The only problem with the truth of eternal security is that some passages seem to teach conditional security. However we are to approach these passages from the principle that we work from the plain or clear passages to those which are not clear and determine what they do mean in context.
Some passages mention individuals who some think lost their salvation.
Did Judas lose salvation?
1. We'll start with Judas because so many point to him as an example of one who believed was saved and then lost salvation.
2. One wrote, "Psalms 41:9 he is recorded as a fimiliar friend of Christ, in whom Christ trusted.. .... a genuine Christian disciple and empowered for service. ...Christ never chooses devils or unregenerated men to do His work."
First the Psalmist called him "my close friend" which meant
literally, "the man of my peace." This is applied to Judas as
one who was not at odds with Jesus.
Second, Jesus refered to many who will do miricles but
were never known by Him, who will be sent away to the
lake of fire[matt 7:21-23]
Third, Jesus said that He had chosen them and one" is a
devil" He didn't say, one became the devil [john 6:70-71]
So contrary to that writer's understanding, Christ could
choose a devil to do His work.
3. Christ said that not all of them were clean [john 13:10-11]Eleven of the disciples were clean but Judas was not. Judas had never experienced the benifit of becoming clean.
4. Jesus Kept secure [ tnpew] and guared the disiles while he was on earth. None ruined themselves except Judas who was the son of ruination[perdition]/ one doomed to destruction] according to John 17:12
5. Judas trangressed from his ministry and apostleship[acts 1:25]. This verse has nothing to do with salvation
6. Judas did not repent[uetavoew] but regretted [ uetauehhouai] what he had done [matt 27:3]
Did Adam and Eve have eternal life and lose it?
1. No scipture indicates that they had eternal life
2. No scripture indicates that they were perfect of righteous
3. They were untried.
4. They were good in the sense that they weren't built with flaws. the word good doesn't mean moral or righteous.
Did Ananias and Sapphira lose their salvation in Acts 5?
1. Peter never said they lost there salvation but they lied to the Holy Spirit
2. Luke does not state that they lost salvation but that they died.
3. Death is a form of discipline by God and is reserved for God's sons 1 [corinthians 11:29-32]
Did Demas lose his salvation by abondoning Paul as seen in 2 timothy 4:10
1. Demas did not abandon God
2. Demas loved the age. He determined to use debate, philosphy and scholarship [1 cor 1:20] to accomplish God's work and returned to Thessalonica to do this.
3. Demas did not lose his salvation
Did Paul describe Hymenaeus and Alexander losing their in 1 timothy 1:20?
1. Hymenaeus and Alexander had pushed themselves away from faith and good conscience[vs19]. In context, they were law teachers in contrast to Paul's instruction.
We are to live by faith in this present dispensation. vs. 4
We are to have a good conscience reguarding our life by
faith in this dispensation. vs. 5
2. They had shipwtreck their christian lives. vs 19 "The faith" refers to the truths which explain how to live the christian life.
3. They had been turned over to Satan so they would learn [by discipline] not to blaspheme.
They blasphed by teaching that God wanted believers
today to live by the law.
They were turned over to Satan not to lose salvation
but to learn something. Compare this to Paul having
a sinning brother turned over to Satan so that he would
ultimately be saved [cf 1 corinthians 5:5]
Some passages involve a misunderstanding of Biblical truths, sometimes based upon faulty understanding of the word.
Is Jesus the only begotten son and we are adopted sons[romans 8:15]?
1. The referance to Jesus as the "only begotten" son is a mistranslation of a term meaning,"special son" or "unique son" Jesus is the only son who is also God!
2. This passage involves a confusion over the terms son and child.
Child refers to birth and is accomplished by
the new birth. titus 3:5 , john 3:3-6
Son refers to a postion of privilege in the family
3. This passage involves confusion over the word adoption.
Adoption in our English bibles does not describe
adoption as we understood it. It is the graduation
of a child to the status of son within the family.
Believers do not enter the family of God by adoption
but by the new birth.
Can we become unborn [John 3:5]
1. no scripture indicates this.
Some passages refer to the believer's present tense of salvation not to his past or future and are misapplied
Can the blood cease to cleanse [1john 1:7]?
1. John was writing to believers about ongoing cleasning.
2. The believer can become dirty and not be cleansed
3. The dirty believer who will not be walk to be cleaned would need discipline, not lose his salvation.
Can a believer escape the pollutions of the world and then lose salvation? This passage causes problems because of the words" the end is worse than the first, For it was better for them not to know the way of righteousness.."[ 2 peter 2:20-21]
1. The way of righteousness is nothow to get saved initial by faith in Jesus Christ
2. The way of righteousness is how the believer can live righteously in his day to day living
3. These believers had lived the way of righteousness for a while
4. These believers have turned back in thier way in which they used to live. It is worst to have had a victory and go back to defeat than to have never had victory.
5. This passage is about present tense salvation [growth] not initial salvation. If it were about losing salvation then his situation at the end would be the same as at the first.
Hebrews presents serveral misunderstood passages which are used to prove that a believer can lose salvation.
1. The key issue in Hebrews involves believers who nee to go on to maturity.
2. The key issue in Hebrews involves the refusal of these believers to go on to maturity because they doubt that they could experience rest if they go on living the Christian life
3. The key issue in Hebrews means that no lose of salvation is threatened but rather they could experience struggles in their present tense salvation and earthly life.
4. They would not escape God's punishment if they neglected their great salvation. Hebrews 2:1-3
God chastens His sons hebrews 12:6
God doesn't chasten those who are not His
hebrew 12:7-8
5. They could not enter God's promised rest if they doubted Hebrews 3:19
God won't let them enter the rest in unbelief 3:19
Unbelief is not for intial salvation but Christian living
God has promised a rest for those who will cease from
their works[law works] as God did from His heb 4:9-10
6. They couldn't go on to maturity unless they leave behind the first things hebrews 5:11-6:3
God expected themm to mature Hebrews 5:11-14
God would carry them unto maturity if they would
leave the first things Hebrews 6:1-3
God wouldn't renew them to repentance if they
refused to go on to maturity hebrews 6:6
Repentance is not for initail salavtion in this
passage but a change of mind about the way
they were living
God would not curse them but they would be near
to cursing. hebrew 6:7-8 They would be like a field
that has only weeds which are burned off from its
surface.
7. They could experience a worse punishment if they treated arrogantly the Spirit of grace? Hebrews 10:26-29
In Christianity when one sins, there is no sacrifice
to offer as under Judaism vs 26
In Christianity they can experience a dreaded
expection of judgement. vs 27 mentally, they will
be overwhelmed. under law a sinner was put to
death vs 28
In Christianity God might might not kill a believer
but might bring upom him sickness or crippling vs 29
In Christianity as under Law , the Lord judges
His people. vs 30 In Christianity , His people
are believers only!
8. They could fall from the grace of God. Hebrew 12:16-17
This falling, like that ib Galations 5:4 is not loss
of salvation but a failure to experience all the
benifits of one gracious postion in Christ by
operating on an earthly level by law instead of
by grace.
Esau traded his birthright for food vs 26
The Hebrews were stuggling with this same choice,
live out their birthright as sons of God or eat. They
had lost simply by being identified as Christians and
now were having to choose whether they would
remain in Judaism and experience less trouble or
whether they would finally break with Judaism. If
they chose to continue in Judaism they would lose
their opportunity to have the blessing which God
promised for their lives.
What does it mean to "never fall" in 2 peter 1:10?
One writer who believed that the believer could lose his salvation wrote,"The incentives to Chrstians diligence all concern their present state and condition. If they fail along these lines they experience a tempoorsary lose which has no relation to their eternal state. The practical outcome in many instance is a looseness regarding spiritual matters. why be concerned? The outcome is sure to the life beyond this" Edward Mott, The Christ Eternities p 104
1. Peter was writing to believers about not falling from stability in their christian lives. Christians can live a stable christian life.
2. Peter did not mean "fall from salvation" by the word "fall".
3. This writer misses the point that God motivates the believer to proper Christain living, not by threat of losing one's salvation but by grace[cf titus 2:12-14]. We walk in newness of life, because we have been freed and are not condemned not to maintain that state[cf Romans 6:1-4;8:1]
Can a believer lose salvation by sowing to his flesh [Galations 6:7-8]?
1. The sowing has to do how one uses his material resources.
2. The one who sows because of his flesh, only reaps corruption, that which decays and does not last
3. The one sowing because of the Spirit would reap eternal life. He would enjoy a benefit of eternal life.
Can you cause another brother to lose his salvation based on 1 corinthians 8:8-12 or Romans 14:15?
1. both of these passage deal with how's one conduct can negatively affect a fellow believer.
2. Paul is concerned that eating food which an immature believer connects with a false god, would ruin that believer's christian life, especially if he copied the mature believer's actions.
3. The A.V. translates the word ruin in 1 cor 8:11. The ruin is in the realm of his christian life. It is not eternal perishing in the laKe of fire.
Can a believer be cast away[1 cor 9:26-27]
1. Paul wrote about the christian life as a race in which the competitors bring their bodies into submission. vs 24-25
2. Paul was concerned that his conduct match his message.
3. Paul didn't want to tell others how to ;ive and then himself fail to live like that he would be disapproved in the race.
The word "cast away" in the A.V. means disapproved. The N.I.V. and N.A.S.B. translates it disqualified which fits the context well.
Can a believer depart from saving faith [1timothy 4:1-3, jude 3]
1. The faith in both of these passages is not that for initial salvation but that body of doctrine which explains how to live the christian life.
2. Those departing from the faith for the Christian life in 1 tim 4 are following legal codes regarding what they can eat and whether they should marry . It has nothing to do with being saved or unsaved. It causes their consciences to become seared.
3. The believers Jude wrote needed to really live the Christian life, " really agonize the faith"
The word "agonize" or "contend" is used elsewhere
in a shorter form of competing in the christian life
[2 tim 4:3]They needed to really live the Christian life
because false teachers would teach them to live by
a perverted grace.
Can a christian lose his salvation by sinning the sin unto death? 1 john 5:16-17
1. The sin unto death is not mentioned
2. The death is physical not spiritual. It is discipline by God.
Can a christian miss the resurection? Philippians 3:10-11
1. Paul wrote of his attitude in living the Christian life vs. 9
2. Paul wanted to experience the benefit of living as one who is raised in Christ[vs.10-11] Paul was not writing about the future physical resurrection but of his postion in Christ, of walking in newness of life[cf romans 6:4]
Some passages have nothing to do with church saints but were about other people at other times.
These passages may or may not refer to salvation but none of them teach a loss of salvation even for those people. Does matt 7:21-23 describe christians who lost salvation?
1. NO!
2. Jesus never , at any time, knew these people.
Does matt 18:17 inidicate that a body can be cut off from the body of Christ?
1. Christ is not speaking of "the church" but of the assembly of disciples outside the synagogue. vs 15-20
2. Christ later promised that if one believer asked the Father for something it would be done, therefore, the promise in the verse 19 is not for us but for another group[cf John 16:23-24]
3. Christ told them to let him be like a Gentile or tax collector, He said nothing about this man losing his salvation. This is also in contrast to how Grace believers are to act; we are not to treat one as an enemy[2 thes 3:15]
Can a sheep become lost[luke 15:6]? This parable was told to illustrate the joy over the tax collectors and sinners coming to Him. It was told to explain that some become lost.
1. The sheep to which Christ referrewd were Israel.
2. The sheep had not lost salvation but were never saved.
3. The household of true Israel was viewed as a sheepfold.
Can a Christian become a prodigal son[luke 6:11-32]. Like the last parable, this was intended to explain why He would have joy over the return of a lost one. This is not about a believer coming back and is not a son becoming a son but about the recovery of something lost. One must keep the point in mind.
Was a disciple a believer[john 6:60-66]?
1. Some teach that discipleship has always been synonymous with salvation. Then when these disiples left and did not believe, such teacher believe they lost salvation
2. During Christ earthly ministery, disciples meant to be a learner and the requirements for a learner were established by the teacher.
3. Christ did not require faith to be a disciple. One could be a disciple by following Christ about without believing He is God.
Some passages mention individuals who some think lost their salvation.
Did Judas lose salvation?
1. We'll start with Judas because so many point to him as an example of one who believed was saved and then lost salvation.
2. One wrote, "Psalms 41:9 he is recorded as a fimiliar friend of Christ, in whom Christ trusted.. .... a genuine Christian disciple and empowered for service. ...Christ never chooses devils or unregenerated men to do His work."
First the Psalmist called him "my close friend" which meant
literally, "the man of my peace." This is applied to Judas as
one who was not at odds with Jesus.
Second, Jesus refered to many who will do miricles but
were never known by Him, who will be sent away to the
lake of fire[matt 7:21-23]
Third, Jesus said that He had chosen them and one" is a
devil" He didn't say, one became the devil [john 6:70-71]
So contrary to that writer's understanding, Christ could
choose a devil to do His work.
3. Christ said that not all of them were clean [john 13:10-11]Eleven of the disciples were clean but Judas was not. Judas had never experienced the benifit of becoming clean.
4. Jesus Kept secure [ tnpew] and guared the disiles while he was on earth. None ruined themselves except Judas who was the son of ruination[perdition]/ one doomed to destruction] according to John 17:12
5. Judas trangressed from his ministry and apostleship[acts 1:25]. This verse has nothing to do with salvation
6. Judas did not repent[uetavoew] but regretted [ uetauehhouai] what he had done [matt 27:3]
Did Adam and Eve have eternal life and lose it?
1. No scipture indicates that they had eternal life
2. No scripture indicates that they were perfect of righteous
3. They were untried.
4. They were good in the sense that they weren't built with flaws. the word good doesn't mean moral or righteous.
Did Ananias and Sapphira lose their salvation in Acts 5?
1. Peter never said they lost there salvation but they lied to the Holy Spirit
2. Luke does not state that they lost salvation but that they died.
3. Death is a form of discipline by God and is reserved for God's sons 1 [corinthians 11:29-32]
Did Demas lose his salvation by abondoning Paul as seen in 2 timothy 4:10
1. Demas did not abandon God
2. Demas loved the age. He determined to use debate, philosphy and scholarship [1 cor 1:20] to accomplish God's work and returned to Thessalonica to do this.
3. Demas did not lose his salvation
Did Paul describe Hymenaeus and Alexander losing their in 1 timothy 1:20?
1. Hymenaeus and Alexander had pushed themselves away from faith and good conscience[vs19]. In context, they were law teachers in contrast to Paul's instruction.
We are to live by faith in this present dispensation. vs. 4
We are to have a good conscience reguarding our life by
faith in this dispensation. vs. 5
2. They had shipwtreck their christian lives. vs 19 "The faith" refers to the truths which explain how to live the christian life.
3. They had been turned over to Satan so they would learn [by discipline] not to blaspheme.
They blasphed by teaching that God wanted believers
today to live by the law.
They were turned over to Satan not to lose salvation
but to learn something. Compare this to Paul having
a sinning brother turned over to Satan so that he would
ultimately be saved [cf 1 corinthians 5:5]
Some passages involve a misunderstanding of Biblical truths, sometimes based upon faulty understanding of the word.
Is Jesus the only begotten son and we are adopted sons[romans 8:15]?
1. The referance to Jesus as the "only begotten" son is a mistranslation of a term meaning,"special son" or "unique son" Jesus is the only son who is also God!
2. This passage involves a confusion over the terms son and child.
Child refers to birth and is accomplished by
the new birth. titus 3:5 , john 3:3-6
Son refers to a postion of privilege in the family
3. This passage involves confusion over the word adoption.
Adoption in our English bibles does not describe
adoption as we understood it. It is the graduation
of a child to the status of son within the family.
Believers do not enter the family of God by adoption
but by the new birth.
Can we become unborn [John 3:5]
1. no scripture indicates this.
Some passages refer to the believer's present tense of salvation not to his past or future and are misapplied
Can the blood cease to cleanse [1john 1:7]?
1. John was writing to believers about ongoing cleasning.
2. The believer can become dirty and not be cleansed
3. The dirty believer who will not be walk to be cleaned would need discipline, not lose his salvation.
Can a believer escape the pollutions of the world and then lose salvation? This passage causes problems because of the words" the end is worse than the first, For it was better for them not to know the way of righteousness.."[ 2 peter 2:20-21]
1. The way of righteousness is nothow to get saved initial by faith in Jesus Christ
2. The way of righteousness is how the believer can live righteously in his day to day living
3. These believers had lived the way of righteousness for a while
4. These believers have turned back in thier way in which they used to live. It is worst to have had a victory and go back to defeat than to have never had victory.
5. This passage is about present tense salvation [growth] not initial salvation. If it were about losing salvation then his situation at the end would be the same as at the first.
Hebrews presents serveral misunderstood passages which are used to prove that a believer can lose salvation.
1. The key issue in Hebrews involves believers who nee to go on to maturity.
2. The key issue in Hebrews involves the refusal of these believers to go on to maturity because they doubt that they could experience rest if they go on living the Christian life
3. The key issue in Hebrews means that no lose of salvation is threatened but rather they could experience struggles in their present tense salvation and earthly life.
4. They would not escape God's punishment if they neglected their great salvation. Hebrews 2:1-3
God chastens His sons hebrews 12:6
God doesn't chasten those who are not His
hebrew 12:7-8
5. They could not enter God's promised rest if they doubted Hebrews 3:19
God won't let them enter the rest in unbelief 3:19
Unbelief is not for intial salvation but Christian living
God has promised a rest for those who will cease from
their works[law works] as God did from His heb 4:9-10
6. They couldn't go on to maturity unless they leave behind the first things hebrews 5:11-6:3
God expected themm to mature Hebrews 5:11-14
God would carry them unto maturity if they would
leave the first things Hebrews 6:1-3
God wouldn't renew them to repentance if they
refused to go on to maturity hebrews 6:6
Repentance is not for initail salavtion in this
passage but a change of mind about the way
they were living
God would not curse them but they would be near
to cursing. hebrew 6:7-8 They would be like a field
that has only weeds which are burned off from its
surface.
7. They could experience a worse punishment if they treated arrogantly the Spirit of grace? Hebrews 10:26-29
In Christianity when one sins, there is no sacrifice
to offer as under Judaism vs 26
In Christianity they can experience a dreaded
expection of judgement. vs 27 mentally, they will
be overwhelmed. under law a sinner was put to
death vs 28
In Christianity God might might not kill a believer
but might bring upom him sickness or crippling vs 29
In Christianity as under Law , the Lord judges
His people. vs 30 In Christianity , His people
are believers only!
8. They could fall from the grace of God. Hebrew 12:16-17
This falling, like that ib Galations 5:4 is not loss
of salvation but a failure to experience all the
benifits of one gracious postion in Christ by
operating on an earthly level by law instead of
by grace.
Esau traded his birthright for food vs 26
The Hebrews were stuggling with this same choice,
live out their birthright as sons of God or eat. They
had lost simply by being identified as Christians and
now were having to choose whether they would
remain in Judaism and experience less trouble or
whether they would finally break with Judaism. If
they chose to continue in Judaism they would lose
their opportunity to have the blessing which God
promised for their lives.
What does it mean to "never fall" in 2 peter 1:10?
One writer who believed that the believer could lose his salvation wrote,"The incentives to Chrstians diligence all concern their present state and condition. If they fail along these lines they experience a tempoorsary lose which has no relation to their eternal state. The practical outcome in many instance is a looseness regarding spiritual matters. why be concerned? The outcome is sure to the life beyond this" Edward Mott, The Christ Eternities p 104
1. Peter was writing to believers about not falling from stability in their christian lives. Christians can live a stable christian life.
2. Peter did not mean "fall from salvation" by the word "fall".
3. This writer misses the point that God motivates the believer to proper Christain living, not by threat of losing one's salvation but by grace[cf titus 2:12-14]. We walk in newness of life, because we have been freed and are not condemned not to maintain that state[cf Romans 6:1-4;8:1]
Can a believer lose salvation by sowing to his flesh [Galations 6:7-8]?
1. The sowing has to do how one uses his material resources.
2. The one who sows because of his flesh, only reaps corruption, that which decays and does not last
3. The one sowing because of the Spirit would reap eternal life. He would enjoy a benefit of eternal life.
Can you cause another brother to lose his salvation based on 1 corinthians 8:8-12 or Romans 14:15?
1. both of these passage deal with how's one conduct can negatively affect a fellow believer.
2. Paul is concerned that eating food which an immature believer connects with a false god, would ruin that believer's christian life, especially if he copied the mature believer's actions.
3. The A.V. translates the word ruin in 1 cor 8:11. The ruin is in the realm of his christian life. It is not eternal perishing in the laKe of fire.
Can a believer be cast away[1 cor 9:26-27]
1. Paul wrote about the christian life as a race in which the competitors bring their bodies into submission. vs 24-25
2. Paul was concerned that his conduct match his message.
3. Paul didn't want to tell others how to ;ive and then himself fail to live like that he would be disapproved in the race.
The word "cast away" in the A.V. means disapproved. The N.I.V. and N.A.S.B. translates it disqualified which fits the context well.
Can a believer depart from saving faith [1timothy 4:1-3, jude 3]
1. The faith in both of these passages is not that for initial salvation but that body of doctrine which explains how to live the christian life.
2. Those departing from the faith for the Christian life in 1 tim 4 are following legal codes regarding what they can eat and whether they should marry . It has nothing to do with being saved or unsaved. It causes their consciences to become seared.
3. The believers Jude wrote needed to really live the Christian life, " really agonize the faith"
The word "agonize" or "contend" is used elsewhere
in a shorter form of competing in the christian life
[2 tim 4:3]They needed to really live the Christian life
because false teachers would teach them to live by
a perverted grace.
Can a christian lose his salvation by sinning the sin unto death? 1 john 5:16-17
1. The sin unto death is not mentioned
2. The death is physical not spiritual. It is discipline by God.
Can a christian miss the resurection? Philippians 3:10-11
1. Paul wrote of his attitude in living the Christian life vs. 9
2. Paul wanted to experience the benefit of living as one who is raised in Christ[vs.10-11] Paul was not writing about the future physical resurrection but of his postion in Christ, of walking in newness of life[cf romans 6:4]
Some passages have nothing to do with church saints but were about other people at other times.
These passages may or may not refer to salvation but none of them teach a loss of salvation even for those people. Does matt 7:21-23 describe christians who lost salvation?
1. NO!
2. Jesus never , at any time, knew these people.
Does matt 18:17 inidicate that a body can be cut off from the body of Christ?
1. Christ is not speaking of "the church" but of the assembly of disciples outside the synagogue. vs 15-20
2. Christ later promised that if one believer asked the Father for something it would be done, therefore, the promise in the verse 19 is not for us but for another group[cf John 16:23-24]
3. Christ told them to let him be like a Gentile or tax collector, He said nothing about this man losing his salvation. This is also in contrast to how Grace believers are to act; we are not to treat one as an enemy[2 thes 3:15]
Can a sheep become lost[luke 15:6]? This parable was told to illustrate the joy over the tax collectors and sinners coming to Him. It was told to explain that some become lost.
1. The sheep to which Christ referrewd were Israel.
2. The sheep had not lost salvation but were never saved.
3. The household of true Israel was viewed as a sheepfold.
Can a Christian become a prodigal son[luke 6:11-32]. Like the last parable, this was intended to explain why He would have joy over the return of a lost one. This is not about a believer coming back and is not a son becoming a son but about the recovery of something lost. One must keep the point in mind.
Was a disciple a believer[john 6:60-66]?
1. Some teach that discipleship has always been synonymous with salvation. Then when these disiples left and did not believe, such teacher believe they lost salvation
2. During Christ earthly ministery, disciples meant to be a learner and the requirements for a learner were established by the teacher.
3. Christ did not require faith to be a disciple. One could be a disciple by following Christ about without believing He is God.
