangelist Billy Graham is founded upon a belief in the eternal security of those who came forward at his crusades and prayed a simple prayer for salvation. They have built their understanding upon passages like Acts 16:31: “Believe [root, pisteuo] on the Lord Jesus Christ, and thou shalt be saved …”; it appears to be evident: if you believe, then you are saved. However, time must be taken to understand fully what it means to believe; failure to do so could leave the proponents of such simplicity, and their converts, in spiritual darkness. “Thou believest [root, pisteuo] that there is one God; thou doest well: the devils also believe [root, pisteuo], and tremble” (James 2:19). Clearly, we must be very sure that we hold a proper understanding of how the Bible uses the word believe, or we may be no better than the devils! Perhaps we have heard the pope, Robert Schuller, and George W. Bush all saying that Muslims worship the same God as Christians, yet the Muslims’ god excludes both the Holy Spirit and Jesus Christ. The Muslims believe in one god, but not the same God as the devils, and so they do not tremble; the devils recognize the God of all creation, whereas the Muslims’ god is an ancestral deity that was chosen by their leader, Mohammed. Similarly, in our situation a superficial concept of the Biblical believe can lead to very wrong conclusions. Obviously, for our salvation we must have the right belief in the right God. We must use discernment in determining what it means to be a Christian (to Biblically believe), and not paint a picture that is contrary to what God reveals in His Word.
When Evangelicals speak of being saved, they like to be able to look back to when they prayed a prayer to accept Jesus into their hearts. It matters not if they recognized their sin that destines them for hell, nor if they have repented of those sins and turned to a life that is lived in obedience to the Word of God. As a matter of fact, it has come to the point that if someone simply says that he is a “Christian,” then that is sufficient evidence to never question their faith, no matter how they live. For the most part, Christianity has become a subjective reality that we dare not question, lest we be construed as being judgmental, which seems to be far worse (in the eyes of the average Evangelical) than to live in the cesspool of the world.
Praying a prayer to “receive Jesus” is what some term easy-believism. In essence, a prayer is uttered that is not based upon a complete understanding of what it means to be a child of God, and that is deemed to be sufficient to secure eternal life as a child of God. There is seldom a complete explanation of the fact that we are born in sin, separated from God by our inherited sin, and there is definitely no admonition to count the cost of following the Lord before praying the prayer. There is a cost to being a disciple of the Lord Jesus, and, unless that cost is taken into consideration, the belief expressed in a moment of appeal is ill-founded. Counting the cost is very clearly advocated by the Lord in Luke 14:26-33, and we would do well to heed His warning; a failure, at this point, could lead to a faith that fizzles under pressure, or is choked-out by life’s temptations (apostasy).
Consider an illustration from Billy Graham’s work as an evangelist. Regarding a crusade in Houston, Texas in 1965, Curtis Mitchell wrote: “Finally, the flood [of people coming forward] ceased and the closely packed mass stood silent, with faces upturned, waiting. Graham led them through a short prayer of repentance and confession. They repeated it, two thousand voices so soft they could hardly be heard. Then, as Graham turned to depart, the battalions of converts changed into a new formation … [of] twosomes and threesomes ….”3 Notice that after Graham had led this massive group in a short prayer, they were all considered to be converts. Yet the reality is that a large portion of these people would have had no idea of what it was that they were supposed to have done, other than respond to an emotional appeal. The authenticity of their conversion depended not on the prayer that they repeated with Graham, but on what took place within the twosomes, threesomes, or, more importantly, within their own hearts if they permitted the Spirit of God to open their eyes. Those genuine, lifetime commitments that have taken place as a result of Graham’s work (there is no denying that some began their life-time journey with the Lord at such a crusade), would be, to a great extent, despite Graham, rather than because of him. The emotional response generated through his crusade tactics is not a solid basis for making such a costly commitment. Consider some documented reflections on the experience that some people had at his crusades (and these are from 1966 documentation): “There was a wrenching and a tearing, and then there was a flood of warmth that was overpowering … so very much happiness filled me that I did not feel I could contain it all”; “When the Holy Spirit entered my heart, He heightened every aspect of life, like a sixth sense”; “I can never forget the indescribable ecstasy of that moment.”4 Notice that all of these reflect an emotional response: “flood of warmth,” “heightened every aspect of life,” and “indescribable ecstasy.” Jesus spoke of just such a response: “They on the rock are they, which, when they hear, receive the word with joy; and these have no root, which for a while believe, and in time of temptation fall away” (Luke 8:13). There is an immediate and evident response to the Word (the Seed), but when a trial comes their way, their newly found faith disappears. Jesus very clearly tells us to count the cost before we commit to following Him, therefore, an emotional response is not sufficient; counting the cost of following the Lord is part of the process of preparing the soil of our hearts so that the Word of God can take root and flourish. Unless we have a change of life and a fresh love for His Word, there is no basis for claiming to be born-again.
What we have today, within Evangelical circles, is an over-simplification of what it means to be a Christian – to the point that many leave it up to the individual to decide. It is considered to be inappropriate to look for a changed life, either for separation from the world and its allurements, or for obedience to the clear instructions of Scripture. The emphasis is placed upon a prayer having been made – after all, it is reasoned, what’s on the inside is far more important than what is on the outside. Incredibly, this is the reverse error of the Pharisees of Jesus’ day, but the results are quite similar. “Woe unto you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! for ye make clean the outside of the cup and of the platter, but within they are full of extortion and excess. Thou blind Pharisee, cleanse first that which is within the cup and platter, that the outside of them may be clean also” (Matthew 23:25-26). The Pharisees made a great show of appearing to be righteous, yet Jesus condemned them because inwardly they were corrupt and undisciplined; His admonition to correct their problem was to “cleanse first that which is within” so that the outward will be clean also. The Pharisees thought that they had the outward down pat, and were irreproachable (clearly, they had fooled the people, but not God); the Lord saw through their façade, and condemned both the inward and the outward (the former for being a den of corruption, the latter for being hypocrisy). Today the emphasis is exactly reversed: the Evangelical tries to focus on the inward with absolutely no regard for the outward. However, they have compromised what it means to be cleansed, to the point that inward cleansing is no longer possible based solely upon their inadequate understanding of God’s Word; therefore, their assumed inner sanctity is in jeopardy of having never existed. What they fail to recognize (and this is something that Jesus clarified for the Pharisees) is that the outward is a reflection of the inward. When the Evangelicals boast of their freedom in Christ to live like the world, they only confirm their lack of understanding of the Word of God; the work of God in the heart not only creates a fundamental inward change, but that change must also lead to an outward renewal (Romans 8:4; Ephesians 4:24).
Evangelicals have torn the heart out of what it means to be a Christian – it has been downgraded to the point where thousands of people repeating a prayer in a stadium are automatically considered to be converts, or changed people. Yet how many have walked out of the stadium in a new life with Christ, walking according to the calling that Christ has placed on their lives, namely, a commitment to being obedient to His Word? The counselors who would make up the “twosomes” and “threesomes” are appointed by the “pastors of cooperating churches”;5 in other words, they are appointed from among those who, in many cases, no longer hold to the unalterable truths of Scripture. As early as 1968, Graham is quoted as saying: “A great part of our support today comes from Catholics. We never hold a crusade without priests and nuns being much in evidence in the audience” (emphasis in the original).6 Therefore, it is only logical that a great part of their counseling force is also from this Roman Catholic support. For some reason, Graham’s associations with the liberals and unbelievers has been downplayed and/or ignored within the Evangelical community; I think that Graham bears considerable responsibility for the accommodation of Catholic theology that has infiltrated the modern Evangelical scene.
In 1952 Graham is quoted as saying: “Many of the people who reach a decision for Christ at our meetings have joined the Catholic Church and we have received commendations from Catholic publications for the revived interest in their Church following our campaigns.… After all, one of our prime purposes is to help the churches in a community. If after we move on, the locl (sic) churches do not feel the efforts of these meetings in increased membership and attendance, then our crusade would have to be considered a failure.”7
There is absolutely no concern expressed that his campaigns bolstered the spiritually dead Roman Catholic Church, not by infusing spiritual life, but by increasing people’s interest in a faith that is without life. Graham hired Willis Haymaker to go ahead of his crusades to prepare the cities for the event. In his autobiography, Just As I Am, he says that Haymaker would “call on the local Catholic bishop or other clerics to acquaint them with the Crusade plans and invite them to the meetings …. This was years before Vatican II’s openness to Protestants, but we were concerned to let the Catholic bishops see that my goal was not to get people to leave their church; rather, I wanted them to commit their lives to Christ.”8 From very early on, Graham very deliberately worked with any religious group that would join with him; in his mind, what he was calling people to do would not violate their faith, no matter how contrary it was to the Word of God. Clearly, Graham did not understand what it means to be committed to Christ, or else he would not have considered the Catholic’s commitment as being acceptable. There is also evidence that he was courting Catholic favor even while he was still trying to convince Fundamentalists that he was opposed to Catholic doctrine.9 “A double minded man is unstable in all his ways” (James 1:8); Billy Graham, that pope of the Evangelical community, has proven his duplicity, without a doubt. His ministry was fraught with compromise and accommodation from its earliest days – he has never been a friend to the truths of Scripture.
We have among Evangelicals a deadly combination. They have watered down what it means to be a Christian, and combined that with a belief in the eternal security of the believer. When the Lord God drove Adam and Eve out of the Garden of Eden, it was for the express purpose of denying man access to the tree of life, lest he should eat thereof and live forever in his sinful state (Genesis 3:22-24). God’s purpose was to implement His eternal plan of salvation so that man might live forever in a redeemed state. What have modern Evangelicals done? They accept and promote a doctrine of salvation that leaves man in his sin (yet under the delusion that he is saved), and they attach to that the concept that, because he prayed for salvation, eternal life is guaranteed. What God expelled man from the Garden of Eden to prevent, Evangelicals have embraced and justified by skewing God’s Word – pray a little prayer and your place in heaven is eternally secured. God says, “NO, it won’t happen like that.” Evangelicals say that it doesn’t matter how you live; as long as you have “asked Jesus into your heart” at some time during your life, then your key to heaven has been secured; they think that they have laid hold of the tree of life, when in reality they have been duped by the master liar, Satan. It is no wonder that a day is coming for them when our Lord will declare, “I never knew you: depart from me, ye that work iniquity” (Matthew 7:23).
We could look at men like Bill Hybels, Robert Schuller, Rick Warren, Joel Osteen, and the list goes on, to further demonstrate the serious diluting that the Gospel has received at the hands of Evangelicals today; however, touching on the crowned king of Evangelicalism should suffice. The question still stands: is it possible, even with a proper understanding of what it means to believe, to have the Spirit of God depart? You would think that since so many Evangelicals and Fundamentalists would respond with a vehement “NO” that there must be a wealth of Scriptures supporting this teaching. Let us move on to look at some of the passages that those who promote the concept of eternal security look to for support.
1. 27My sheep hear my voice, and I know them, and they follow me: 28And I give unto them eternal life; and they shall never perish, neither shall any man pluck them out of my hand. 29My Father, which gave them me, is greater than all; and no man is able to pluck them out of my Father’s hand. (John 10:27-29).
This is a popular passage, and, at first reading, it might appear to pick up on the theme of being eternally saved, for we read that “they shall never perish.” However, there are two things that stand in the way of this becoming the truth of this passage. First of all, the words hear, know, follow (verse 27) and give (verse 28) are all in the present tense in the Greek, which means that they are declaring a “fact or reality viewed as occurring in actual time”;10 the hearing, knowing and following are present, continuing activities (not a present condition due to a past action). Therefore, the phrase they shall never perish can only refer to those who are continually hearing and following the Lord (i.e., living in obedience to Him), and as long as those conditions remain active, then the phrase describes their promise of eternal life – in other words, this is a conditional promise. The word perish, even though it bears the subjunctive mood in the Greek (which generally means a possibility but not a certainty), is used in conjunction with two Greek negatives (ou and me) to make this a strongly emphatic negative.11 Therefore, the sheep of the Shepherd who are hearing His voice and following Him faithfully (obediently) will absolutely never perish, but that is a promise that is conditional, not unconditional.
Yet the question will be raised: what about the rest of the passage that indicates that we are secure in the hand of Jesus and the Father? It can readily be seen that the security of being in the hand of God is from external attack (no one can pluck them out of His hand) – neither anything, nor anyone, is able to remove us from the protective hand of God. That is a precious promise to those who are abiding in Christ, but it cannot be construed to say that we are eternally secure in the hands of God. We will see the significance of this later.
2. 38For I am persuaded, that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor powers, nor things present, nor things to come, 39Nor height, nor depth, nor any other creature, shall be able to separate us from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord. (Romans 8:38-39).
These verses simply declare that there is nothing that can separate us from the love of God. God has a love for all of mankind, for we read: “God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son” (John 3:16). There can be no greater love; there is nothing in heaven or in earth that can separate us from that great love that was demonstrated by the sacrifice of the Lord Jesus Christ, which is what this passage clearly states. God’s desire is that all men would be saved (1 Timothy 2:4); this is confirmed by the provision of His Son to be our Savior and Mediator, but that does not mean that all men will be saved. It is noteworthy that all of the forces listed are external to us, and it is definitely comforting for those who are continually abiding in Christ to know the reality of this security. However, this passage really does not speak to the eternal state of our salvation.
3. 39And this is the Father’s will which hath sent me, that of all which he hath given me I should lose nothing, but should raise it up again at the last day. 40And this is the will of him that sent me, that every one which seeth the Son, and believeth on him, may have everlasting life: and I will raise him up at the last day. (John 6:39-40).
It is the Father’s will that the Lord Jesus should lose nothing. It is evident from the Scriptures that the price that Christ paid on the cross is sufficient for the sins of the whole world (1 John 2:2), and that it is the will of the Father that all men would be saved (1 Timothy 2:4); however, by looking about us today, it is equally clear that all of mankind will not be saved, even though the debt of their sins has been paid in full. First of all, lose, in verse 39, is from the Greek word apoleso, which (in the active voice, as here) means to ruin or destroy; then, being part of a purpose clause, the subjunctive mood of lose becomes a declaration of fact – it is the Father’s will that Jesus destroyed nothing that had been given to Him.12 Secondly, (in verse 40) for the one who is seeing the Son and believing on Him, he is having life everlasting; once again, a purpose clause is involved; seeing (seeth, involving perception and understanding), believing (believeth) and having (have) are all present tense verbs (a continuous action), and the subjunctive mood of having becomes a statement of fact.13 In this case, the having everlasting life is conditional upon the seeing (with understanding) and believing (within the Biblical definition) being in place. It is noteworthy that verse 39 is dealing with things, and the following verse with individuals (people).
4. 13In whom ye also trusted, after that ye heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation: in whom also after that ye believed, ye were sealed with that holy Spirit of promise, 14Which is the earnest of our inheritance until the redemption of the purchased possession, unto the praise of his glory. (Ephesians 1:13-14).
This is where we began our deliberations. It speaks of being sealed with the Holy Spirit. The word seal (esphragisthete) does not mean preservation, as in canning fruits or vegetables, but rather it is a mark of ownership and identity (Romans 8:4).14 In Revelation 9:4 the locusts from the pit are forbidden to harm anyone who bears the seal of God in their foreheads, and Revelation 22:4 tells us that those who are in the New Heaven and Earth will have the name of the Father in their foreheads – indeed, the Holy Spirit has been given to us so that He will abide with us forever (John 14:16). Paul goes on to tell us that the Spirit of God has been given to us as the earnest (arrabon), the deposit, or the down payment, of our inheritance.15 What has become increasingly obvious in our modern western economy, is that a down payment is no guarantee that the transaction thus sealed, or marked, will come to fruition. Rather, it is a sign of intent; recent mortgage company disasters illustrate that, indeed, a down payment does not mean that property ownership will take place. The illustration bears only a small application to the spiritual; God has put His Spirit within those who have placed their faith in the Lord Jesus, and He is completely faithful to see us through to the inheritance that He has prepared for those who remain faithful to Him. It is we, who have received God’s mark of the Spirit by faith in Christ, who need to remain steadfast in Him so that this Mark will remain with us. Christ promised that His Spirit is given to remain with us forever: “And I will pray the Father, and he shall give you another Comforter, that he may abide with you for ever” (John 14:16). Abide (meno), although in the subjunctive mood, is part of a purpose clause and is, therefore, to be read as a statement of fact;16 God provides the Holy Spirit with the intent that He will remain with us forever – God is committed to bringing us into His inheritance. Remember that the Spirit of God is a mark that identifies us as belonging to the Lord; He is not a preservative! “Take heed, brethren [in 3:1, they are called holy brethren], lest there be in any of you an evil heart of unbelief [apistias, no belief, no faith], in departing [to become apostate] from the living God” (Hebrews 3:12).17 Even though God has done everything to ensure our success as His child, we are warned on numerous occasions to remain committed to Him; God will not make our choices for us, nor will He override us if we should choose to turn away from Him (to that place of no faith). What we must not lose sight of is this: God has done everything to fulfill His responsibility in the redemptive transaction. Nevertheless, Jesus made it very clear that we must remain faithful to Him unto the end of our time on earth in order to one day be saved (Matthew 24:13). “If we believe not, yet he abideth faithful: he cannot deny himself” (2 Timothy 2:13).
5. 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. (John 5:24).
Once again we are faced with the need to pay close attention to the tenses of the verbs. Heareth, believeth, hath and come are all in the present tense (a continuous action), the first three are in the active voice (the subject carries out the action), and the last is in the middle voice (not coming into condemnation is the experience of the subject because of his actions of hearing and believing).18 Once again, it is as the hearing and believing remain presently active that the promise of everlasting life is a reality; likewise, it is as these continue that no condemnation is in place. Having life and no condemnation is dependent upon meeting the conditions that are stated; they are not based upon a single action in the past, but on a present living state. Paul spelled this out very clearly: “There is therefore now no condemnation to them which are in Christ Jesus …” (Romans 8:1); it is while we are abiding in Christ that we are under no condemnation before God.
We live in a day when many will acknowledge that there is a present “falling away”; we speak of the apostasy that is taking place among Evangelicals and Fundamentalists alike, yet a common explanation for this is that these people were never truly born-again. Indeed, there are many within these broad groups who are not born-again, but they are not falling away when they leave Christianity behind – they are simply acting according to their faith, which is not in the Lord. It makes no sense for me to say, “I renounce being an American,” since I’ve never been an American; in the same way, it makes no sense to view someone as no longer being a Christian (or as being apostate), when they have never been a Christian. Even John MacArthur fails to grasp this simple reality. He defines apostasy as “abandonment, a separation, a defection” (which is fine), but then goes on to say that people who are apostate “never genuinely embrace[d] the truth”, thereby placing himself in an impossible position of contradiction!19 He goes on at some length to diminish what it means to abandon, separate or defect from the Truth, and claims that Jesus likened the apostate to “ravenous wolves in sheep’s clothing (Matthew 7:15).”20 A wolf in sheep’s clothing is still a wolf; he is not an apostate sheep just because he tosses aside the sheep’s clothing – the wolf is no longer a hypocrite (he was a wolf trying to appear to be a sheep), but it is ludicrous to say that he is no longer a sheep (which is what calling him an apostate says). To fall away from something, or to leave something behind, demands that you, at one time, belonged to whatever you are leaving behind. So, when we read, “Let no man deceive you by any means: for that day shall not come, except there come a falling away [apostasia] first” (2 Thessalonians 2:3), this cannot be referring to those who have never been born-again (yet this is how Evangelicals of all stripes view this). Even a Fundamental Baptist group holds that “the salvation of every believer is secure for all eternity from the moment of salvation.”21 Hidden within this doctrine is the impossibility of apostasy, yet they will, at the same time, proclaim that we are living in a day of apostasy (as you can see, they must redefine the terms in order to prevent a contradiction) – however, we cannot change reality by simply redefining the terms in use.
To this point, we have dealt with some passages that, at first glance, might seem to indicate that we are eternally secure, yet careful investigation has revealed that this is not a proper understanding of them. It is now time to consider several significant passages that clearly teach that eternal security is not Biblical. Before we begin, let’s consider the “Gospel in a nutshell” – John 3:16. If we look at it carefully, we will recognize that even it does not promote eternal security. “For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life.” Yes, the word perish carries the subjunctive mood, but being part of a purpose clause, it must be taken as a statement of fact.22 However, the key to understanding this correctly is to carefully consider the word believeth: it is in the present tense (a continuous action) and active voice (the subject [whosoever] is carrying out the action). As long as the subject is believing (using the Biblical definition of this word), he will not perish and is holding everlasting life. What we learn elsewhere in Scripture, is that it is possible for someone who is believing to change and have no faith (Hebrews 3:12, for example), at which time he has become apostate and no longer holds everlasting life.
Let us now consider several passages that provide further evidence against the teaching of eternal security. This is not an exhaustive listing, but several have been included in order to provide ample evidence that the doctrine of eternal security is not Biblical.
1. Romans 11:13-22 – 13For I speak to you Gentiles, inasmuch as I am the apostle of the Gentiles, I magnify mine office: 14If by any means I may provoke to emulation [jealousy or envious rivalry] them which are my flesh, and might save some of them. 15For if the casting away of them be the reconciling of the world, what shall the receiving of them be, but life from the dead? 16For if the firstfruit be holy, the lump is also holy: and if the root be holy, so are the branches. 17And if some of the branches be broken off, and thou, being a wild olive tree, wert graffed in among them, and with them partakest of the root and fatness of the olive tree; 18boast not against the branches. But if thou boast, thou bearest not the root, but the root thee. 19Thou wilt say then, The branches were broken off, that I might be graffed in. 20Well; because of unbelief they were broken off, and thou standest by faith. Be not highminded, but fear: 21For if God spared not the natural branches, take heed lest he also spare not thee. 22Behold therefore the goodness and severity of God: on them which fell, severity; but toward thee, goodness, if thou continue in his goodness: otherwise thou also shalt be cut off.23
The passage is clear: if we desire to continue as members who have been grafted into the spiritual Root of Israel (the Lord Jesus Christ), then we must abide in the faith by which we were grafted-in. Unbelief (or faithlessness) is the one action that will stop this flow of life. The word continue (verse 22) is the conditional action that will result in receiving God’s goodness; if that condition is not met, then thou also shalt be cut off (ekkopese, to cut off, or make an end of).24
This is not a passage with which modern Evangelicals care to deal. Not only does it bring their doctrine of eternal security into question, but it also casts a shadow over their doctrine of the “Church.” For the most part, the “Church” is considered to be an entity entirely separate from Israel, and a passage such as this shines a spotlight on the error of such teaching. Yes, there are promises made by God to Israel as a people, but we have been grafted into the Lord Jesus Christ (the Olive Tree; consider John 15:4-6 in light of this) according to the pattern of the faith of Abraham (Romans 4:16). However, what is noteworthy for our discussion is that we are warned (Romans 11:20) not to become highminded, or proud (this is in the imperative mood – a command), but we are to fear (another imperative), which means that we are to exercise a “reverential obedience” to God.25 It was through unbelief that the natural branches (those of Israel) were broken off, and the warning is that through unbelief the grafted branches will also be removed. Belief, or faith, is the key to being grafted into the spiritual Root of Israel and also to remaining in Him; unbelief, or faithlessness, is the means to being cut off from that spiritual relationship.
Earlier we considered apostasy, and noted the muddle that men like MacArthur make of it; this provides a word picture that clarifies what is required for apostasy. The branch is grafted into the Root (the Lord Jesus) by faith, it was unbelief (no faith) that resulted in the original branches being broken off, and the warning is given to not be like the removed branches (faithless). If you become faithless, then you will be removed, cut off, or brought to an end; that is apostasy: grafted-in by faith, cut off for becoming faithless. Until you have been grafted into the Root, you cannot be an apostate from God since there is no life-giving connection; “Take heed, brethren, lest there be in any of you an evil heart of unbelief, in departing from the living God” (Hebrews 3:12).
It is also noteworthy that the grafting is an individual-by-individual project. You will note that verse 17 uses the singular pronoun thou – “thou, being a wild olive tree, wert graffed in among them.” This is not a case where all Gentiles have been grafted into the spiritual root of Israel and that they will be broken off as they demonstrate unbelief; those who are individually born-again by the Spirit of God are grafted into the spiritual Root of Israel (they are in Christ – Ephesians 2:13), and if they should turn away in unbelief, then they will not be spared (verse 21). This also flies in the face of men like Donald McGavran who promoted group acceptance of Christianity within cultures that have strong interpersonal connective ties: “The individual does not think of himself as a self-sufficient unit, but as part of the group. … Peoples become Christian as this group-mind is brought into a lifegiving relationship to Jesus as Lord.”26 Although he gave a passing acknowledgement of the need for personal conversions, his focus was on Christianizing nations in broad terms, and so he went on: “It is important to note that the group decision is not the sum of separate individual decisions.”27 McGavran saw the group movement toward Christian values and lifestyle as being the most important thing to strive for. Yet Jesus said, “Every [a word which speaks of individuality] branch [singular] in me that beareth not fruit he [the Father] taketh away: and every branch that beareth fruit, he purgeth it [singular], that it may bring forth more fruit” (John 15:2). The connection of the branch to the Vine is individual, not group; “He that abideth in me, and I in him, the same bringeth forth much fruit …” (John 15:5) – notice the use of singular pronouns to describe the abiding that is required.
2. Matthew 18:23-35 – 23Therefore is the kingdom of heaven likened unto a certain king, which would take account of his servants. 24And when he had begun to reckon, one was brought unto him, which owed him ten thousand talents.28 25But forasmuch as he had not to pay, his lord commanded him to be sold, and his wife, and children, and all that he had, and payment to be made. 26The servant therefore fell down, and worshipped him, saying, Lord, have patience with me, and I will pay thee all. 27Then the lord of that servant was moved with compassion, and loosed him, and forgave him the debt. 28But the same servant went out, and found one of his fellowservants, which owed him an hundred pence:29 and he laid hands on him, and took him by the throat, saying, Pay me that thou owest. 29And his fellowservant fell down at his feet, and besought him, saying, Have patience with me, and I will pay thee all. 30And he would not: but went and cast him into prison, till he should pay the debt. 31So when his fellowservants saw what was done, they were very sorry, and came and told unto their lord all that was done. 32Then his lord, after that he had called him, said unto him, O thou wicked servant, I forgave thee all that debt, because thou desiredst me: 33Shouldest not thou also have had compassion on thy fellowservant, even as I had pity on thee? 34And his lord was wroth, and delivered him to the tormentors, till he should pay all that was due unto him. 35So likewise shall my heavenly Father do also unto you, if ye from your hearts forgive not every one his brother their trespasses.
This is not a popular text for sermons today because it does not fit within today’s theologies. Nevertheless, these are Jesus’ words and we would do well to heed them in light of the rest of Scripture. This is clearly a case of complete forgiveness extended, because the king loosed him and forgave him the debt (v. 27). However, when the king heard that this servant did not extend the same compassion to a fellow servant, he recalled this servant to stand before him. The king reminds him that he had been forgiven all (I forgave thee all that debt), but then renounced his forgiveness (the cancellation of the debt), and required the servant to repay all that he owed – he reinstated his massive debt. This parable follows Jesus’ instruction to Peter that he is to forgive his brother until seventy times seven, or times without number. Although it may be beyond understanding from the perspective of eternal security, this parable is easily understood if we accept the fact that a heart of unbelief will undo what God has done in us. We are told that the king had compassion on his hopelessly debt-ridden servant, and loosed him, or set him free, and forgave him.30 When Jesus taught His disciples to pray, He included the words: “And forgive us our debts, as we forgive our debtors,” and went on to explain: “For if ye forgive men their trespasses, your heavenly Father will also forgive you: But if ye forgive not men their trespasses, neither will your Father forgive your trespasses” (Matthew 6:12, 14-15). The word forgive that is used here comes from the same Greek word as used by the king in freeing his servant from his great debt.
There can be no doubt that the servant was forgiven by the king; he was freed from the huge debt that he was unable to pay. Yet because he was unwilling to extend a similar forgiveness to a fellow servant, the king withdrew his forgiveness and reinstated the debt from which the servant had been freed. Drawing this together with the Lord’s words in Matthew 6, there can be little doubt about the significant warning that is issued here. Your debt of sin that you are unable to pay can be cancelled, through faith in the Lord Jesus; nevertheless, an unwillingness to extend the same gracious forgiveness to others, will result in God cutting you off. Jesus tells us that the branch that is removed, withers, is cast into the fire, and is burning (John 15:6).
3. Luke 8:4-15 – 4And when much people were gathered together, and were come to him out of every city, he spake by a parable: 5A sower went out to sow his seed: and as he sowed, some fell by the way side; and it was trodden down, and the fowls of the air devoured it. 6And some fell upon a rock; and as soon as it was sprung up, it withered away, because it lacked moisture. 7And some fell among thorns; and the thorns sprang up with it, and choked it. 8And other fell on good ground, and sprang up, and bare fruit an hundredfold. And when he had said these things, he cried, He that hath ears to hear, let him hear. 9And his disciples asked him, saying, What might this parable be? 10And he said, Unto you it is given to know the mysteries of the kingdom of God: but to others in parables; that seeing they might not see, and hearing they might not understand. 11Now the parable is this: The seed is the word of God. 12Those by the way side are they that hear; then cometh the devil, and taketh away the word out of their hearts, lest they should believe and be saved. 13They on the rock are they, which, when they hear, receive the word with joy; and these have no root, which for a while believe, and in time of temptation fall away. 14And that which fell among thorns are they, which, when they have heard, go forth, and are choked with cares and riches and pleasures of this life, and bring no fruit to perfection. 15But that on the good ground are they, which in an honest and good heart, having heard the word, keep it, and bring forth fruit with patience.
This is the parable of the soils and the Seed, the Word of God. The Seed that fell by the wayside is snatched away by the devil so that they will not believe to be saved (literal).31 Although saved is in the subjunctive mood, as part of a purpose clause it becomes factual: the devil removes the Word so that they will not believe and be saved. Next, there is Seed that falls among the rocks, which we have already likened to those who came forward at a Billy Graham crusade (or any other such venture). These receive the Word with joy, and they are believing until they face a test (probably as it relates to the Word). The indication is that if the trial (temptation) had not come along, they would have continued to believe, but because of the testing, they fall away (aphistantai, withdrew, became apostate).32 It is obvious that there is life; the root is indication that there is life – it was no longer just a seed. Although there was life and growth, the plant fell away and died; as stated before, you simply cannot fall away, or withdraw, from something to which you have never been a part. Unfortunately, once the seed has sprouted and then its life fails, it cannot be revived; this fits with both the metaphor that Jesus is using here and with the rest of Scripture. These are those who failed to count the cost of following the Lord, and they apostatize the moment that they face any opposition.
Some Seed fell among thorns. These hear the Word and “go forth,” or begin the journey of walking with the Lord, only to confront the cares, riches, and pleasures of this world.33 When excuses were raised to Jesus for not following Him, Jesus said, “No man, having put his hand to the plough, and looking back, is fit for the kingdom of God” (Luke 9:62). Once again, we are faced with the necessity of counting the cost of discipleship, lest we fall short of enduring to the end. Notice that these who were growing in the Lord were choked by anxieties (“Be careful [or anxious] for nothing; but in every thing by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known unto God” [Philippians 4:6]34), by riches or wealth (“For the love of money is the root of all evil: which while some coveted after, they have erred from the faith, and pierced themselves through with many sorrows” [1 Timothy 6:10]), and by pleasures (“…lovers of pleasures more than lovers of God” [2 Timothy 3:4]). The result is that they are choked and do not grow to maturity; they fail to endure, and their end is the same as the seed that grew quickly in the rocky soil, and then died. Finally, there is Seed that falls upon good ground that has been prepared – the cost of discipleship has been evaluated and the commitment has been made with a full understanding that difficulties will come, even as Jesus promised that they would (John 16:33). Jesus states that the Seed in the good ground brought forth fruit, with patience, with endurance in the face of opposition and trials;35 it was not because of the absence of difficulties that fruit was produced, but despite them.
What must not be missed is that there was life in the plant upon the rocks and in the plant that was eventually choked by the thorns; the Word of God brought forth life within the stony heart and within the heart that was filled with weeds. However, that life did not bear fruit because of the condition of the heart. Making a commitment to follow the Lord demands more than a superficial assent (the modern concept of believe); the Spirit of God must be an active participant in establishing a willing and obedient heart as a favorable place for spiritual growth. Through compromising the clear doctrines of the Word of God and embracing Ecumenical error, Evangelicals are strangling the work of the Spirit of God. Their carefully-crafted, light gospel is a perversion of the Biblical message that Paul so carefully defended to the Galatians; it is a different, corrupt gospel that bears no resemblance to the original, and holds no life (Galatians 1:6-7).
4. Hebrews 6:4-6 – 4For it is impossible for those who were once enlightened, and have tasted of the heavenly gift, and were made partakers of the Holy Ghost, 5And have tasted the good word of God, and the powers of the world to come, 6If they shall fall away, to renew them again unto repentance; seeing they crucify to themselves the Son of God afresh, and put him to an open shame.
For those who hold to eternal security, this is a difficult passage with which to deal. Let’s go through it carefully to ensure that we have a proper understanding of what the Lord is trying to tell us, allowing the Word of God to speak for itself, without the restraints of polished theologies. Theologies are merely man’s attempt to understand what God has said to him; the Scriptures are what God has truly said to us. Our primary focus needs to be God’s Word, not man’s words; unfortunately, preachers receive seminary training in applied theology.
The word impossible means just that, the Greek word (adunaton) means something that cannot be done.36 Enlightened (photisthentas) is a potent word that means to give spiritual enlightenment, or to “imbue [or fill] with saving knowledge.”37 Therefore, when this first phrase tells of those who were once enlightened, it is speaking specifically of those who have been born-again (else it could not be said that they were enlightened) – they received a saving knowledge. Moreover, they have also tasted of the heavenly gift. The word tasted is interesting, and those who are in support of eternal security will endeavor to use this word to discount the overall thrust of the passage. However, it is from the Greek root word (geuomai) that is used in Acts 10:10, 20:11 and 23:14 where it is translated as eaten; furthermore, this Greek word is used in Hebrews 2:9: “But we see Jesus, who was made a little lower than the angels for the suffering of death, crowned with glory and honour; that he by the grace of God should taste [did experience] death for every man”;38 Jesus experienced death in its fullness as He bore the sin of the world. This word is also used to describe the ruler of the feast tasting the water turned to wine (John 2:9), and of Jesus tasting the vinegar on the cross and refusing to drink further (Matthew 27:34). Although we might think of a taste as being less than eating a full meal (although in Acts 10:10, Peter was waiting to eat a full meal), it is also evident that a taste is sufficient to provide a full awareness of what is to be taken. In great fullness, Jesus tasted death; yet taste is an appropriate term since His death ended in a resurrected life after three days and three nights; the death was very real but temporary. Therefore, in our verse, we understand that this taste is sufficient to know the heavenly gift.
These enlightened ones have tasted of the heavenly gift. We just noted that Jesus tasted death (Hebrews 2:9); i.e., He experienced death in its fullness, even though it did not hold Him. From this we conclude that such a taste is more than a sip from a drink or a nibble of food, since such small portions often lead to a false assessment of what has been sampled. Therefore, we know that these, who have been enlightened, have experienced, or have obtained, the heavenly gift.39 There are two Greek words that are primarily translated as gift: the first (and what we find in our text) is dorea, which, in the NT, refers to a free, spiritual gift, or benefit, that comes from God for the one who is born again (it is a general gift); the second in charisma, which is also a free gift but centers on grace (charis), or favor, and does not come to everyone in the same way (it is an individual gift).40 As we consider the use of this word (gift/dorea) within the NT, we come away with some understanding of this heavenly gift that the enlightened have received. The most significant gift (dorea) that is given by God to the one who is born again through faith in Christ, is the Holy Spirit. When Peter provided a brief explanation of the Gospel to Cornelius and those who were gathered with him (Gentiles), they understood the Message, and the Spirit of God came upon them: “And they of the circumcision which believed were astonished, as many as came with Peter, because that on the Gentiles also was poured out the gift [dorea] of the Holy Ghost” (Acts 10:45). To the Romans, Paul wrote that it is in Christ that an abundance of grace (charis) and the gift (dorea) of righteousness is being received (Romans 5:17). To the Ephesians, Paul spoke of the gift (dorea) of grace that is given by Christ (Ephesians 4:7). To the one who has placed his faith in the Lord Jesus Christ, the Holy Spirit, God’s righteousness and His grace will freely be given; it is through His grace (charis) that we are given the free gift (charisma) that expresses His favor toward us individually. Without question, the heavenly gift (dorea) that the enlightened one has received is the Holy Spirit.
These, who have been enlightened and have known God’s salvation, have also been made partakers of the Holy Ghost; they have become sharers in the Holy Spirit. We are told: “ye are not in the flesh, but in the Spirit, if so be that the Spirit of God dwell in you” (Romans 8:9). As partakers (metochous) of the Spirit of God, they cannot simply be “professors,” but are clearly indwelt by the Spirit – they are truly born again! As partakers of the Spirit of God, they have spiritual life; “For to be carnally minded is death; but to be spiritually minded is life and peace. Because the carnal mind is enmity against God: for it is not subject to the law of God, neither indeed can be” (Romans 8:6-7). There is little room for movement here; if you have the Spirit (and a partaker does), then you abide in life and peace.
However, there is more, for these have also tasted the good word of God. They have heard the excellent Word of God – it was spoken and they heard it; not only heard it, but they have taken it in. Tasted is exactly the same Greek word that was just used. Finally, they have also tasted the powers of the world to come; they have experienced the power, or inherent might, of the age that is coming (this is present tense, so the power of the age to come is coming even now; what will be pervasive in Christ’s Kingdom is coming now in an individual application). This is the power of our resurrected Lord at work in their lives, a power that will see its ultimate fruition in the new world to come. “For it is God which worketh in you both to will and to do of his good pleasure” (Philippians 2:13).
Now consider for a moment who is being referred to here; this is someone who has been filled with saving knowledge, has taken of God’s gift of salvation, has shared in the Spirit of God, has heard and understood the Word of God, and has seen the power of God at work in his own life. This is no casual “sip” taken from the New Covenant that was implemented by our Lord; there is sufficient here to have a very good idea of what it means to be a Christian and live the life to which God has called us, through the power of His Spirit. The Seed of the Word of God has fallen on a heart that has permitted it to grow – it has been received with joy; the journey with the God of the Word has begun. God does not have a road-side table of produce where the world can sample His Spirit, or inhale the aroma of His salvation to see if they really like it. The Psalmist said: “O taste and see that the LORD is good: blessed is the man that trusteth in him” (Psalm 34:8). The Hebrew word translated as taste is also the word for perceive; the call is to perceive, or discern, the Lord – count the cost! The words taste and see are both commands; the seeing is not a result of the tasting, rather, it is a separate call to ponder the Lord. This is a call to consider the Lord and cannot be construed as merely sampling Him. Our passage speaks of someone who has embarked on a walk of faith with God. However, we are warned by Jesus to count the cost of being His disciple, and as we have learned from the parable of the soils, there will be those who will receive His Word (the Seed), go forth in new life, and then fall away when the pressures and allurements of life come to bear.
The next statement must be considered very carefully: if they shall fall away. The Greek for this phrase is simply: and having turned away (literal).41 Let’s pause and construct the sentence, so far, in our minds. We began with the thought of impossibility, then we have sketched for us someone who is saved, and now that someone falls away (commits apostasy); we will now learn what is impossible about this situation. Before we go on, we need to ponder this reality that the Spirit of God has laid out for us; this is someone who has been truly born-again and then commits apostasy (parapesontas).42 May I say, at this point, that many take this passage as being hypothetical – it meets their needs to set this aside as being spiritual conjecture. However, the Spirit of God does not frame imaginary situations, but has given us this reality in order to guide us into all truth (John 16:13). The Lord used parables in His teaching, and they are clearly identified as such for us – there is no mistaking them. However, this is an instructive passage where the Spirit of God is laying out His truth for us.
Now, what is the impossible situation? It is impossible (remember, this is speaking of someone who was in Christ and has fallen away) to “renew them again unto repentance.” Repentance is a change of mind that results in a change in behavior; this takes place when we place our faith in Christ – we turn away from the world, sin and the devil, and we turn to the Lord and life. This states plainly that for the one who is in Christ and turns away from Him (becomes apostate), it is impossible to restore such a one to that place of repentance in Christ. In other words, you can be saved once, and only once. Consider again the parable of the soils – the rocky and weedy soils produced genuine life, but in each case that life was snuffed out through trials or pleasures; however, note that in both cases the life that was there is gone and it will not return. The branch of the vine, when it is removed, withers and is burned (John 15:6). “And the destruction of the transgressors and of the sinners shall be together, and they that forsake [abandon, apostatize from] the LORD shall be consumed [come to an end, vanish, perish, be destroyed]” (Isaiah 1:28).43 This is another promise from God to which we must give attention.
However, our passage does not end with this pronouncement but goes on to provide a reason for this judgment: “seeing they crucify to themselves the Son of God afresh, and put him to an open shame.” “And as it is appointed unto men once to die, but after this the judgment: So Christ was once offered to bear the sins of many; and unto them that look for him shall he appear the second time without sin unto salvation” (Hebrews 9:27-28). “By the which will [the New Covenant] we are sanctified through the offering of the body of Jesus Christ once for all” (Hebrews 10:10). “For Christ also hath once suffered for sins, the just for the unjust, that he might bring us to God, being put to death in the flesh, but quickened by the Spirit …” (1 Peter 3:18). What is clear is that Christ suffered one time; He made only one offering for the sins of mankind. For someone to fall away from God (an established possibility) and then to seek the cleansing of Christ’s offering again, would be an attempt to crucify Christ the second time, something that cannot take place. When the salvation of Christ has been experienced and then turned away from, there is no further offering available for that person; they have shown disdain for the only offering that can be made for them. Not only would such a person be seeking to crucify Christ a second time, but they would be putting Christ to open shame, or exposing Him to public disgrace.44 Being an apostate holds Christ to public disgrace; here is someone who is known to be saved, who had a testimony to the unsaved, and now is fallen away and has become like the world. The world will recognize the disgrace of this, and Satan will be sure to make it known. We all know the shame that is borne by the Christian community when a high profile Christian leader stumbles morally; how much greater the impact of someone who turns away from the Lord completely?
This passage not only makes it very clear that it is possible to turn away from Christ, but it also shows that once apostasy has taken place, there is no returning to that place in Christ. Peter, as he wrote on this matter, declared: “For it had been better for them [those who fall away from Christ] not to have known [to fully know] the way of righteousness, than, after they have known it, to turn from the holy commandment delivered unto them” (2 Peter 2:21). Consider carefully what he is saying: it is better to have not heard the Gospel truth, than to know it completely (to be in Christ and separated from the world) and then turn away from it. Why is that? If you have not accepted the Gospel, there is always the hope that you will hear it and turn to be in Christ, but if you are apostate, then you are without hope – your destiny in the Lake of Fire has been secured.
5. Hebrews 10:26-29 - 26For if we sin wilfully after that we have received the knowledge of the truth, there remaineth no more sacrifice for sins, 27But a certain fearful looking for of judgment and fiery indignation, which shall devour the adversaries. 28He that despised Moses’ law died without mercy under two or three witnesses: 29Of how much sorer punishment, suppose ye, shall he be thought worthy, who hath trodden under foot the Son of God, and hath counted the blood of the covenant, wherewith he was sanctified, an unholy thing, and hath done despite unto the Spirit of grace?
Immediately, we have an affirmation of the passage that we just looked into from Hebrews 6: for the one who has accepted a saving knowledge of the Truth, and who is now living in deliberate sin (sin wilfully), for that one, there is no longer a sacrifice for sins available – there is only a terrible expectation of condemnation! This is someone who has despised the sacrifice of Christ (trodden under foot), and considers the blood of Christ that brought in the New Covenant to be ordinary (unholy), even though he, at one time, had been sanctified (egiasthe, made holy) by that very blood! The one who was made holy by the blood of Christ and who is now living in willful sin, cannot be restored to Christ – he is destined for God’s condemnation.
Like the previous passage, this not only strikes at the doctrine of eternal security, but also identifies the destiny of the one who is truly apostate.
6. Exodus 32:33 – And the LORD said unto Moses, Whosoever hath sinned against me, him will I blot out of my book.
You will recall that when Moses went onto the mountain to meet with the Lord, the Israelites grew weary of waiting for him, and Aaron built for them a calf of gold and caused them to worship it (Exodus 32:4). When Moses came down from the mountain and saw what the people had done, in his anger at the people, he broke the stone tables upon which God had written the Commandments. Moses then returned to meet with the Lord again, and to plead for mercy for the people of Israel; his petition was that if God would not forgive their sin, that He would then blot his name from His book (Exodus 32:32). What we have here is God’s response to Moses; He will not blot Moses’ name from His book, but rather the name of whoever sins against Him. The Hebrew word (mâchâh) translated as blot out means “to stroke or rub; by implication to erase”;45 erasures from leather scrolls were made by washing the ink off – hence, to wipe or rub catches the essence of the action.46 Within the context of our study, what is evident is that God does not deny that a person’s name can be removed from His book.
The Psalmist in Psalm 69:28 pleads with the Lord: “Let them be blotted out of the book of the living, and not be written with the righteous.” This is a Messianic Psalm, and, just before this, reference is made to the suffering that the Messiah would endure; the Psalmist’s plea is that those who inflicted such suffering would have their names erased (same Hebrew word as above) from the book of the living.
Revelation 3:5: “He that overcometh, the same shall be clothed in white raiment; and I will not blot out his name out of the book of life, but I will confess his name before my Father, and before his angels.” Jesus makes this declaration in His letter to the messenger of the ekklesia at Sardis, who had a good reputation but was virtually dead, spiritually. To those who would overcome, or gain the victory, Jesus promises that He will not blot out (exaleipso), or “do away with,” their name from the Book of Life.47 The same Greek word is used in Revelation 7:17 and 21:4 where it says that God shall wipe away every tear from their eyes. In the same way, the Lord will leave no evidence in the Book of Life of the names of those who fall away (do not overcome or endure).
Revelation 22:19 “And if any man shall take away from the words of the book of this prophecy, God shall take away his part out of the book of life, and out of the holy city, and from the things which are written in this book.” This is another of God’s promises: if anyone will take away from the words of the prophecy of Revelation, then God will remove his part from the Book of Life.
We do not know all that is meant by the Book of Life. However, of what we can be sure is that if our names are not in the Book, then our sure destination is the Lake of Fire: “And whosoever was not found written in the book of life was cast into the lake of fire” (Revelation 20:15). Of what we can be equally sure is that it is possible to have our names removed from the Book of Life by sinning against God ([Exodus 32:33], disobedience is the sin to which we need to be alert), by failing to hold fast to the truths of Scripture and by failing to overcome, or gain the victory (Revelation 3:3-5), and by dealing carelessly with the word of prophecy given in the book of Revelation (22:19). If we consider these in the light of John 15 and Romans 11, then it becomes clear that there will be those who fall away from the Truth, and whose names will be erased from the Book of Life.
The importance of being in Christ must not be missed, or minimized; yet Jesus made it clear that the responsibility to abide in Him rests with us; we are commanded to abide (remain) in Him – it is something that we are to do (John 15). Jesus’ words in John 15:4 are: “You abide in me,” this is a command (imperative mood) on which we are to take action (active voice where the subject [you] is to carry out the action [abide]), and this is not a one-time action, hence Jesus words, “he that endureth to the end shall be saved” (Matthew 10:22).48 “And hereby we do know that we know him, if we keep his commandments” (1 John 2:3). Jesus said, “If ye love me, keep my commandments” (John 14:15), by which we understand that obedience is essential to remaining in Him. One of His commands is that we are to abide in Him. However, we are not alone in our obedience, for He has promised that He will abide in us (John 15:4) – this in no way minimizes our responsibility of abiding in Him; it only secures the relationship, for it could never be secured through our own efforts. If we seek to obey His command to abide in Him, then He is abundantly able to keep us, and promises that nothing outside of us will ever be able to snatch us out of His hand (John 10:27; Romans 8:35-39). If we do not abide in Him, then His Word will be to us like the seed that fell among the rocks or into the weeds – being either dried up or choked out. If we are obedient and abide in Christ, then He has promised to abide in us – this is the perfect situation in order to remain a part of this holy dwelling, this ekklesia of the Lord, a Building and a Body made up of the saints of all of the ages! Our lot is to remain faithful to the Lord despite what may come our way in this life; it is only as we live in obedience to Him that we will one day inherit the full salvation that He has purchased for us (Matthew 24:13).
Eternal security? Our only security in this life is the Lord and living in obedience to Him through the working of the indwelling Spirit of God. Placing our faith in Christ is not the end, but the beginning of a life that is committed to Him. The doctrine of eternal security is based upon the assumption that a prayer for salvation is the end – there is so much more to a life in Christ, and our failure to understand that will leave us spiritually dead and destined for the Lake of Fire. God help us to see that faith, without obedience, is dead (James 2:17), but faith with obedience is life more abundant in Christ (John 10:10).
The question that arises is this: “Can this Seal be removed?” Is it possible for the Spirit of God to depart from our lives? Is our eternal destiny eternally secured by this Seal? There are many within Evangelical and Baptist traditions who strongly insist that our eternal destiny has been secured and cannot be changed. Calvinism promotes the doctrine of the perseverance of the saints (what they actually mean is the preservation of the saints), with the idea that the elect (by which they mean those who have been chosen for salvation by God from eternity past) are eternally secure – but that is a totally different application of a similar sounding teaching.2 Within Evangelicalism, the loudly acclaimed success of evangelist Billy Graham is founded upon a belief in the eternal security of those who came forward at his crusades and prayed a simple prayer for salvation. They have built their understanding upon passages like Acts 16:31: “Believe [root, pisteuo] on the Lord Jesus Christ, and thou shalt be saved …”; it appears to be evident: if you believe, then you are saved. However, time must be taken to understand fully what it means to believe; failure to do so could leave the proponents of such simplicity, and their converts, in spiritual darkness. “Thou believest [root, pisteuo] that there is one God; thou doest well: the devils also believe [root, pisteuo], and tremble” (James 2:19). Clearly, we must be very sure that we hold a proper understanding of how the Bible uses the word believe, or we may be no better than the devils! Perhaps we have heard the pope, Robert Schuller, and George W. Bush all saying that Muslims worship the same God as Christians, yet the Muslims’ god excludes both the Holy Spirit and Jesus Christ. The Muslims believe in one god, but not the same God as the devils, and so they do not tremble; the devils recognize the God of all creation, whereas the Muslims’ god is an ancestral deity that was chosen by their leader, Mohammed. Similarly, in our situation a superficial concept of the Biblical believe can lead to very wrong conclusions. Obviously, for our salvation we must have the right belief in the right God. We must use discernment in determining what it means to be a Christian (to Biblically believe), and not paint a picture that is contrary to what God reveals in His Word.
When Evangelicals speak of being saved, they like to be able to look back to when they prayed a prayer to accept Jesus into their hearts. It matters not if they recognized their sin that destines them for hell, nor if they have repented of those sins and turned to a life that is lived in obedience to the Word of God. As a matter of fact, it has come to the point that if someone simply says that he is a “Christian,” then that is sufficient evidence to never question their faith, no matter how they live. For the most part, Christianity has become a subjective reality that we dare not question, lest we be construed as being judgmental, which seems to be far worse (in the eyes of the average Evangelical) than to live in the cesspool of the world.
Praying a prayer to “receive Jesus” is what some term easy-believism. In essence, a prayer is uttered that is not based upon a complete understanding of what it means to be a child of God, and that is deemed to be sufficient to secure eternal life as a child of God. There is seldom a complete explanation of the fact that we are born in sin, separated from God by our inherited sin, and there is definitely no admonition to count the cost of following the Lord before praying the prayer. There is a cost to being a disciple of the Lord Jesus, and, unless that cost is taken into consideration, the belief expressed in a moment of appeal is ill-founded. Counting the cost is very clearly advocated by the Lord in Luke 14:26-33, and we would do well to heed His warning; a failure, at this point, could lead to a faith that fizzles under pressure, or is choked-out by life’s temptations (apostasy).
Consider an illustration from Billy Graham’s work as an evangelist. Regarding a crusade in Houston, Texas in 1965, Curtis Mitchell wrote: “Finally, the flood [of people coming forward] ceased and the closely packed mass stood silent, with faces upturned, waiting. Graham led them through a short prayer of repentance and confession. They repeated it, two thousand voices so soft they could hardly be heard. Then, as Graham turned to depart, the battalions of converts changed into a new formation … [of] twosomes and threesomes ….”3 Notice that after Graham had led this massive group in a short prayer, they were all considered to be converts. Yet the reality is that a large portion of these people would have had no idea of what it was that they were supposed to have done, other than respond to an emotional appeal. The authenticity of their conversion depended not on the prayer that they repeated with Graham, but on what took place within the twosomes, threesomes, or, more importantly, within their own hearts if they permitted the Spirit of God to open their eyes. Those genuine, lifetime commitments that have taken place as a result of Graham’s work (there is no denying that some began their life-time journey with the Lord at such a crusade), would be, to a great extent, despite Graham, rather than because of him. The emotional response generated through his crusade tactics is not a solid basis for making such a costly commitment. Consider some documented reflections on the experience that some people had at his crusades (and these are from 1966 documentation): “There was a wrenching and a tearing, and then there was a flood of warmth that was overpowering … so very much happiness filled me that I did not feel I could contain it all”; “When the Holy Spirit entered my heart, He heightened every aspect of life, like a sixth sense”; “I can never forget the indescribable ecstasy of that moment.”4 Notice that all of these reflect an emotional response: “flood of warmth,” “heightened every aspect of life,” and “indescribable ecstasy.” Jesus spoke of just such a response: “They on the rock are they, which, when they hear, receive the word with joy; and these have no root, which for a while believe, and in time of temptation fall away” (Luke 8:13). There is an immediate and evident response to the Word (the Seed), but when a trial comes their way, their newly found faith disappears. Jesus very clearly tells us to count the cost before we commit to following Him, therefore, an emotional response is not sufficient; counting the cost of following the Lord is part of the process of preparing the soil of our hearts so that the Word of God can take root and flourish. Unless we have a change of life and a fresh love for His Word, there is no basis for claiming to be born-again.
What we have today, within Evangelical circles, is an over-simplification of what it means to be a Christian – to the point that many leave it up to the individual to decide. It is considered to be inappropriate to look for a changed life, either for separation from the world and its allurements, or for obedience to the clear instructions of Scripture. The emphasis is placed upon a prayer having been made – after all, it is reasoned, what’s on the inside is far more important than what is on the outside. Incredibly, this is the reverse error of the Pharisees of Jesus’ day, but the results are quite similar. “Woe unto you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! for ye make clean the outside of the cup and of the platter, but within they are full of extortion and excess. Thou blind Pharisee, cleanse first that which is within the cup and platter, that the outside of them may be clean also” (Matthew 23:25-26). The Pharisees made a great show of appearing to be righteous, yet Jesus condemned them because inwardly they were corrupt and undisciplined; His admonition to correct their problem was to “cleanse first that which is within” so that the outward will be clean also. The Pharisees thought that they had the outward down pat, and were irreproachable (clearly, they had fooled the people, but not God); the Lord saw through their façade, and condemned both the inward and the outward (the former for being a den of corruption, the latter for being hypocrisy). Today the emphasis is exactly reversed: the Evangelical tries to focus on the inward with absolutely no regard for the outward. However, they have compromised what it means to be cleansed, to the point that inward cleansing is no longer possible based solely upon their inadequate understanding of God’s Word; therefore, their assumed inner sanctity is in jeopardy of having never existed. What they fail to recognize (and this is something that Jesus clarified for the Pharisees) is that the outward is a reflection of the inward. When the Evangelicals boast of their freedom in Christ to live like the world, they only confirm their lack of understanding of the Word of God; the work of God in the heart not only creates a fundamental inward change, but that change must also lead to an outward renewal (Romans 8:4; Ephesians 4:24).
Evangelicals have torn the heart out of what it means to be a Christian – it has been downgraded to the point where thousands of people repeating a prayer in a stadium are automatically considered to be converts, or changed people. Yet how many have walked out of the stadium in a new life with Christ, walking according to the calling that Christ has placed on their lives, namely, a commitment to being obedient to His Word? The counselors who would make up the “twosomes” and “threesomes” are appointed by the “pastors of cooperating churches”;5 in other words, they are appointed from among those who, in many cases, no longer hold to the unalterable truths of Scripture. As early as 1968, Graham is quoted as saying: “A great part of our support today comes from Catholics. We never hold a crusade without priests and nuns being much in evidence in the audience” (emphasis in the original).6 Therefore, it is only logical that a great part of their counseling force is also from this Roman Catholic support. For some reason, Graham’s associations with the liberals and unbelievers has been downplayed and/or ignored within the Evangelical community; I think that Graham bears considerable responsibility for the accommodation of Catholic theology that has infiltrated the modern Evangelical scene.
In 1952 Graham is quoted as saying: “Many of the people who reach a decision for Christ at our meetings have joined the Catholic Church and we have received commendations from Catholic publications for the revived interest in their Church following our campaigns.… After all, one of our prime purposes is to help the churches in a community. If after we move on, the locl (sic) churches do not feel the efforts of these meetings in increased membership and attendance, then our crusade would have to be considered a failure.”7
There is absolutely no concern expressed that his campaigns bolstered the spiritually dead Roman Catholic Church, not by infusing spiritual life, but by increasing people’s interest in a faith that is without life. Graham hired Willis Haymaker to go ahead of his crusades to prepare the cities for the event. In his autobiography, Just As I Am, he says that Haymaker would “call on the local Catholic bishop or other clerics to acquaint them with the Crusade plans and invite them to the meetings …. This was years before Vatican II’s openness to Protestants, but we were concerned to let the Catholic bishops see that my goal was not to get people to leave their church; rather, I wanted them to commit their lives to Christ.”8 From very early on, Graham very deliberately worked with any religious group that would join with him; in his mind, what he was calling people to do would not violate their faith, no matter how contrary it was to the Word of God. Clearly, Graham did not understand what it means to be committed to Christ, or else he would not have considered the Catholic’s commitment as being acceptable. There is also evidence that he was courting Catholic favor even while he was still trying to convince Fundamentalists that he was opposed to Catholic doctrine.9 “A double minded man is unstable in all his ways” (James 1:8); Billy Graham, that pope of the Evangelical community, has proven his duplicity, without a doubt. His ministry was fraught with compromise and accommodation from its earliest days – he has never been a friend to the truths of Scripture.
We have among Evangelicals a deadly combination. They have watered down what it means to be a Christian, and combined that with a belief in the eternal security of the believer. When the Lord God drove Adam and Eve out of the Garden of Eden, it was for the express purpose of denying man access to the tree of life, lest he should eat thereof and live forever in his sinful state (Genesis 3:22-24). God’s purpose was to implement His eternal plan of salvation so that man might live forever in a redeemed state. What have modern Evangelicals done? They accept and promote a doctrine of salvation that leaves man in his sin (yet under the delusion that he is saved), and they attach to that the concept that, because he prayed for salvation, eternal life is guaranteed. What God expelled man from the Garden of Eden to prevent, Evangelicals have embraced and justified by skewing God’s Word – pray a little prayer and your place in heaven is eternally secured. God says, “NO, it won’t happen like that.” Evangelicals say that it doesn’t matter how you live; as long as you have “asked Jesus into your heart” at some time during your life, then your key to heaven has been secured; they think that they have laid hold of the tree of life, when in reality they have been duped by the master liar, Satan. It is no wonder that a day is coming for them when our Lord will declare, “I never knew you: depart from me, ye that work iniquity” (Matthew 7:23).
We could look at men like Bill Hybels, Robert Schuller, Rick Warren, Joel Osteen, and the list goes on, to further demonstrate the serious diluting that the Gospel has received at the hands of Evangelicals today; however, touching on the crowned king of Evangelicalism should suffice. The question still stands: is it possible, even with a proper understanding of what it means to believe, to have the Spirit of God depart? You would think that since so many Evangelicals and Fundamentalists would respond with a vehement “NO” that there must be a wealth of Scriptures supporting this teaching. Let us move on to look at some of the passages that those who promote the concept of eternal security look to for support.
1. 27My sheep hear my voice, and I know them, and they follow me: 28And I give unto them eternal life; and they shall never perish, neither shall any man pluck them out of my hand. 29My Father, which gave them me, is greater than all; and no man is able to pluck them out of my Father’s hand. (John 10:27-29).
This is a popular passage, and, at first reading, it might appear to pick up on the theme of being eternally saved, for we read that “they shall never perish.” However, there are two things that stand in the way of this becoming the truth of this passage. First of all, the words hear, know, follow (verse 27) and give (verse 28) are all in the present tense in the Greek, which means that they are declaring a “fact or reality viewed as occurring in actual time”;10 the hearing, knowing and following are present, continuing activities (not a present condition due to a past action). Therefore, the phrase they shall never perish can only refer to those who are continually hearing and following the Lord (i.e., living in obedience to Him), and as long as those conditions remain active, then the phrase describes their promise of eternal life – in other words, this is a conditional promise. The word perish, even though it bears the subjunctive mood in the Greek (which generally means a possibility but not a certainty), is used in conjunction with two Greek negatives (ou and me) to make this a strongly emphatic negative.11 Therefore, the sheep of the Shepherd who are hearing His voice and following Him faithfully (obediently) will absolutely never perish, but that is a promise that is conditional, not unconditional.
Yet the question will be raised: what about the rest of the passage that indicates that we are secure in the hand of Jesus and the Father? It can readily be seen that the security of being in the hand of God is from external attack (no one can pluck them out of His hand) – neither anything, nor anyone, is able to remove us from the protective hand of God. That is a precious promise to those who are abiding in Christ, but it cannot be construed to say that we are eternally secure in the hands of God. We will see the significance of this later.
2. 38For I am persuaded, that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor powers, nor things present, nor things to come, 39Nor height, nor depth, nor any other creature, shall be able to separate us from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord. (Romans 8:38-39).
These verses simply declare that there is nothing that can separate us from the love of God. God has a love for all of mankind, for we read: “God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son” (John 3:16). There can be no greater love; there is nothing in heaven or in earth that can separate us from that great love that was demonstrated by the sacrifice of the Lord Jesus Christ, which is what this passage clearly states. God’s desire is that all men would be saved (1 Timothy 2:4); this is confirmed by the provision of His Son to be our Savior and Mediator, but that does not mean that all men will be saved. It is noteworthy that all of the forces listed are external to us, and it is definitely comforting for those who are continually abiding in Christ to know the reality of this security. However, this passage really does not speak to the eternal state of our salvation.
3. 39And this is the Father’s will which hath sent me, that of all which he hath given me I should lose nothing, but should raise it up again at the last day. 40And this is the will of him that sent me, that every one which seeth the Son, and believeth on him, may have everlasting life: and I will raise him up at the last day. (John 6:39-40).
It is the Father’s will that the Lord Jesus should lose nothing. It is evident from the Scriptures that the price that Christ paid on the cross is sufficient for the sins of the whole world (1 John 2:2), and that it is the will of the Father that all men would be saved (1 Timothy 2:4); however, by looking about us today, it is equally clear that all of mankind will not be saved, even though the debt of their sins has been paid in full. First of all, lose, in verse 39, is from the Greek word apoleso, which (in the active voice, as here) means to ruin or destroy; then, being part of a purpose clause, the subjunctive mood of lose becomes a declaration of fact – it is the Father’s will that Jesus destroyed nothing that had been given to Him.12 Secondly, (in verse 40) for the one who is seeing the Son and believing on Him, he is having life everlasting; once again, a purpose clause is involved; seeing (seeth, involving perception and understanding), believing (believeth) and having (have) are all present tense verbs (a continuous action), and the subjunctive mood of having becomes a statement of fact.13 In this case, the having everlasting life is conditional upon the seeing (with understanding) and believing (within the Biblical definition) being in place. It is noteworthy that verse 39 is dealing with things, and the following verse with individuals (people).
4. 13In whom ye also trusted, after that ye heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation: in whom also after that ye believed, ye were sealed with that holy Spirit of promise, 14Which is the earnest of our inheritance until the redemption of the purchased possession, unto the praise of his glory. (Ephesians 1:13-14).
This is where we began our deliberations. It speaks of being sealed with the Holy Spirit. The word seal (esphragisthete) does not mean preservation, as in canning fruits or vegetables, but rather it is a mark of ownership and identity (Romans 8:4).14 In Revelation 9:4 the locusts from the pit are forbidden to harm anyone who bears the seal of God in their foreheads, and Revelation 22:4 tells us that those who are in the New Heaven and Earth will have the name of the Father in their foreheads – indeed, the Holy Spirit has been given to us so that He will abide with us forever (John 14:16). Paul goes on to tell us that the Spirit of God has been given to us as the earnest (arrabon), the deposit, or the down payment, of our inheritance.15 What has become increasingly obvious in our modern western economy, is that a down payment is no guarantee that the transaction thus sealed, or marked, will come to fruition. Rather, it is a sign of intent; recent mortgage company disasters illustrate that, indeed, a down payment does not mean that property ownership will take place. The illustration bears only a small application to the spiritual; God has put His Spirit within those who have placed their faith in the Lord Jesus, and He is completely faithful to see us through to the inheritance that He has prepared for those who remain faithful to Him. It is we, who have received God’s mark of the Spirit by faith in Christ, who need to remain steadfast in Him so that this Mark will remain with us. Christ promised that His Spirit is given to remain with us forever: “And I will pray the Father, and he shall give you another Comforter, that he may abide with you for ever” (John 14:16). Abide (meno), although in the subjunctive mood, is part of a purpose clause and is, therefore, to be read as a statement of fact;16 God provides the Holy Spirit with the intent that He will remain with us forever – God is committed to bringing us into His inheritance. Remember that the Spirit of God is a mark that identifies us as belonging to the Lord; He is not a preservative! “Take heed, brethren [in 3:1, they are called holy brethren], lest there be in any of you an evil heart of unbelief [apistias, no belief, no faith], in departing [to become apostate] from the living God” (Hebrews 3:12).17 Even though God has done everything to ensure our success as His child, we are warned on numerous occasions to remain committed to Him; God will not make our choices for us, nor will He override us if we should choose to turn away from Him (to that place of no faith). What we must not lose sight of is this: God has done everything to fulfill His responsibility in the redemptive transaction. Nevertheless, Jesus made it very clear that we must remain faithful to Him unto the end of our time on earth in order to one day be saved (Matthew 24:13). “If we believe not, yet he abideth faithful: he cannot deny himself” (2 Timothy 2:13).
5. 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. (John 5:24).
Once again we are faced with the need to pay close attention to the tenses of the verbs. Heareth, believeth, hath and come are all in the present tense (a continuous action), the first three are in the active voice (the subject carries out the action), and the last is in the middle voice (not coming into condemnation is the experience of the subject because of his actions of hearing and believing).18 Once again, it is as the hearing and believing remain presently active that the promise of everlasting life is a reality; likewise, it is as these continue that no condemnation is in place. Having life and no condemnation is dependent upon meeting the conditions that are stated; they are not based upon a single action in the past, but on a present living state. Paul spelled this out very clearly: “There is therefore now no condemnation to them which are in Christ Jesus …” (Romans 8:1); it is while we are abiding in Christ that we are under no condemnation before God.
We live in a day when many will acknowledge that there is a present “falling away”; we speak of the apostasy that is taking place among Evangelicals and Fundamentalists alike, yet a common explanation for this is that these people were never truly born-again. Indeed, there are many within these broad groups who are not born-again, but they are not falling away when they leave Christianity behind – they are simply acting according to their faith, which is not in the Lord. It makes no sense for me to say, “I renounce being an American,” since I’ve never been an American; in the same way, it makes no sense to view someone as no longer being a Christian (or as being apostate), when they have never been a Christian. Even John MacArthur fails to grasp this simple reality. He defines apostasy as “abandonment, a separation, a defection” (which is fine), but then goes on to say that people who are apostate “never genuinely embrace[d] the truth”, thereby placing himself in an impossible position of contradiction!19 He goes on at some length to diminish what it means to abandon, separate or defect from the Truth, and claims that Jesus likened the apostate to “ravenous wolves in sheep’s clothing (Matthew 7:15).”20 A wolf in sheep’s clothing is still a wolf; he is not an apostate sheep just because he tosses aside the sheep’s clothing – the wolf is no longer a hypocrite (he was a wolf trying to appear to be a sheep), but it is ludicrous to say that he is no longer a sheep (which is what calling him an apostate says). To fall away from something, or to leave something behind, demands that you, at one time, belonged to whatever you are leaving behind. So, when we read, “Let no man deceive you by any means: for that day shall not come, except there come a falling away [apostasia] first” (2 Thessalonians 2:3), this cannot be referring to those who have never been born-again (yet this is how Evangelicals of all stripes view this). Even a Fundamental Baptist group holds that “the salvation of every believer is secure for all eternity from the moment of salvation.”21 Hidden within this doctrine is the impossibility of apostasy, yet they will, at the same time, proclaim that we are living in a day of apostasy (as you can see, they must redefine the terms in order to prevent a contradiction) – however, we cannot change reality by simply redefining the terms in use.
To this point, we have dealt with some passages that, at first glance, might seem to indicate that we are eternally secure, yet careful investigation has revealed that this is not a proper understanding of them. It is now time to consider several significant passages that clearly teach that eternal security is not Biblical. Before we begin, let’s consider the “Gospel in a nutshell” – John 3:16. If we look at it carefully, we will recognize that even it does not promote eternal security. “For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life.” Yes, the word perish carries the subjunctive mood, but being part of a purpose clause, it must be taken as a statement of fact.22 However, the key to understanding this correctly is to carefully consider the word believeth: it is in the present tense (a continuous action) and active voice (the subject [whosoever] is carrying out the action). As long as the subject is believing (using the Biblical definition of this word), he will not perish and is holding everlasting life. What we learn elsewhere in Scripture, is that it is possible for someone who is believing to change and have no faith (Hebrews 3:12, for example), at which time he has become apostate and no longer holds everlasting life.
Let us now consider several passages that provide further evidence against the teaching of eternal security. This is not an exhaustive listing, but several have been included in order to provide ample evidence that the doctrine of eternal security is not Biblical.
1. Romans 11:13-22 – 13For I speak to you Gentiles, inasmuch as I am the apostle of the Gentiles, I magnify mine office: 14If by any means I may provoke to emulation [jealousy or envious rivalry] them which are my flesh, and might save some of them. 15For if the casting away of them be the reconciling of the world, what shall the receiving of them be, but life from the dead? 16For if the firstfruit be holy, the lump is also holy: and if the root be holy, so are the branches. 17And if some of the branches be broken off, and thou, being a wild olive tree, wert graffed in among them, and with them partakest of the root and fatness of the olive tree; 18boast not against the branches. But if thou boast, thou bearest not the root, but the root thee. 19Thou wilt say then, The branches were broken off, that I might be graffed in. 20Well; because of unbelief they were broken off, and thou standest by faith. Be not highminded, but fear: 21For if God spared not the natural branches, take heed lest he also spare not thee. 22Behold therefore the goodness and severity of God: on them which fell, severity; but toward thee, goodness, if thou continue in his goodness: otherwise thou also shalt be cut off.23
The passage is clear: if we desire to continue as members who have been grafted into the spiritual Root of Israel (the Lord Jesus Christ), then we must abide in the faith by which we were grafted-in. Unbelief (or faithlessness) is the one action that will stop this flow of life. The word continue (verse 22) is the conditional action that will result in receiving God’s goodness; if that condition is not met, then thou also shalt be cut off (ekkopese, to cut off, or make an end of).24
This is not a passage with which modern Evangelicals care to deal. Not only does it bring their doctrine of eternal security into question, but it also casts a shadow over their doctrine of the “Church.” For the most part, the “Church” is considered to be an entity entirely separate from Israel, and a passage such as this shines a spotlight on the error of such teaching. Yes, there are promises made by God to Israel as a people, but we have been grafted into the Lord Jesus Christ (the Olive Tree; consider John 15:4-6 in light of this) according to the pattern of the faith of Abraham (Romans 4:16). However, what is noteworthy for our discussion is that we are warned (Romans 11:20) not to become highminded, or proud (this is in the imperative mood – a command), but we are to fear (another imperative), which means that we are to exercise a “reverential obedience” to God.25 It was through unbelief that the natural branches (those of Israel) were broken off, and the warning is that through unbelief the grafted branches will also be removed. Belief, or faith, is the key to being grafted into the spiritual Root of Israel and also to remaining in Him; unbelief, or faithlessness, is the means to being cut off from that spiritual relationship.
Earlier we considered apostasy, and noted the muddle that men like MacArthur make of it; this provides a word picture that clarifies what is required for apostasy. The branch is grafted into the Root (the Lord Jesus) by faith, it was unbelief (no faith) that resulted in the original branches being broken off, and the warning is given to not be like the removed branches (faithless). If you become faithless, then you will be removed, cut off, or brought to an end; that is apostasy: grafted-in by faith, cut off for becoming faithless. Until you have been grafted into the Root, you cannot be an apostate from God since there is no life-giving connection; “Take heed, brethren, lest there be in any of you an evil heart of unbelief, in departing from the living God” (Hebrews 3:12).
It is also noteworthy that the grafting is an individual-by-individual project. You will note that verse 17 uses the singular pronoun thou – “thou, being a wild olive tree, wert graffed in among them.” This is not a case where all Gentiles have been grafted into the spiritual root of Israel and that they will be broken off as they demonstrate unbelief; those who are individually born-again by the Spirit of God are grafted into the spiritual Root of Israel (they are in Christ – Ephesians 2:13), and if they should turn away in unbelief, then they will not be spared (verse 21). This also flies in the face of men like Donald McGavran who promoted group acceptance of Christianity within cultures that have strong interpersonal connective ties: “The individual does not think of himself as a self-sufficient unit, but as part of the group. … Peoples become Christian as this group-mind is brought into a lifegiving relationship to Jesus as Lord.”26 Although he gave a passing acknowledgement of the need for personal conversions, his focus was on Christianizing nations in broad terms, and so he went on: “It is important to note that the group decision is not the sum of separate individual decisions.”27 McGavran saw the group movement toward Christian values and lifestyle as being the most important thing to strive for. Yet Jesus said, “Every [a word which speaks of individuality] branch [singular] in me that beareth not fruit he [the Father] taketh away: and every branch that beareth fruit, he purgeth it [singular], that it may bring forth more fruit” (John 15:2). The connection of the branch to the Vine is individual, not group; “He that abideth in me, and I in him, the same bringeth forth much fruit …” (John 15:5) – notice the use of singular pronouns to describe the abiding that is required.
2. Matthew 18:23-35 – 23Therefore is the kingdom of heaven likened unto a certain king, which would take account of his servants. 24And when he had begun to reckon, one was brought unto him, which owed him ten thousand talents.28 25But forasmuch as he had not to pay, his lord commanded him to be sold, and his wife, and children, and all that he had, and payment to be made. 26The servant therefore fell down, and worshipped him, saying, Lord, have patience with me, and I will pay thee all. 27Then the lord of that servant was moved with compassion, and loosed him, and forgave him the debt. 28But the same servant went out, and found one of his fellowservants, which owed him an hundred pence:29 and he laid hands on him, and took him by the throat, saying, Pay me that thou owest. 29And his fellowservant fell down at his feet, and besought him, saying, Have patience with me, and I will pay thee all. 30And he would not: but went and cast him into prison, till he should pay the debt. 31So when his fellowservants saw what was done, they were very sorry, and came and told unto their lord all that was done. 32Then his lord, after that he had called him, said unto him, O thou wicked servant, I forgave thee all that debt, because thou desiredst me: 33Shouldest not thou also have had compassion on thy fellowservant, even as I had pity on thee? 34And his lord was wroth, and delivered him to the tormentors, till he should pay all that was due unto him. 35So likewise shall my heavenly Father do also unto you, if ye from your hearts forgive not every one his brother their trespasses.
This is not a popular text for sermons today because it does not fit within today’s theologies. Nevertheless, these are Jesus’ words and we would do well to heed them in light of the rest of Scripture. This is clearly a case of complete forgiveness extended, because the king loosed him and forgave him the debt (v. 27). However, when the king heard that this servant did not extend the same compassion to a fellow servant, he recalled this servant to stand before him. The king reminds him that he had been forgiven all (I forgave thee all that debt), but then renounced his forgiveness (the cancellation of the debt), and required the servant to repay all that he owed – he reinstated his massive debt. This parable follows Jesus’ instruction to Peter that he is to forgive his brother until seventy times seven, or times without number. Although it may be beyond understanding from the perspective of eternal security, this parable is easily understood if we accept the fact that a heart of unbelief will undo what God has done in us. We are told that the king had compassion on his hopelessly debt-ridden servant, and loosed him, or set him free, and forgave him.30 When Jesus taught His disciples to pray, He included the words: “And forgive us our debts, as we forgive our debtors,” and went on to explain: “For if ye forgive men their trespasses, your heavenly Father will also forgive you: But if ye forgive not men their trespasses, neither will your Father forgive your trespasses” (Matthew 6:12, 14-15). The word forgive that is used here comes from the same Greek word as used by the king in freeing his servant from his great debt.
There can be no doubt that the servant was forgiven by the king; he was freed from the huge debt that he was unable to pay. Yet because he was unwilling to extend a similar forgiveness to a fellow servant, the king withdrew his forgiveness and reinstated the debt from which the servant had been freed. Drawing this together with the Lord’s words in Matthew 6, there can be little doubt about the significant warning that is issued here. Your debt of sin that you are unable to pay can be cancelled, through faith in the Lord Jesus; nevertheless, an unwillingness to extend the same gracious forgiveness to others, will result in God cutting you off. Jesus tells us that the branch that is removed, withers, is cast into the fire, and is burning (John 15:6).
3. Luke 8:4-15 – 4And when much people were gathered together, and were come to him out of every city, he spake by a parable: 5A sower went out to sow his seed: and as he sowed, some fell by the way side; and it was trodden down, and the fowls of the air devoured it. 6And some fell upon a rock; and as soon as it was sprung up, it withered away, because it lacked moisture. 7And some fell among thorns; and the thorns sprang up with it, and choked it. 8And other fell on good ground, and sprang up, and bare fruit an hundredfold. And when he had said these things, he cried, He that hath ears to hear, let him hear. 9And his disciples asked him, saying, What might this parable be? 10And he said, Unto you it is given to know the mysteries of the kingdom of God: but to others in parables; that seeing they might not see, and hearing they might not understand. 11Now the parable is this: The seed is the word of God. 12Those by the way side are they that hear; then cometh the devil, and taketh away the word out of their hearts, lest they should believe and be saved. 13They on the rock are they, which, when they hear, receive the word with joy; and these have no root, which for a while believe, and in time of temptation fall away. 14And that which fell among thorns are they, which, when they have heard, go forth, and are choked with cares and riches and pleasures of this life, and bring no fruit to perfection. 15But that on the good ground are they, which in an honest and good heart, having heard the word, keep it, and bring forth fruit with patience.
This is the parable of the soils and the Seed, the Word of God. The Seed that fell by the wayside is snatched away by the devil so that they will not believe to be saved (literal).31 Although saved is in the subjunctive mood, as part of a purpose clause it becomes factual: the devil removes the Word so that they will not believe and be saved. Next, there is Seed that falls among the rocks, which we have already likened to those who came forward at a Billy Graham crusade (or any other such venture). These receive the Word with joy, and they are believing until they face a test (probably as it relates to the Word). The indication is that if the trial (temptation) had not come along, they would have continued to believe, but because of the testing, they fall away (aphistantai, withdrew, became apostate).32 It is obvious that there is life; the root is indication that there is life – it was no longer just a seed. Although there was life and growth, the plant fell away and died; as stated before, you simply cannot fall away, or withdraw, from something to which you have never been a part. Unfortunately, once the seed has sprouted and then its life fails, it cannot be revived; this fits with both the metaphor that Jesus is using here and with the rest of Scripture. These are those who failed to count the cost of following the Lord, and they apostatize the moment that they face any opposition.
Some Seed fell among thorns. These hear the Word and “go forth,” or begin the journey of walking with the Lord, only to confront the cares, riches, and pleasures of this world.33 When excuses were raised to Jesus for not following Him, Jesus said, “No man, having put his hand to the plough, and looking back, is fit for the kingdom of God” (Luke 9:62). Once again, we are faced with the necessity of counting the cost of discipleship, lest we fall short of enduring to the end. Notice that these who were growing in the Lord were choked by anxieties (“Be careful [or anxious] for nothing; but in every thing by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known unto God” [Philippians 4:6]34), by riches or wealth (“For the love of money is the root of all evil: which while some coveted after, they have erred from the faith, and pierced themselves through with many sorrows” [1 Timothy 6:10]), and by pleasures (“…lovers of pleasures more than lovers of God” [2 Timothy 3:4]). The result is that they are choked and do not grow to maturity; they fail to endure, and their end is the same as the seed that grew quickly in the rocky soil, and then died. Finally, there is Seed that falls upon good ground that has been prepared – the cost of discipleship has been evaluated and the commitment has been made with a full understanding that difficulties will come, even as Jesus promised that they would (John 16:33). Jesus states that the Seed in the good ground brought forth fruit, with patience, with endurance in the face of opposition and trials;35 it was not because of the absence of difficulties that fruit was produced, but despite them.
What must not be missed is that there was life in the plant upon the rocks and in the plant that was eventually choked by the thorns; the Word of God brought forth life within the stony heart and within the heart that was filled with weeds. However, that life did not bear fruit because of the condition of the heart. Making a commitment to follow the Lord demands more than a superficial assent (the modern concept of believe); the Spirit of God must be an active participant in establishing a willing and obedient heart as a favorable place for spiritual growth. Through compromising the clear doctrines of the Word of God and embracing Ecumenical error, Evangelicals are strangling the work of the Spirit of God. Their carefully-crafted, light gospel is a perversion of the Biblical message that Paul so carefully defended to the Galatians; it is a different, corrupt gospel that bears no resemblance to the original, and holds no life (Galatians 1:6-7).
4. Hebrews 6:4-6 – 4For it is impossible for those who were once enlightened, and have tasted of the heavenly gift, and were made partakers of the Holy Ghost, 5And have tasted the good word of God, and the powers of the world to come, 6If they shall fall away, to renew them again unto repentance; seeing they crucify to themselves the Son of God afresh, and put him to an open shame.
For those who hold to eternal security, this is a difficult passage with which to deal. Let’s go through it carefully to ensure that we have a proper understanding of what the Lord is trying to tell us, allowing the Word of God to speak for itself, without the restraints of polished theologies. Theologies are merely man’s attempt to understand what God has said to him; the Scriptures are what God has truly said to us. Our primary focus needs to be God’s Word, not man’s words; unfortunately, preachers receive seminary training in applied theology.
The word impossible means just that, the Greek word (adunaton) means something that cannot be done.36 Enlightened (photisthentas) is a potent word that means to give spiritual enlightenment, or to “imbue [or fill] with saving knowledge.”37 Therefore, when this first phrase tells of those who were once enlightened, it is speaking specifically of those who have been born-again (else it could not be said that they were enlightened) – they received a saving knowledge. Moreover, they have also tasted of the heavenly gift. The word tasted is interesting, and those who are in support of eternal security will endeavor to use this word to discount the overall thrust of the passage. However, it is from the Greek root word (geuomai) that is used in Acts 10:10, 20:11 and 23:14 where it is translated as eaten; furthermore, this Greek word is used in Hebrews 2:9: “But we see Jesus, who was made a little lower than the angels for the suffering of death, crowned with glory and honour; that he by the grace of God should taste [did experience] death for every man”;38 Jesus experienced death in its fullness as He bore the sin of the world. This word is also used to describe the ruler of the feast tasting the water turned to wine (John 2:9), and of Jesus tasting the vinegar on the cross and refusing to drink further (Matthew 27:34). Although we might think of a taste as being less than eating a full meal (although in Acts 10:10, Peter was waiting to eat a full meal), it is also evident that a taste is sufficient to provide a full awareness of what is to be taken. In great fullness, Jesus tasted death; yet taste is an appropriate term since His death ended in a resurrected life after three days and three nights; the death was very real but temporary. Therefore, in our verse, we understand that this taste is sufficient to know the heavenly gift.
These enlightened ones have tasted of the heavenly gift. We just noted that Jesus tasted death (Hebrews 2:9); i.e., He experienced death in its fullness, even though it did not hold Him. From this we conclude that such a taste is more than a sip from a drink or a nibble of food, since such small portions often lead to a false assessment of what has been sampled. Therefore, we know that these, who have been enlightened, have experienced, or have obtained, the heavenly gift.39 There are two Greek words that are primarily translated as gift: the first (and what we find in our text) is dorea, which, in the NT, refers to a free, spiritual gift, or benefit, that comes from God for the one who is born again (it is a general gift); the second in charisma, which is also a free gift but centers on grace (charis), or favor, and does not come to everyone in the same way (it is an individual gift).40 As we consider the use of this word (gift/dorea) within the NT, we come away with some understanding of this heavenly gift that the enlightened have received. The most significant gift (dorea) that is given by God to the one who is born again through faith in Christ, is the Holy Spirit. When Peter provided a brief explanation of the Gospel to Cornelius and those who were gathered with him (Gentiles), they understood the Message, and the Spirit of God came upon them: “And they of the circumcision which believed were astonished, as many as came with Peter, because that on the Gentiles also was poured out the gift [dorea] of the Holy Ghost” (Acts 10:45). To the Romans, Paul wrote that it is in Christ that an abundance of grace (charis) and the gift (dorea) of righteousness is being received (Romans 5:17). To the Ephesians, Paul spoke of the gift (dorea) of grace that is given by Christ (Ephesians 4:7). To the one who has placed his faith in the Lord Jesus Christ, the Holy Spirit, God’s righteousness and His grace will freely be given; it is through His grace (charis) that we are given the free gift (charisma) that expresses His favor toward us individually. Without question, the heavenly gift (dorea) that the enlightened one has received is the Holy Spirit.
These, who have been enlightened and have known God’s salvation, have also been made partakers of the Holy Ghost; they have become sharers in the Holy Spirit. We are told: “ye are not in the flesh, but in the Spirit, if so be that the Spirit of God dwell in you” (Romans 8:9). As partakers (metochous) of the Spirit of God, they cannot simply be “professors,” but are clearly indwelt by the Spirit – they are truly born again! As partakers of the Spirit of God, they have spiritual life; “For to be carnally minded is death; but to be spiritually minded is life and peace. Because the carnal mind is enmity against God: for it is not subject to the law of God, neither indeed can be” (Romans 8:6-7). There is little room for movement here; if you have the Spirit (and a partaker does), then you abide in life and peace.
However, there is more, for these have also tasted the good word of God. They have heard the excellent Word of God – it was spoken and they heard it; not only heard it, but they have taken it in. Tasted is exactly the same Greek word that was just used. Finally, they have also tasted the powers of the world to come; they have experienced the power, or inherent might, of the age that is coming (this is present tense, so the power of the age to come is coming even now; what will be pervasive in Christ’s Kingdom is coming now in an individual application). This is the power of our resurrected Lord at work in their lives, a power that will see its ultimate fruition in the new world to come. “For it is God which worketh in you both to will and to do of his good pleasure” (Philippians 2:13).
Now consider for a moment who is being referred to here; this is someone who has been filled with saving knowledge, has taken of God’s gift of salvation, has shared in the Spirit of God, has heard and understood the Word of God, and has seen the power of God at work in his own life. This is no casual “sip” taken from the New Covenant that was implemented by our Lord; there is sufficient here to have a very good idea of what it means to be a Christian and live the life to which God has called us, through the power of His Spirit. The Seed of the Word of God has fallen on a heart that has permitted it to grow – it has been received with joy; the journey with the God of the Word has begun. God does not have a road-side table of produce where the world can sample His Spirit, or inhale the aroma of His salvation to see if they really like it. The Psalmist said: “O taste and see that the LORD is good: blessed is the man that trusteth in him” (Psalm 34:8). The Hebrew word translated as taste is also the word for perceive; the call is to perceive, or discern, the Lord – count the cost! The words taste and see are both commands; the seeing is not a result of the tasting, rather, it is a separate call to ponder the Lord. This is a call to consider the Lord and cannot be construed as merely sampling Him. Our passage speaks of someone who has embarked on a walk of faith with God. However, we are warned by Jesus to count the cost of being His disciple, and as we have learned from the parable of the soils, there will be those who will receive His Word (the Seed), go forth in new life, and then fall away when the pressures and allurements of life come to bear.
The next statement must be considered very carefully: if they shall fall away. The Greek for this phrase is simply: and having turned away (literal).41 Let’s pause and construct the sentence, so far, in our minds. We began with the thought of impossibility, then we have sketched for us someone who is saved, and now that someone falls away (commits apostasy); we will now learn what is impossible about this situation. Before we go on, we need to ponder this reality that the Spirit of God has laid out for us; this is someone who has been truly born-again and then commits apostasy (parapesontas).42 May I say, at this point, that many take this passage as being hypothetical – it meets their needs to set this aside as being spiritual conjecture. However, the Spirit of God does not frame imaginary situations, but has given us this reality in order to guide us into all truth (John 16:13). The Lord used parables in His teaching, and they are clearly identified as such for us – there is no mistaking them. However, this is an instructive passage where the Spirit of God is laying out His truth for us.
Now, what is the impossible situation? It is impossible (remember, this is speaking of someone who was in Christ and has fallen away) to “renew them again unto repentance.” Repentance is a change of mind that results in a change in behavior; this takes place when we place our faith in Christ – we turn away from the world, sin and the devil, and we turn to the Lord and life. This states plainly that for the one who is in Christ and turns away from Him (becomes apostate), it is impossible to restore such a one to that place of repentance in Christ. In other words, you can be saved once, and only once. Consider again the parable of the soils – the rocky and weedy soils produced genuine life, but in each case that life was snuffed out through trials or pleasures; however, note that in both cases the life that was there is gone and it will not return. The branch of the vine, when it is removed, withers and is burned (John 15:6). “And the destruction of the transgressors and of the sinners shall be together, and they that forsake [abandon, apostatize from] the LORD shall be consumed [come to an end, vanish, perish, be destroyed]” (Isaiah 1:28).43 This is another promise from God to which we must give attention.
However, our passage does not end with this pronouncement but goes on to provide a reason for this judgment: “seeing they crucify to themselves the Son of God afresh, and put him to an open shame.” “And as it is appointed unto men once to die, but after this the judgment: So Christ was once offered to bear the sins of many; and unto them that look for him shall he appear the second time without sin unto salvation” (Hebrews 9:27-28). “By the which will [the New Covenant] we are sanctified through the offering of the body of Jesus Christ once for all” (Hebrews 10:10). “For Christ also hath once suffered for sins, the just for the unjust, that he might bring us to God, being put to death in the flesh, but quickened by the Spirit …” (1 Peter 3:18). What is clear is that Christ suffered one time; He made only one offering for the sins of mankind. For someone to fall away from God (an established possibility) and then to seek the cleansing of Christ’s offering again, would be an attempt to crucify Christ the second time, something that cannot take place. When the salvation of Christ has been experienced and then turned away from, there is no further offering available for that person; they have shown disdain for the only offering that can be made for them. Not only would such a person be seeking to crucify Christ a second time, but they would be putting Christ to open shame, or exposing Him to public disgrace.44 Being an apostate holds Christ to public disgrace; here is someone who is known to be saved, who had a testimony to the unsaved, and now is fallen away and has become like the world. The world will recognize the disgrace of this, and Satan will be sure to make it known. We all know the shame that is borne by the Christian community when a high profile Christian leader stumbles morally; how much greater the impact of someone who turns away from the Lord completely?
This passage not only makes it very clear that it is possible to turn away from Christ, but it also shows that once apostasy has taken place, there is no returning to that place in Christ. Peter, as he wrote on this matter, declared: “For it had been better for them [those who fall away from Christ] not to have known [to fully know] the way of righteousness, than, after they have known it, to turn from the holy commandment delivered unto them” (2 Peter 2:21). Consider carefully what he is saying: it is better to have not heard the Gospel truth, than to know it completely (to be in Christ and separated from the world) and then turn away from it. Why is that? If you have not accepted the Gospel, there is always the hope that you will hear it and turn to be in Christ, but if you are apostate, then you are without hope – your destiny in the Lake of Fire has been secured.
5. Hebrews 10:26-29 - 26For if we sin wilfully after that we have received the knowledge of the truth, there remaineth no more sacrifice for sins, 27But a certain fearful looking for of judgment and fiery indignation, which shall devour the adversaries. 28He that despised Moses’ law died without mercy under two or three witnesses: 29Of how much sorer punishment, suppose ye, shall he be thought worthy, who hath trodden under foot the Son of God, and hath counted the blood of the covenant, wherewith he was sanctified, an unholy thing, and hath done despite unto the Spirit of grace?
Immediately, we have an affirmation of the passage that we just looked into from Hebrews 6: for the one who has accepted a saving knowledge of the Truth, and who is now living in deliberate sin (sin wilfully), for that one, there is no longer a sacrifice for sins available – there is only a terrible expectation of condemnation! This is someone who has despised the sacrifice of Christ (trodden under foot), and considers the blood of Christ that brought in the New Covenant to be ordinary (unholy), even though he, at one time, had been sanctified (egiasthe, made holy) by that very blood! The one who was made holy by the blood of Christ and who is now living in willful sin, cannot be restored to Christ – he is destined for God’s condemnation.
Like the previous passage, this not only strikes at the doctrine of eternal security, but also identifies the destiny of the one who is truly apostate.
6. Exodus 32:33 – And the LORD said unto Moses, Whosoever hath sinned against me, him will I blot out of my book.
You will recall that when Moses went onto the mountain to meet with the Lord, the Israelites grew weary of waiting for him, and Aaron built for them a calf of gold and caused them to worship it (Exodus 32:4). When Moses came down from the mountain and saw what the people had done, in his anger at the people, he broke the stone tables upon which God had written the Commandments. Moses then returned to meet with the Lord again, and to plead for mercy for the people of Israel; his petition was that if God would not forgive their sin, that He would then blot his name from His book (Exodus 32:32). What we have here is God’s response to Moses; He will not blot Moses’ name from His book, but rather the name of whoever sins against Him. The Hebrew word (mâchâh) translated as blot out means “to stroke or rub; by implication to erase”;45 erasures from leather scrolls were made by washing the ink off – hence, to wipe or rub catches the essence of the action.46 Within the context of our study, what is evident is that God does not deny that a person’s name can be removed from His book.
The Psalmist in Psalm 69:28 pleads with the Lord: “Let them be blotted out of the book of the living, and not be written with the righteous.” This is a Messianic Psalm, and, just before this, reference is made to the suffering that the Messiah would endure; the Psalmist’s plea is that those who inflicted such suffering would have their names erased (same Hebrew word as above) from the book of the living.
Revelation 3:5: “He that overcometh, the same shall be clothed in white raiment; and I will not blot out his name out of the book of life, but I will confess his name before my Father, and before his angels.” Jesus makes this declaration in His letter to the messenger of the ekklesia at Sardis, who had a good reputation but was virtually dead, spiritually. To those who would overcome, or gain the victory, Jesus promises that He will not blot out (exaleipso), or “do away with,” their name from the Book of Life.47 The same Greek word is used in Revelation 7:17 and 21:4 where it says that God shall wipe away every tear from their eyes. In the same way, the Lord will leave no evidence in the Book of Life of the names of those who fall away (do not overcome or endure).
Revelation 22:19 “And if any man shall take away from the words of the book of this prophecy, God shall take away his part out of the book of life, and out of the holy city, and from the things which are written in this book.” This is another of God’s promises: if anyone will take away from the words of the prophecy of Revelation, then God will remove his part from the Book of Life.
We do not know all that is meant by the Book of Life. However, of what we can be sure is that if our names are not in the Book, then our sure destination is the Lake of Fire: “And whosoever was not found written in the book of life was cast into the lake of fire” (Revelation 20:15). Of what we can be equally sure is that it is possible to have our names removed from the Book of Life by sinning against God ([Exodus 32:33], disobedience is the sin to which we need to be alert), by failing to hold fast to the truths of Scripture and by failing to overcome, or gain the victory (Revelation 3:3-5), and by dealing carelessly with the word of prophecy given in the book of Revelation (22:19). If we consider these in the light of John 15 and Romans 11, then it becomes clear that there will be those who fall away from the Truth, and whose names will be erased from the Book of Life.
The importance of being in Christ must not be missed, or minimized; yet Jesus made it clear that the responsibility to abide in Him rests with us; we are commanded to abide (remain) in Him – it is something that we are to do (John 15). Jesus’ words in John 15:4 are: “You abide in me,” this is a command (imperative mood) on which we are to take action (active voice where the subject [you] is to carry out the action [abide]), and this is not a one-time action, hence Jesus words, “he that endureth to the end shall be saved” (Matthew 10:22).48 “And hereby we do know that we know him, if we keep his commandments” (1 John 2:3). Jesus said, “If ye love me, keep my commandments” (John 14:15), by which we understand that obedience is essential to remaining in Him. One of His commands is that we are to abide in Him. However, we are not alone in our obedience, for He has promised that He will abide in us (John 15:4) – this in no way minimizes our responsibility of abiding in Him; it only secures the relationship, for it could never be secured through our own efforts. If we seek to obey His command to abide in Him, then He is abundantly able to keep us, and promises that nothing outside of us will ever be able to snatch us out of His hand (John 10:27; Romans 8:35-39). If we do not abide in Him, then His Word will be to us like the seed that fell among the rocks or into the weeds – being either dried up or choked out. If we are obedient and abide in Christ, then He has promised to abide in us – this is the perfect situation in order to remain a part of this holy dwelling, this ekklesia of the Lord, a Building and a Body made up of the saints of all of the ages! Our lot is to remain faithful to the Lord despite what may come our way in this life; it is only as we live in obedience to Him that we will one day inherit the full salvation that He has purchased for us (Matthew 24:13).
Eternal security? Our only security in this life is the Lord and living in obedience to Him through the working of the indwelling Spirit of God. Placing our faith in Christ is not the end, but the beginning of a life that is committed to Him. The doctrine of eternal security is based upon the assumption that a prayer for salvation is the end – there is so much more to a life in Christ, and our failure to understand that will leave us spiritually dead and destined for the Lake of Fire. God help us to see that faith, without obedience, is dead (James 2:17), but faith with obedience is life more abundant in Christ (John 10:10).
END NOTES:
1 Strong’s Online and Robert Young’s Literal Translation.
2 Calvinism promotes the perseverance of the saints in support of their doctrine of election (by which they mean that God has chosen some for glory and some for damnation); therefore, within their thinking, the elect have to persevere and be saved, otherwise their doctrine would unravel.
3 Curtis Mitchell, Those Who Came Forward, p. 5.
4 Ibid, p. 6.
5 Ibid, p. 40.
6 https://truthwithsnares.files.wordpress.com/2020/09/biblical-discernment-ministries-offline-2020.pdf.
7 Cathy Burns, Billy Graham and His Friends, p. 34.
8 Billy Graham, Just As I Am, p. 163.
9 David W. Cloud, Evangelicals & Rome, p.81.
10 Strong’s Online.
11 https://www.ntgreek.org/pdf/subjunctive_uses.pdf.
12 Friberg Lexicon; https://www.ntgreek.org/learn_nt_greek/subj-purpose.htm.
13 Ibid.
14 Gingrich Lexicon; https://biblicaltext.com/dictionary/?q= ἐσφραγίσθητε.
15 Friberg Lexicon.
16 Friberg Lexicon; https://www.ntgreek.org/learn_nt_greek/subj-purpose.htm.
17 Gingrich Lexicon.
18 Strong’s Online.
19 John MacArthur, The Truth War, p. 43.
20 Ibid, p. 44.
21 http://www.foundationbaptistchurch.com/about-us/what-we-believe/convictions.html.
22 https://www.ntgreek.org/learn_nt_greek/subj-purpose.htm.
23 Strong’s Online.
24 Stephanus 1550 NT; Liddell-Scott Lexicon.
25 Strong’s Online.
26 Donald A. McGavran, Bridges to God, p. 325.
27 Ibid.
28 One days’ wages was about one drachma; 6,000 drachmas equaled one talent. In today’s terms, this servant owed his master about 60,000,000 day’s wages or about $4 billion dollars (at minimum wage).
29 This would be about 100 day’s wages, or about $7,000 (at minimum wage).
30 Strong’s Online.
31 Stephanus 1550 NT.
32 Strong’s Online; Friberg Lexicon.
33 Strong’s Online.
34 Ibid.
35 Friberg Lexicon.
36 Liddell-Scott Lexicon.
37 The Complete Word Study New Testament; Strong’s Online.
38 Friberg Lexicon.
39 Gingrich Lexicon.
40 Friberg Lexicon.
41 Stephanus 1550 NT.
42 https://biblicaltext.com/dictionary/?q=παραπεσόντας.
43 Strong’s Online; BDB.
44 Strong’s Online.
45 Strong’s Dictionary, ESword.
46 Theological Wordbook of the Old Testament, #1178.
47 Friberg Lexicon.
48 Strong’s Online.
1 Strong’s Online and Robert Young’s Literal Translation.
2 Calvinism promotes the perseverance of the saints in support of their doctrine of election (by which they mean that God has chosen some for glory and some for damnation); therefore, within their thinking, the elect have to persevere and be saved, otherwise their doctrine would unravel.
3 Curtis Mitchell, Those Who Came Forward, p. 5.
4 Ibid, p. 6.
5 Ibid, p. 40.
6 https://truthwithsnares.files.wordpress.com/2020/09/biblical-discernment-ministries-offline-2020.pdf.
7 Cathy Burns, Billy Graham and His Friends, p. 34.
8 Billy Graham, Just As I Am, p. 163.
9 David W. Cloud, Evangelicals & Rome, p.81.
10 Strong’s Online.
11 https://www.ntgreek.org/pdf/subjunctive_uses.pdf.
12 Friberg Lexicon; https://www.ntgreek.org/learn_nt_greek/subj-purpose.htm.
13 Ibid.
14 Gingrich Lexicon; https://biblicaltext.com/dictionary/?q= ἐσφραγίσθητε.
15 Friberg Lexicon.
16 Friberg Lexicon; https://www.ntgreek.org/learn_nt_greek/subj-purpose.htm.
17 Gingrich Lexicon.
18 Strong’s Online.
19 John MacArthur, The Truth War, p. 43.
20 Ibid, p. 44.
21 http://www.foundationbaptistchurch.com/about-us/what-we-believe/convictions.html.
22 https://www.ntgreek.org/learn_nt_greek/subj-purpose.htm.
23 Strong’s Online.
24 Stephanus 1550 NT; Liddell-Scott Lexicon.
25 Strong’s Online.
26 Donald A. McGavran, Bridges to God, p. 325.
27 Ibid.
28 One days’ wages was about one drachma; 6,000 drachmas equaled one talent. In today’s terms, this servant owed his master about 60,000,000 day’s wages or about $4 billion dollars (at minimum wage).
29 This would be about 100 day’s wages, or about $7,000 (at minimum wage).
30 Strong’s Online.
31 Stephanus 1550 NT.
32 Strong’s Online; Friberg Lexicon.
33 Strong’s Online.
34 Ibid.
35 Friberg Lexicon.
36 Liddell-Scott Lexicon.
37 The Complete Word Study New Testament; Strong’s Online.
38 Friberg Lexicon.
39 Gingrich Lexicon.
40 Friberg Lexicon.
41 Stephanus 1550 NT.
42 https://biblicaltext.com/dictionary/?q=παραπεσόντας.
43 Strong’s Online; BDB.
44 Strong’s Online.
45 Strong’s Dictionary, ESword.
46 Theological Wordbook of the Old Testament, #1178.
47 Friberg Lexicon.
48 Strong’s Online.