There are many sincere Christians, who deeply love the Lord Jesus Christ, but do not understand this critical concept. And many of these would be very offended at the suggestion that this is a fundamental doctrine of the Christian faith. But regardless of the opinions of anyone, this is indeed taught in the scriptures, and not only taught, but insisted upon as a basic and fundamental principle.
Many have the notion that after we die, there will be a trial held to see if we will be admitted to heaven, to see if we have been “good enough.” But this is a serious mistake. For the trial has already been held. And all have been already condemned. For the word of God plainly says that “He who believes in Him is not condemned; but he who does not believe is condemned already, because he has not believed in the name of the only begotten Son of God.” (John 3:18) But there is a widespread second error, which is really only a modification of this error, that although we have already been saved by trusting Jesus, we need to do something to stay saved. The people who have been deceived by this idea fail to realize that they can no more deserve to stay saved, than they deserved to become saved in the first place. We need to realize that everything is based on the holy blood shed for us at Calvary. We need to consider the very words of Jesus, “Most assuredly, I say to you, he who hears My word and believes in Him who sent Me has everlasting life, and shall not come into judgment, but has passed from death into life.” (John 5:24)
As one of the main groups that teach this error is the Catholic church, we will notice how the Bible version they currently approve renders this verse. “I tell you for certain that everyone who hears my message and has faith in the one who sent me has eternal life and will never be condemned. They have already gone from death to life.” (John 5:24, CEV) So again we see that even the Catholic Bible clearly teaches that, for the believer, as for the unbeliever, the trial has already been held. “Everyone” who has this faith “will never be condemned.” And why? Because “They have already gone from death to life.”
But we also need to notice the explicit wording of both of these translations, that whoever believes “has” an unending life. The Greek word here translated has is echei. (a form of word number 2192 in Strong’s Greek Dictionary) It indicates present possession, not future possession. That is, the meaning is that whoever hears the words of Jesus and believes in Him that sent Him, already has life. And this life will never end. That is the real, literal, meaning of the Greek words used in this passage. And then, this is reinforced with the promise that such a person will never be condemned.
But we need to consider the basic meaning of the words “everlasting life,” as rendered in the first translation above, or “eternal life,” as rendered in the other. In this regard, we need to realize that a life that has been lost was never “everlasting,” or “eternal.” For by its very definition, such a life cannot ever end. “Everlasting life,” or “eternal life,” neither means nor implies a life that has the potential to last for ever. Instead, it means a life that cannot be lost. And that is what Jesus meant when He said, “as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, even so must the Son of Man be lifted up, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have eternal life. For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life.” (John 3:14-16)
Again, Jesus said, “My sheep hear My voice, and I know them, and they follow Me. And I give them eternal life, and they shall never perish; neither shall anyone snatch them out of My hand.” (John 10:27-28) The word “never” in this promise is so strongly stated that in the Greek, it took five words to say it. This one English word is a translation of the Greek words ou me and eis ton aiona, which literally translate as absolutely not - for ever. (In the Greek, the word translated perish is between these clauses.) That is, the Greek text literally says absolutely not perish for ever.
In examining this all important doctrine, we need to consider Abraham. We read in Hebrews 6:13-14, “For when God made a promise to Abraham, because He could swear by no one greater, He swore by Himself, saying, ‘Surely blessing I will bless you, and multiplying I will multiply you.’” This unconditional promise was made to Abraham in Genesis 22:17. But it was more than just a promise. For we are told that God “confirmed it by an oath.” Why did He do this? “For men indeed swear by the greater, and an oath for confirmation is for them an end of all dispute. Thus God, determining to show more abundantly to the heirs of promise the immutability of His counsel, confirmed it by an oath, that by two immutable things, in which it is impossible for God to lie, we might have strong consolation, who have fled for refuge to lay hold of the hope set before us.” (Hebrews 6:16-18)
God’s counsel is immutable. It cannot be changed. When He has made a promise, that promise will most certainly be kept. He wants us to understand this. So He showed it through His promise to Abraham. But He was not satisfied with simply showing it. He wanted to show it “more abundantly.” So He used man’s custom of confirming the promise by an oath. Men swear by something greater than themselves. But there is nothing greater than God. So He swore by Himself. Why did He do this? “That by two immutable things, in which it is impossible for God to lie, we might have strong consolation.”
How did “we” get into the picture. The promise, and the oath, made to Abraham, was made so that “we might have strong consolation.” But who is the “we” here? It is those of us “who have fled for refuge to lay hold of the hope set before us. This hope we have as an anchor of the soul, both sure and steadfast” and it “enters the Presence behind the veil, where the forerunner has entered for us.” (Hebrews 6:18-19)
Thus we see that this promise and oath, made to Abraham, was not for his sake alone. It was also to teach us a lesson. And what was the lesson? God will most assuredly keep His word. What He has promised He will certainly perform. But why does God make such a strong point of this? We learn this in Galatians 3:15-20:
“Brethren, I speak in the manner of men: Though it is only a man’s covenant, yet if it is confirmed, no one annuls or adds to it. Now to Abraham and his Seed were the promises made. He does not say, ‘And to seeds,’ as of many, but as of one, ‘And to your Seed,’ who is Christ. And this I say, that the law, which was four hundred and thirty years later, cannot annul the covenant that was confirmed before by God in Christ, that it should make the promise of no effect. For if the inheritance is of the law, it is no longer of promise; but God gave it to Abraham by promise.”
Here we see that the promise was stronger than the law. The Law could not annul the covenant, because that had already been made. But the covenant was not based on law. It was based on promise. Now promise and law are two very different concepts. Law is conditional, as in “If so-and-so, then such-and such.” But promise is unconditional, as in “I will do so-and-so.” In Galatians 3:15-20, as in Hebrews 6:13-19, our God stressed that His promises are unconditional.
We see this again in a promise made to David, and stressed by repeating it twice in scripture. So we first read: “When your days are fulfilled and you rest with your fathers, I will set up your seed after you, who will come from your body, and I will establish his kingdom. He shall build a house for My name, and I will establish the throne of his kingdom forever. I will be his Father, and he shall be My son. If he commits iniquity, I will chasten him with the rod of men and with the blows of the sons of men. But My mercy shall not depart from him, as I took it from Saul, whom I removed from before you. And your house and your kingdom shall be established forever before you. Your throne shall be established forever.” (2 Samuel 7:12-16)
And then we also read concerning David, “My mercy I will keep for him forever, And My covenant shall stand firm with him. His seed also I will make to endure forever, And his throne as the days of heaven. ‘If his sons forsake My law And do not walk in My judgments, If they break My statutes And do not keep My commandments, Then I will punish their transgression with the rod, And their iniquity with stripes. Nevertheless My lovingkindness I will not utterly take from him, Nor allow My faithfulness to fail. My covenant I will not break, Nor alter the word that has gone out of My lips.” (Psalm 89:28-34)
These two remarkable passages describe a promise made to David, and both of them expressly say that absolutely nothing will ever annul it. This promise is remarkable in that both of these two scriptures explicitly state that it cannot even be cancelled by sin.
In 2 Samuel 7, the wording is “If he commits iniquity, I will chasten him with the rod of men and with the blows of the sons of men. But My mercy shall not depart from him, as I took it from Saul, whom I removed from before you.” And in Psalm 89 the wording is: “If his sons forsake My law And do not walk in My judgments, If they break My statutes And do not keep My commandments, Then I will punish their transgression with the rod, And their iniquity with stripes. Nevertheless My lovingkindness I will not utterly take from him, Nor allow My faithfulness to fail.” And then He adds, “My covenant I will not break, Nor alter the word that has gone out of My lips.”
In both of these passages God expressly says that sin, if it comes, will be dealt with. But the punishment will not be a cancellation of the promise. Then, in Psalm 89, God explains this by saying, “My covenant I will not break, Nor alter the word that has gone out of My lips.”
But what does this mean for us? In Isaiah 55:1-3 we read: “Ho! Everyone who thirsts, Come to the waters; And you who have no money, Come, buy and eat. Yes, come, buy wine and milk Without money and without price. Why do you spend money for what is not bread, And your wages for what does not satisfy? Listen carefully to Me, and eat what is good, And let your soul delight itself in abundance. Incline your ear, and come to Me. Hear, and your soul shall live; And I will make an everlasting covenant with you— The sure mercies of David.”
So “the sure mercies of David,” the absolutely unconditional promise made to David, which can never be annulled, even by sin, is now extended to whoever will come, whoever will hear.
Our God made absolutely unconditional promises to Abraham and to David. And He has taught us to apply the unconditional nature of these promises to ourselves. This is not a theory. It is not a conclusion drawn by logic from various passages of scripture. It is expressly stated in the Holy Scriptures. But why does God make such a point of applying these promises to ourselves? Because He has also made similar unconditional promises to us. These promises tell us that He will both save us and keep us. Even as the Holy Spirit inspired Paul to write “I know whom I have believed and am persuaded that He is able to keep what I have committed to Him until that Day.” (2 Timothy 1:12) And as He also inspired Jude to end his epistle with the wonderful words, “Now to Him who is able to keep you from stumbling, And to present you faultless Before the presence of His glory with exceeding joy, To God our Savior, Who alone is wise, Be glory and majesty, Dominion and power, Both now and forever. Amen.” (Jude 1:24-25)
And this is why eternal security is a fundamental Christian doctrine. Because our security does not rest upon ourselves, or on anything we do, but upon our Lord Jesus Christ, and the sacrifice He made at Calvary. That is a firm foundation, which cannot be shaken. In comparison, all else is nothing but shifting sand.