Friday, 22 September 2017

The False Doctrine of Absolute Eternal Security

Let me start by trying to correct what are some very common misunderstandings on the subject of "eternal security", it is not my position that "a believer could lose their salvation". If a person is a believer, that person is saved. If, on the other hand, a person does not believe in Jesus, that person does not have salvation or the assurance of it; moreover – and this is where I disagree with the extreme statement of the position of eternal security – that is so even if at one point he or she professed faith in Christ.

The way I see scripture presenting the matter (and very clearly so in the parable of the sower as presented in the lessons to which you refer), faith can grow, but faith can also die. People can and do lose faith. People can and do come to the point, usually through surrender to a life of sin and/or secularism, where they no longer believe in and no longer follow Jesus Christ, though at one time they did. If a person allows their "faith plant" to die (as in those that shrivel up under the heat of the sun in the parable of the sower), or if a person allows their "faith light" to go out (as in the case of the seven foolish virgins), that person is no longer a believer, and only believers are saved. Simply put, a believer is someone who has a real, living faith in Jesus Christ. Anyone who does not have genuine faith in Jesus Christ is, by definition, not a believer. Making the determination of who has it and who doesn't is not always easy and not really even germane to this argument. For our purposes here, "you know you have faith in Jesus if you have faith in Jesus", and "you know you don't really believe in Him if you don't believe in Him". This is the light in which I read John 10:27-30. The sheep who know "My Name" and who "follow Me" are of course believers. Anyone who knows Jesus and who follows Him is a believer – and no one can snatch a believer out of Jesus' hands or the Father's hands. However, "if we deny Him, He will deny us, . . .for He cannot deny Himself" (2Tim.2:11-13). That is to say, in the terms of John 10:27-30, if we stop knowing Him and stop following Him, we, by our own self-willed choice, stop being His sheep. No one has "snatched us out of His hands" in that case; rather, we have abandoned Him.

The whole tenor of scripture is about choice, and beyond all argument we continue to have free will after salvation, and that by definition is the ability to respond to God (or fail to do so). There have been many who have fallen away in the history of the church (cf. Phil.3:18), and it is prophesied that there will be many more in the future (2Thes.2:3) So I would have to disagree with your statement to the effect that "there must be another dozen other scriptures supporting my belief". I don't know of any such scripture (and those which are often claimed as absolute proof of "eternal security" on close examination always reveal that they do not exclude the possibility of apostasy). On the other hand, the Bible is replete with impassioned pleas and warnings about the dangers of giving in to a life of sinfulness on the one hand, most of which are very difficult to explain away (e.g., Matt.7:24-2710:33Lk.6:46-4914:34-35Jn.15:5-6;Rom.11:17-231Cor.10:6-1215:22Cor.13:5;1Tim.6:20-212Tim.2:12-13Heb.2:1-33:6-19;10:35-392Jn.1:8-9), and the necessity of holding onto faith on the other (e.g., 1Tim.6:122Tim4:7):

1. Passages demonstrating that salvation is conditional upon continued faith:

You were once alienated from God – your very thoughts were hostile towards Him and your deeds were evil. Yet God has now made peace with you through the death of Christ in His physical body so that you may stand before Him as holy, without blemish and free from accusation – [this you will do] if you remain solidly grounded and firmly fixed in the faith, and un-moved from your hope in the gospel . . .
Colossians 1:21-23


Here is a trustworthy saying: If we died with Him, we will also live with Him; if we persevere, we will also reign with Him. If we disown Him, He will also disown us; If we are faithless, He will remain faithful, for He cannot disown Himself.
2nd Timothy 2:11-13


It is through this gospel that you are being saved, if you hold firmly to the word I preached to you – otherwise you have believed in vain.
1st Corinthians 15:2


We are of [Christ's] household, if we hold fast to our courage and confidence in this hope.
Hebrews 3:6


For we have all become partners of Christ,if we hold fast to our original conviction firmly to the end.
Hebrews 3:14


2. Passages that warn us to protect our faith:

Examine yourselves to see whether you still stand steady in the faith. Put your qualifications [as Christians] to the test. Or didn't you know this about yourselves, that Jesus Christ is at home in you – if He's not, then you are already disqualified.
2nd Corinthians 13:5


These things all happened [to the Exodus generation] by way of an example so that we might not lust after what is evil as they did. Don't practice idolatry, as some of them did (as the scripture says "the people sat down to eat and got up to frolic"). Don't fornicate, as some of them did, and 23,000 of them fell dead in a single day. And let's not put the Lord to the test, as some of them did, and were killed by snakes. And don't complain, as some of them did, and were killed by the destroying angel. All these things happened to them to give us an example, and have been written in scripture to warn us as we confront history's final epoch. So let whoever thinks he's standing firm be careful not to fall!
1st Corinthians 10:12


Watch out for yourselves, so you don't lose what you've worked so hard for, but receive a full reward instead. No one who goes wandering off – that is, does not keep to the teachings about Jesus Christ – has a share in God.
2nd John 8-9


I am the vine, you are the branches. If a man remains in Me and I in Him, he will bear much fruit; apart from Me you can do nothing. If anyone does not remain in Me, he is like a branch that is thrown away and withers; such branches are picked up, thrown into the fire and burned.
John 15:5-6


3. Passages teaching that sinful behavior is antithetical to faith:

The acts of the sinful nature are obvious: sexual immorality, impurity and debauchery; idolatry and witchcraft; hatred, discord, jealousy, fits of rage, selfish ambition, dissensions, factions and envy; drunkenness, orgies – and whatever is similar to all these things. I warn you, as I did before, that those who live like this will not inherit the kingdom of heaven.
Galatians 5:19-21


Don't you know that the wicked will not inherit the kingdom of God? Do not be deceived: neither the sexually immoral nor idolaters nor adulterers nor male prostitutes nor practitioners of homosexuality nor thieves nor the greedy nor drunkards nor slanderers nor swindlers will inherit the kingdom of God.
1st Corinthians 6:9-10


But among you there must not even be a hint of sexual immorality, or any kind of impurity, or of greed, because these are improper for God's holy people. Nor should there be obscenity, foolish talk or coarse jesting – things that have no place [among you]. Thanksgiving [is what ought to be heard coming from you] instead. For of this you can be sure: no immoral, impure, or greedy person – such a man is an idolater – has any inheritance in the kingdom of Christ and of God. Don't let anyone deceive you about this with empty words, for it is because of just such things that God's wrath comes upon those who refuse to obey and believe. So don't enter into partnership with them.
Ephesians 5:3-7


Those who want to get rich fall into temptations, traps, and many senseless and harmful lusts – the kind which swamp men['s hearts] to their destruction and damnation.
1st Timothy 6:9


In my understanding of the matter, giving in to a life of carnality has the danger of leading to apostasy not because God can't or won't forgive sin (far from it!), but rather because giving in to a life of sinfulness hardens the heart over time to such a degree that those who refuse to confess and turn back can potentially get to the point where they no longer can look God in the face (Jn.3:19-20), where they no longer care about Jesus or following Him, where they no longer have faith or believe by any acceptable definition of those terms. That is apostasy, and I would imagine that you have had occasion to observe this phenomenon from time to time (as sadly most of us have). 

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