Eternal Security

[PrincetonGuy]

Eternal security is the Bible confidence that every born again believer has perfect, complete, eternal salvation in Jesus Christ. As soon as a sinner receives Christ, he possesses full, unending salvation. To have Christ is to have a secure position before God (1 John 5:10-13).

How We Can Be Sure True Christians Are Eternally Secure?

1. Because of the terms used to describe salvation:

Eternal life (John 3:15-16; 10:28; 1 John 5:11)

Full assurance (Hebrews 6:11; Colossians 2:2)

Strong consolation (Hebrews 6:18)

Hope...sure and steadfast (Hebrews 6:19)

2. Because of what we are. All of the following are spoken of in the present tense; this is the present condition of each true believer:

Forgiven (Romans 4:7; 1 John 2:12)

Justified (Romans 5:1,9; Titus 3:7)

Reconciled (Romans 5:10)

Risen with Christ (Romans 6:3-6; Colossians 3:1-2)

A child of God forever (Romans 8:15; Galatians 4:4-7; 1 John 3:1)

Sanctified in Christ (1 Corinthians 1:2)

New creation (2 Corinthians 5:17)

Accepted in the beloved (Ephesians 1:6)

Saved (Ephesians 2:8-9; 2 Timothy 1:9)

Light in the Lord (Ephesians 5:8)

Made fit for Heaven (Colossians 1:12)

Complete in Him (Colossians 2:10)

Citizens of Heaven (Philippians 3:20)

Children of light (1 Thessalonians 5:5)

Elect (1 Peter 1:2)

Born again (1 Peter 1:2,23)

Sanctified once for all (Hebrews 10:10)

Perfected forever (Hebrews 10:14)

Passed from death unto life (1 John 3:14)

3. Because of where we are:

In God's family (Galatians 3:26; 1 John 3:2)

Brought near (Ephesians 2:13)

In the heavenlies with Christ (Ephesians 2:5-6)

Translated into the kingdom of His dear Son (Colossians 1:13)

4. Because of what we have:

Eternal life (John 3:15-16)

Peace with God (Romans 5:1)

An Intercessor in Heaven (Romans 8:34)

All spiritual blessings (Ephesians 1:3)

Forgiveness of sins (Ephesians 1:7; Colossians 1:14; 2:13)

Sealing of the Holy Spirit (Ephesians 1:12-14)

Access to God (Ephesians 2:18)

Everlasting consolation (2 Thessalonians 2:16)

Eternal glory (2 Timothy 2:10)

Eternal redemption (Hebrews 9:12)

Mercy (1 Peter 2:10)

An Advocate with the Father (1 John 2:1-2)

5. Because of what is past:

Condemnation (John 5:24)

The law of sin and death (Romans 8:2)

Death and wrath (Colossians 3:3; Romans 6:11; 1 Thessalonians 5:9)

Night and darkness (1 Thessalonians 5:5)

6. Because of our promises:

Never perish (John 10:27-28)

Shall never die (John 11:26)

The glory of God (Romans 5:2) This speaks of Christ's kingdom glory.

Shall be saved from wrath (Romans 5:9)

Glorious liberty of the children of God (Romans 8:21)

Redemption of the body (Romans 8:23-24; Philippians 3:21)

Predestinated to be conformed to the image of Christ (Romans 8:28-29)

Cannot be separated from God's love (Romans 8:31-39)

God shall confirm you unto the end (1 Corinthians 1:8)

He that hath begun a good work in you will perform it until the day of Jesus Christ (Philippians 1:6)

Shall appear with Christ in glory (Colossians 3:3-4)

Delivered from the wrath to come (1 Thessalonians 1:10)

Not appointed to wrath but to salvation (1 Thessalonians 5:9)

Eternal inheritance (Hebrews 9:15)

Incorruptible inheritance (1 Peter 1:4)

Way of Life Encyclopedia of the Bible (David W. Cloud): Eternal Security

We all agree that the Bible teaches the security of the faithful Christian. The question is, “what happens to those Christians who apostatize from the Christian faith?” When they die, do they go to heaven or hell? None of the passages referenced above even remotely suggest that they go to heaven.

 

[His_disciple3]

I'm not even going to respond because your allegations and taking verses out of context is absolutely ridiculous. I've never seen someone clearly take verses out of context to mean something else entirely. But if death is all that is threatened, then I guess we have nothing to fear. For death is gain. Merry Christmas.

death is gain only to those who have accepted Christ as their Lord, and trusted God to save them. But as you teach, ye must keep yourself saved, death is not gain if you are in your so called falling state , I know a friend, who went to church just like me all his life. but always felt like that he wasn't ready to accept the love of Christ, because of teachings like yours and many others, because He knew that he was weak and would probably fall back in to sin. He believed that he had to have the works, just as you all preach, and so yet at 44 years old with all kind of health problems knew that if he died, he would be sent to hell. but knew no way of making himself clean enough to approach God. death was not gain to him. to you and your teaches death is something to fear, or the state in you are in at death I should say. if one can believe that they can fall away, death is not just another step the next step toward eternal life, but The step into enternal life, and this depends on your righteous when you take that step. I took my step into eternal life when I called upon the name of the Lord, that is the promise from God that I claim!! death now becomes something that is not to be feared, but is gain for it is another step that I must take to recieve that promise From God, and I take it with the Righteousness of Christ. my Redeemer, my Saviour, my Lord, my Advocate, my Mediator, my Messiah, my Judge, my King, my Propitiation, my God, my Restorer and my Everything!!!!
fortunate, for my friend, while in a operation to have a leg remove due to circulation problems. God spoke to him in a dream, and he was going down a straight and narrow path, which had just lead him from all kind of evil people, and he came upon a gate, a very small gate and as he tried every way possible for him to fit through or get through this gate. there was no way he could get through it, he thought of turning and going back to way he had came, but remember the evil people and thought how he didn't want to go to them. and just as he was about to sit down and just wait to see if the gate would ever open so he could enter, he said a hand came through the gate, and he heard a voice say: I am Jesus, take my hand, for I am the way, the truth, and the life: no man cometh unto the Father, but by me. and as he reached out to take the hand, the dream ended, when he woke up , the first then he ask for, someone to call a pastor friend of his. and He accepted Christ as his Lord and Saviour, about a month before he took his step of gain into the presence of God, through Jesus Christ his Redeemer!!!

Praise God, for His mercy endureth forever!!!!!!!!!!!!! not until I sin again, not until I am working for the Kingdom. But Forever His mercy endureth!!!!!!!!!


Happy New Year

 

[phoenixdem]

"But as you teach, ye must keep yourself saved, death is not gain if you are in your so called falling state"

Teachings like this have cost untold and unnecessary misery in the souls of the faithful. Paul and the other Apostles told Christians to beware of those who come preaching a different gospel.

 

[PrincetonGuy]

Actually The bible clearly teaches eternal security. The Church was consolidated under the rule of powerful men for political purposes early in it's life, we also see in the New Testament that false teachers and evil people had come into power in the Church already while the apostles still lived. That's why God had the apostles write what they wrote, because it can be trusted over the verbal blatherings of uninspired men and power grabbers. Conditional security based on following the rules of the church was a terrible man made doctrine that scared people into submission to the rule of evil men. That's why we had to have a reformation, to get back to the bible, back to what God says, not what men in bought positions said. That is why you start hearing biblical teachings spoken clearly again around the 15 and 1600s. God had decided it was time to liberate his Church from tyranny. So when you talk about the first 15 or 1600 years of church history you are talkling about a great time of darkness with very few bright spots. The devil was working overtime trying to destroy the church but God, through the reformation, brought the bible back to the forefront and now we can see clearly what it says. So just like in the time of Ezra and Nehemiah, the scriptures were found and read out loud to the people. The reason that the SBC (the largest and fastest growing "protestant" denomination) teaches eternal security, and the reason people believe it is because that is what the bible clearly teaches when you just read it and believe what it says, and only through appealing to a dark past that God gloriously swept aside and taking passages out of context while ignoring the law of non contradiction can one try to shed doubt on the eternal security of the believer. It is written down forever that those who believe in Jesus Christ are saved, God's word will never change. It will last forever.

Isaish 40:8
The grass withers and the flowers fall, but the word of our God stands forever."

Let us not confuse the Ante-Nicene Church Fathers and what they taught with the teaching of the popes in the 15th and 16th centuries. Moreover, let us not confuse the writings of Thomas Aquinas and the many other Roman Catholic theologians whose writings are read and enjoyed today by Baptists around the world with the teaching of the popes in the 15th and 16th centuries. Moreover, let us not forget that the teaching of eternal security by the Reformers was not based upon more accurate Greek lexicons and grammars resulting in a more accurate exegesis of the relevant texts—it was based upon the false premise that God is absolutely sovereign.

Deductive Bible Study
Premise = God is absolutely sovereign.
Conclusion = Man can, therefore, do nothing to either secure or lose his salvation.

Premise = God is absolutely sovereign.
Conclusion = God wanted Adam to fall into sin even though God knew full well that as a consequence his own Son would have to suffer a spiritually, emotionally, and physically agonizing death on a Roman cross.

Premise = God wanted Adam to fall into sin even though God knew full well….
Conclusion = God is, in reality, Satan.

I do not believe that God is, in reality, Satan.

 

[PrincetonGuy]

When the Roman Catholic Church became the dominant church following the times of the Apostles, church officials placed Peter as the head of their church, the first Pope from a verse that Christ said that Peter was a little stone and He, Christ, was the rock, the foundation, of His Church.

The Roman Catholic Popes, in the spiel and practice of the Roman Catholics, became God's Representative on earth and they spoke with the authority of God. The Roman Catholic Church placed believers back under the law and they had to do good works for salvation and keep themselves in the faith or they would go to Hell.

Then came the Roman Catholic imaginary place of correction called Purgatory, There has never been a Protestant Purgatory, it is a Roman Catholic invention to extort money from the believers. Men wearing cleric garb could forgive men their sins and give the professing sinners work to do to work off their bad karma. Doesn't all of this sound like blasphamy? It should.

Then came the Reformation in which salvation by faith was once again preached and believed by many. The Roman Catholic Church and its Inquisition tried to stamp out belief in the gospel salvation, but the belief once delivered to the Saints by God, suppressed by the Roman Catholic Church for centuries, and preached again by Luthor and the other reformers endured.

The fight for the gospel between the Reformers and the Roman Catholic Church and the Arminians goes on even today. There are still those who would place men under the law which never saved anyone. The message of salvation by the grace of God is still believed by many. God said He would always have His remnant. So be it.

The Roman Catholic Church, especially in the 15th and 16th centuries, has taught some unbiblical doctrines, but the Roman Catholic Church has NEVER taught that any Christian is under the Law. Moreover, there has NEVER been an Arminian Christian who has believed or taught that any Christian is under the Law. Indeed, such a teaching contradicts the very core of Arminian theology.

 

[Osage Bluestem]

Let us not confuse the Ante-Nicene Church Fathers and what they taught with the teaching of the popes in the 15th and 16th centuries. Moreover, let us not confuse the writings of Thomas Aquinas and the many other Roman Catholic theologians whose writings are read and enjoyed today by Baptists around the world with the teaching of the popes in the 15th and 16th centuries. Moreover, let us not forget that the teaching of eternal security by the Reformers was not based upon more accurate Greek lexicons and grammars resulting in a more accurate exegesis of the relevant texts—it was based upon the false premise that God is absolutely sovereign.

Deductive Bible Study
Premise = God is absolutely sovereign.
Conclusion = Man can, therefore, do nothing to either secure or lose his salvation.

Premise = God is absolutely sovereign.
Conclusion = God wanted Adam to fall into sin even though God knew full well that as a consequence his own Son would have to suffer a spiritually, emotionally, and physically agonizing death on a Roman cross.

Premise = God wanted Adam to fall into sin even though God knew full well….
Conclusion = God is, in reality, Satan.

I do not believe that God is, in reality, Satan.

I don't agree with your reasoning here. God is of course not satan. Satan is evil and God is good. However, God does use satan to do what needs to be done, satan is a creature. However satan means it for evil and God uses it for good as we see in Job. We know the results of Job are good because we are still learning from it today as it is part of scripture. We see that when Joseph was sold into slavery he clearly explained that his brothers meant it for evil and God meant it for good. God is sovereign. Satan is just an evil tool that wickedly delights in what he does. God uses his actions and essentially thwarts all of satans purposes and turns them to good.

There are very few "fathers" of the church that had anything really meaningful to say. What is important is in the bible. The bible is the word of God. The writings of everyone else isn't.

 

[phoenixdem]

The Roman Catholic Church, especially in the 15th and 16th centuries, has taught some unbiblical doctrines, but the Roman Catholic Church has NEVER taught that any Christian is under the Law. Moreover, there has NEVER been an Arminian Christian who has believed or taught that any Christian is under the Law. Indeed, such a teaching contradicts the very core of Arminian theology.

I disagree that teaching things contrary to the gospel was especially done in the15th and 16th centuries. Things contrary to the gospel have been taught since the Roman Catholic Church took the position they were God's sole representative on earth.

I asked my father-in-law, a stauch and highly dedicated Catholic, if the Roman Catholic Church taught works for salvation. His reply was yes. If you check the Canon, available online, you would see that reply was absolutely correct. Works means the Law, not the grace of God.

A teaching that man has free will and goes to God for Salvation rather than God going to man is most certainly teaching works and the Law.

 

[PrincetonGuy]

I don't agree with your reasoning here. God is of course not satan. Satan is evil and God is good. However, God does use satan to do what needs to be done, satan is a creature. However satan means it for evil and God uses it for good as we see in Job. We know the results of Job are good because we are still learning from it today as it is part of scripture. We see that when Joseph was sold into slavery he clearly explained that his brothers meant it for evil and God meant it for good. God is sovereign. Satan is just an evil tool that wickedly delights in what he does. God uses his actions and essentially thwarts all of satans purposes and turns them to good.

If God wanted Adam to fall into sin, God is not good, but evil. However, God did not want Adam to fall into sin because God is good. Adam resisted the will of God, proving that God is not absolutely sovereign. He gave man a free will.

There are very few "fathers" of the church that had anything really meaningful to say. What is important is in the bible. The bible is the word of God. The writings of everyone else isn't.

I believe with every ounce of my being that the historical teaching of salvation is true, and if I am wrong (but of course I am not), so was every Christian for 1,500 years, including the very men whom it pleased God to use to formalize the doctrine of the Trinity and to establish the New Testament Canon. If I am wrong, the New Testament was so very poorly written that no one, not even the most gifted scholars, were able to understand the doctrine of salvation for 1,500 years; and if that is true, the New Testament was so very poorly written that it cannot possibly be the inspired Word of God but is merely junk literature written by men with extremely poor writing skills. If I am wrong, the New Testament was so very poorly written and thus so very poorly understood that we have absolutely no assurance that anyone correctly understands any of it today. Therefore, if I am wrong, we have absolutely nothing upon which to base our Christian faith but 27 books of poorly written junk literature.

I am not wrong—and neither was the entire Christian church wrong for 1,500 years, and the New Testament and the rest of the Bible are the inspired Word of God.

 

[DeaconDean]

And there you have it folks, revelation, new understanding of the meaning of scripture, stopped at the conclusion of the canon of scripture.

So much for "he will guide you to all truth".

God Bless

Till all are one.

 

[PrincetonGuy]

I disagree that teaching things contrary to the gospel was especially done in the15th and 16th centuries. Things contrary to the gospel have been taught since the Roman Catholic Church took the position they were God's sole representative on earth.

I asked my father-in-law, a stauch and highly dedicated Catholic, if the Roman Catholic Church taught works for salvation. His reply was yes. If you check the Canon, available online, you would see that reply was absolutely correct. Works means the Law, not the grace of God.

A teaching that man has free will and goes to God for Salvation rather than God going to man is most certainly teaching works and the Law.

The theology that distinguishes Roman Catholicism from Protestantism was first conceived well after the Council of Nicaea in the 4th century. That theology was developed over a period of many centuries, but the Roman Catholic Church has NEVER taught that any Christian is under the Law. Yes, it has taught, and teaches today, that performing the works that Christ taught a Christian must perform must be performed in order for a Christian to remain saved after his initial justification by faith. These are, however, NOT works of the Law.

The Saint Joseph Edition of the New American Bible with the second edition of the New Testament (1986) has the following note on Rom. 3:21-31,

These verses provide a clear statement of Paul’s “gospel,” i.e., the principle of justification by faith in Christ. God has found a means of rescuing humanity from its desperate plight: Paul’s general term for this divine initiative is the righteousness of God (21). Divine mercy declares the guilty innocent and makes them so. God does this not as a result of the law but apart from it (21), and not because of any merit in human beings but through forgiveness of their sins (24), in virtue of the redemption wrought in Christ Jesus for all who believe (22.24-25). God has manifested his righteousness in the coming of Jesus Christ, whose saving activity inaugurates a new era in human history.
​

The Saint Joseph Edition of the New American Bible with the second edition of the New Testament (1986) has the following note on Rom. 4:3,

Jas 2, 24 appears to conflict with Paul’s statement. However, James combats the error of extremists who used the doctrine of justification through faith as a screen for moral self-determination. Paul discusses the subject of holiness in greater detail than does James and beginning with ch 6 shows how justification through faith introduces one to the gift of a new life in Christ through the power of the Holy Spirit.
​

Yes, this is a Roman Catholic Bible with Roman Catholic notes published by the Catholic Book Publishing Company in New York with both the Imprimatur and the Nihil Obstat.

 

[His_disciple3]

"But as you teach, ye must keep yourself saved, death is not gain if you are in your so called falling state"

Teachings like this have cost untold and unnecessary misery in the souls of the faithful. Paul and the other Apostles told Christians to beware of those who come preaching a different gospel.

No i don't teach you must keep your self saved I was addressing faceofbear , in my post when I referr to myself I will say Me , or I , when I am adressing the other guy, I shall say You or yours . paul was the one that said not by my works least i boast, you preach against that or intrepret scriptures contradicting against that, then you preach another gospel,

could anyone please show me when peter denied Jesus three times, any where in the scriptures after that, that peter was told that he needed to be saved again???????????? or paul after he said what I should do , i do not , and what i shouldn't do that i do, where after this he was saved again????????????????

I can show you when Jesus told the disciples that there names were written in Heaven, they still had unbelief about somethings except their salvation. I can show you from scriptures where some banked on their works to get them in, and they were cast out . you preach against this you preach another gospel

 

[OzSpen]

Osage,

Actually The bible clearly teaches eternal security.... Conditional security based on following the rules of the church was a terrible man made doctrine that scared people into submission to the rule of evil men.... The reason that the SBC (the largest and fastest growing "protestant" denomination) teaches eternal security, and the reason people believe it is because that is what the bible clearly teaches when you just read it and believe what it says....

If that were the case, there would not be this kind of discussion among evangelicals who believe the Bible. I have shown in my article, "Once saved, always saved OR once saved, lost again", that your statements cannot be supported biblically.

The Bible teaches that some commit apostasy (Heb. 6:4-6) and some shipwreck their faith (1 Tim. 1:19-20). Judas Iscariot was chosen by Jesus but he betrayed Jesus and Satan entered into him (John 13:27).

No matter how you wish to give your spin on history, the facts are that for the first 16 centuries of the church, the Bible teachers taught the conditional security of the believer. Why? That's what the Bible teaches.

Talking about the Southern Baptists growing and they teach eternal security, is not a good enough argument. Postmodern theology is growing and influencing lots of denominations. Does that make postmodernism right?

Sincerely, Spencer

 

[sheina]

We all agree that the Bible teaches the security of the faithful Christian. The question is, “what happens to those Christians who apostatize from the Christian faith?” When they die, do they go to heaven or hell? None of the passages referenced above even remotely suggest that they go to heaven.

You obviously didn't read all the references....all of them are promises for the true born again Christian. According to 1 Peter 1:4-5 we (true born again Christians) have an "incorruptible inheritance" reserved IN HEAVEN and we are KEPT by the POWER OF GOD.

Does Eternal Security Cause People to Live Carelessly?

Eternal security does not cause people to live carelessly. The very opposite is true. The Bible teaches that the grace of God actually motivates believers to serve God with a thankful heart (1 John 4:19; Romans 2:4; Ephesians 3:14-19; Titus 2:11-12). The more a believer understands the unfathomable love God has for him in Christ, the more he wants to please God.

No true born again Christian will apostasize from the faith. The doctrine of eternal security does not promise safety for anyone who merely professes Christ. Those who have eternal security are:

(1) Those who continue in the word (John 8:31-32)

(2) Those who follow Christ (John 10:27-28)

(3) Those who bring forth fruit (John 15:2; Luke 3:9)

(4) Those who are led by the Spirit of God (Romans 8:14-15)

(5) Those who have been born again (2 Corinthians 5:17; Ephesians 2:10; Galatians 6:15)

(6) Those who are sanctified from an unrighteous way of life (1 Corinthians 6:9-11)

(7) Those who have demonstrated their election (1 Thessalonians 1:4-10)

(8) Those who depart from iniquity (2 Timothy 2:19)

(9) Those who maintain their confidence in Christ (Hebrews 3:14)

(10) Those who have an undivided, convinced faith (Hebrews 4:10-11)

(11) Those who evidence the "things that accompany salvation" (Hebrews 6:9-12)

(12) Those who are looking for Christ's return (Hebrews 9:28)

(13) Those who remain patient and steadfast in tribulations (Hebrews 10:35-39)

(14) Those who are in the truth and continue in the truth (1 John 2:19-21; 2 John1:1-2)

(15) Those who are purifying themselves (1 John 3:1-3)

(16) Those who love the brethren (1 John 3:14)

 

[PrincetonGuy]

You obviously didn't read all the references....all of them are promises for the true born again Christian.

I did read all of the references; I have read all them very numerous times. Indeed, I have read and studied all of them numerous times in context; and in various threads, I have personally demonstrated, often from the original Greek text, one at a time, that they apply exclusively to faithful Christians—and that all true, born-again Christians do not remain faithful. The question is, “what happens to those Christians who apostatize from the Christian faith?” When they die, do they go to heaven or hell? None of the passages that you referenced even remotely suggests that they go to heaven.

It is a folly of indescribable proportions to hunt and pick from the Bible the passages that make us feel warm and fuzzy inside, and to disregard those passages that warn us of the danger of apostatizing from the Christian faith.

 

[OzSpen]

phoenix,

I disagree that teaching things contrary to the gospel was especially done in the15th and 16th centuries. Things contrary to the gospel have been taught since the Roman Catholic Church took the position they were God's sole representative on earth.

I asked my father-in-law, a stauch and highly dedicated Catholic, if the Roman Catholic Church taught works for salvation. His reply was yes. If you check the Canon, available online, you would see that reply was absolutely correct. Works means the Law, not the grace of God.

A teaching that man has free will and goes to God for Salvation rather than God going to man is most certainly teaching works and the Law.

There was false teaching in the first centuries of the church. What do you think influenced Paul to write Galatians and Colossians, and Jude to write the Book of Jude? There was false teaching already in the church in the first century after Christ's death.

This is what Paul wrote to the Galatians 1:6-9:

6 I am astonished that you are so quickly deserting the one who called you to live in the grace of Christ and are turning to a different gospel— 7 which is really no gospel at all. Evidently some people are throwing you into confusion and are trying to pervert the gospel of Christ. 8 But even if we or an angel from heaven should preach a gospel other than the one we preached to you, let them be under God’s curse! 9 As we have already said, so now I say again: If anybody is preaching to you a gospel other than what you accepted, let them be under God’s curse! (NIV), emphasis added

There are things in RC theology with which I do not agree, but please do not place the root of the problem with the RCC with statements like the one you made:

Things contrary to the gospel have been taught since the Roman Catholic Church took the position they were God's sole representative on earth.

Error was in the church long before the 16th century.

Sincerely, Spencer

 

[PrincetonGuy]

Does Eternal Security Cause People to Live Carelessly?

Eternal security does not cause people to live carelessly. The very opposite is true. The Bible teaches that the grace of God actually motivates believers to serve God with a thankful heart (1 John 4:19; Romans 2:4; Ephesians 3:14-19; Titus 2:11-12). The more a believer understands the unfathomable love God has for him in Christ, the more he wants to please God.

The doctrine of eternal security has caused countless millions of Christians to live carelessly—and I have personally met far too many of them! Does it have that affect on all Christians? No, it does not. The grace of God does motivate very many believers to serve God with a thankful heart, but it motivate far too many of them to live carelessly. We find the Apostle Paul addressing this problem in his epistles, most notably in his Epistle to the Romans.

Romans 6:1. What shall we say then? Are we to continue in sin so that grace may increase?
2. May it never be! How shall we who died to sin still live in it?
3. Or do you not know that all of us who have been baptized into Christ Jesus have been baptized into His death?
4. Therefore we have been buried with Him through baptism into death, so that as Christ was raised from the dead through the glory of the Father, so we too might walk in newness of life. (NASB, 1995)

Moreover, we must distinguish between the non-biblical doctrine of eternal security and the biblical doctrine of grace. We are saved by grace through faith—not a one-time faith, or a faith that lasts for only part of the post-conversion life, but a faith that lasts for the rest of the post-conversion life.

 

[PrincetonGuy]

No true born again Christian will apostasize from the faith. The doctrine of eternal security does not promise safety for anyone who merely professes Christ.

Heb. 6:4. For in the case of those who have once been enlightened and have tasted of the heavenly gift and have been made partakers of the Holy Spirit,
5. and have tasted the good word of God and the powers of the age to come,
6. and then have fallen away, it is impossible to renew them again to repentance, since they again crucify to themselves the Son of God and put Him to open shame.
7. For ground that drinks the rain which often falls on it and brings forth vegetation useful to those for whose sake it is also tilled, receives a blessing from God;
8. but if it yields thorns and thistles, it is worthless and close to being cursed, and it ends up being burned.
9. But, beloved, we are convinced of better things concerning you, and things that accompany salvation, though we are speaking in this way. (NASB, 1995)

Up until the 16th century, this passage was universally interpreted as teaching that a Christian could lose his salvation, and the large majority of Bible scholars today still hold to that position. Indeed, this passage of Scripture gives us the most detailed description of what it means to be saved that we find anywhere in the Bible, and the end of these saved persons who subsequently fall away from the Christian faith is eternal damnation in the fires of hell. This was also the doctrine of our earliest Baptist forefathers before some Baptists heard a brand new doctrine that had been recently conceived by some men in Europe, and spread this new doctrine among their Baptist brothers causing it to take over like a firestorm.

The author of the Epistle to the Hebrews wrote his Epistle using the terminology and phraseology of the very early Church. Therefore, in order to accurately interpret the Epistle to the Hebrews it is essential to have a solid background in the writings of the very early Church and the terminology and phraseology that they used.

The phrase in verse 4, “those who have once been enlightened,” is a reference to water baptism. Indeed, Justin Martyr (died in 165 A.D.) wrote that the term “enlightenment” was used as a synonym for water baptism of converts to Christianity and he uses the term “the enlightened one” for a person who has been baptized. And the Pe[bless and do not curse][bless and do not curse][bless and do not curse][bless and do not curse]ta, an ancient Syriac translation of the Greek New Testament, renders (when translated into English) the phrase in verse 4, “who have gone down into baptism.”

The phrase in verse 4, “have tasted of the heavenly gift,” was variously interpreted during the first 1500 years, but it was ALWAYS interpreted as describing a born-again Christian. Some, for example, saw it to be a reference to the Eucharist; others saw it to be a reference to the teaching of Christ in John 6:31-58. Still others saw it to be a reference to the forgiveness of sins; others saw it to be a reference to the blessings conferred upon the Christian believer.

The phrase in verse 4, “and have been made partakers of the Holy Spirit,” is an obvious reference to receiving the Holy Spirit, something that, in the New Testament, happens EXCLUSIVELY to those who have been saved.

The phrase in verse 5, “and have tasted the good word of God,” is a clear reference to the Christian’s experience of hearing the word of God preached and taught and the consequential experience of it in his life as a believer.

The phrase in verse 5, “and the powers of the age to come,” is a reference to the miracles that were performed by the Apostles and other Christians as a foreshadowing of the kingdom to come, and to the other blessings that Christians experience now in part but shall experience in their fullness in the future kingdom.

The phrase in verse 6, “and then have fallen away,” can be properly interpreted only to be speaking of falling from grace and the Christian faith, something that can NOT happen until AFTER a person is saved.

The phrases in verse 6, “it is impossible to renew them again to repentance, since they again crucify to themselves the Son of God and put Him to open shame,” tell us of the absolutely horrendous consequence of a Christian falling from grace, making the death of Christ on the cross for his sins to be of no effect. This passage expressly speaks of a person who has heard the Gospel, believed it, was saved and baptized, repented of his sins, and enjoyed the blessing of being a born-again Christian—but who subsequently chose to reject Christ and return to his sins. And the fate of such a person could not possibly be any worse—it is “impossible to renew them again to repentance.” Most obviously it is not impossible to renew an unsaved person to repentance if they have repented but not been born again and then fall back into sin. Therefore, the person spoken of has necessarily been born again but has fallen away from the Christian faith. And the born-again Christian who, of his own free will, chooses to reject the Christ who redeemed him is beyond redemption and damned to the fires of hell for eternity.

Verses 7 & 8 are an analogy used to support the author’s statements. Just as the ground which once brought forth vegetation useful to those for whose sake it is also tilled received a blessing from God, and the ground that now yields thorns and thistles is worthless and ends up being burned, so the Christian which once brought forth good fruit unto God but who now brings forth bad fruit ends up being burned in the fires of hell.

Verse 9 tells us that the author has been warning his Christian readers about things that do not accompany salvation, things that happen to Christians who fall away from the faith. Nonetheless, he is reassuring them that that he does not expect them to fall away, as some others had done, but is convinced of better things concerning them, and things that, in their case, accompany salvation, even though he felt that he needed to warn them of the horrendous consequences of apostasy from the Christian faith.


Because of the severity of the Greek word translated “impossible” in verse 6, some very early Christians rejected the Epistle to the Hebrews as not being a part of the New Testament Canon, but its place in the New Testament Canon is now well established and its warning is stern.

 

[sheina]

The doctrine of eternal security has caused countless millions of Christians to live carelessly—and I have personally met far too many of them! Does it have that affect on all Christians? No, it does not. The grace of God does motivate very many believers to serve God with a thankful heart, but it motivate far too many of them to live carelessly. We find the Apostle Paul addressing this problem in his epistles, most notably in his Epistle to the Romans.

I would say that the person who lives carelessly after making a "profession of faith" was not saved in the first place. Anybody can make a "profession of faith"....but is that "faith" dead faith (James 2:17-26) or saving faith in the Risen Lord and Savior Jesus Christ (Ephesians 2:8-9; Romans 4:9-25; Hebrews 11)?

If the Disobedient Christian Does Not Lose His Salvation, What Does Happen to Him?

(1) The sinning Christian is out of fellowship with the Lord and his people (1 John 1:3-7)

(2) The sinning Christian is helped and loved by the Lord Jesus Christ (1 John 2:1-2)

(3) The sinning Christian is chastened by the Father (Hebrews 12:5-11)

(4) The sinning Christian loses irreplaceable opportunities for service and fruit (Ephesians 5:14-17; Matthew 9:36-38; 1 Thessalonians 5:4-10). The sinning Christian can be forgiven, but he cannot regain the lost opportunities and the hurt he has caused by his sin

(5) The sinning Christian will suffer loss at the judgment seat of Christ (1 Corinthians 3:11-15; 2 Corinthians 5:10; 1 Timothy 6:17-19; 1 John 2:28).

Way of Life Encyclopedia of the Bible (David W. Cloud): Eternal Security

 

[Osage Bluestem]

I believe with every ounce of my being that the historical teaching of salvation is true, and if I am wrong (but of course I am not), so was every Christian for 1,500 years,

Therefore, if I am wrong, we have absolutely nothing upon which to base our Christian faith but 27 books of poorly written junk literature.

I am not wrong—and neither was the entire Christian church wrong for 1,500 years, and the New Testament and the rest of the Bible are the inspired Word of God.

The historical teaching is that God elects men to salvation and that those who believe in Christ are the elect. Eternal security is assured for one that is elect.

The passages you misunderstand are not saying that one who does this or that will become unsaved, they are saying that one who does this or that without repentance isn't saved to begin with, doesn't believe in Jesus, is going to hell, says they believe in Christ but don't....etc. There are also a few hypotheticals thrown in there as well. The bible doesn't contradict itself and it says that those who believe in Christ are saved, predestined, elected, they can't become unelected by God who doesn't change.

You are wrong and are following the flawed doctrines of men rather than the bible. Those "protestant" churches who don't believe in eternal security simply haven't reformed enough. They have failed to reform and have halted half way, holding onto mistakes like infant baptism, conditional security, sacredotalism, legalism...etc.

 

[sheina]

Hebrews 6:4-6. This passage refers to false believers. How do we know? (1) They tasted but they did not drink and eat (contrast John 6:54). (2) Those who fall away cannot be saved again. This shows the error of those who teach that a believer can lose his salvation; because invariably they exhort those who allegedly lose their salvation to return to Christ. (3) The difference between the true believer and the false is the fruit and the evidence (v. 7,8). (4) Paul plainly states that he is not referring to true believers (v. 9).

Hebrews 6:4 For it is impossible for those who were once enlightened, and have tasted of the heavenly gift, and were made partakers of the Holy Ghost,

Hebrews 6:5 And have tasted the good word of God, and the powers of the world to come,

Hebrews 6:6 If 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.

Hebrews 6:7 For the earth which drinketh in the rain that cometh oft upon it, and bringeth forth herbs meet for them by whom it is dressed, receiveth blessing from God:

Hebrews 6:8 But that which beareth thorns and briers is rejected, and is nigh unto cursing; whose end is to be burned.

Hebrews 6:9 But, beloved, we are persuaded better things of you and things that accompany salvation, though we thus speak.