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Though the United States is seen as a
Christian nation, there is a serious fundamental misunderstanding between the
roles of faith and works in salvation. In evangelical circles, works have
nothing to do with salvation and everything to do with sanctification or our
walk and growth in Christ. This is a radical difference from the rest of the
religions of the world. All religions can fall into one of two categories: a
religion that advocates salvation by works (a work-based religion) and a
religion that maintains salvation is by grace alone through faith alone in
Christ alone (a faith-based relationship, Eph 2:8-9; Jn 14:6). For anyone, individually or
corporately, who insists on conditional salvation falls into
the category of a work-based religion even though they may make the claim of
being Christian.
With a work-based salvation, there is always an attempt to have their good works outweigh their not-so-good works, hoping that will earn divine favor into heaven. With a faith-based religion, there are denominations or religious groups who claim to be faith-based but
their soteriology (doctrine of salvation) indicates that they are work-based
because they maintain that a believer can lose their salvation because of
personal sin and wind up in hell if they do not repent before dying. These people are very
much anti-eternal security and mock evangelicals who support an eternal
security doctrine.
The dilemma for them is that they do
not see their religion as a work-based religion for they may even subscribe to salvation by grace through faith but teach that a person can lose their salvation; this is nothing more than double talk. If there is something you must “do” in order to retain salvation, it is nothing more than work-based salvation: faith + doing something = salvation (see Rom 11:6).
Such a formula of salvation cuts right against the grain of clear passages like Eph
2:8-9; Titus 3:5. Biblical salvation is clearly by grace alone through faith alone in Christ
alone.
Can a person actually be saved while
sincerely believing works are needed for salvation? We all know some very good
people in other religions who firmly believe that a believer can lose his/her salvation. For me personally, it is very troubling and heartbreaking. I would
answer that question with humility by saying that those who were wrong about
the way of salvation in the Bible who died in that error died without Christ.
Paul was very clear about the danger of those who would tamper with the Gospel
(Gal 1:8). If a person rejects salvation by grace through faith and maintains a
belief that good works must outweigh the bad works in life in order to get
to heaven, he or she is guilty of tampering with the Gospel. This idea that a person can lose their salvation,
but if they repent before they die, they will be saved is in effect another gospel!
In our M-G passage, there is a
priceless truth that reveals just how secure we are in Christ. It speaks of our
eternal life being hidden, safe, and secure with Christ in God and what that
means to you and me. For me, it just reinforces a passage like Jn 10:27-28, 29.
Remember, the truth of Scripture is one organic whole. Either you can lose your
salvation or you cannot. We cannot have it both ways. Read what the Apostle
Paul says about it.
Paul in Col 3:3 speaks of our life being “hidden with Christ in
God.” Before we look at this glorious
truth let’s look at what Paul meant when he said, “For you died.” In Col 2:20
he stated to the Colossian believers that “you died with Christ.” So this death
is pinpointed to the death of Christ. The tense of the verb (Gk, apethanete) in both passages indicates a death occurring
in the past, once and for all. At salvation, we were united with Jesus Christ in His
death and resurrection forever. The penalty of our sin was paid; we died
to sin, and arose with Him to walk in newness of life (cf. Rom 6:4-7; Gal 2:20;
6:14; 2 Cor 5:17).
It has been said that “Worldliness is living by the world’s
rules.” Because we are in Christ, we no longer have to obey the passions and
lusts of the flesh, for we have been enabled to live for the glory of God
through the presence and power of the Holy Spirit living within us (1 Jn 2:20,
27; 4:4)! No longer are we under “the commandments and doctrines of men” (Col
2:22). We have a new world view, a new perspective of the world from God’s
point of view. Spirituality is derived from living by the principles of God’s
Word (2 Pet 1:3). We don’t have to play by the world’s rules any longer, for we died.
“Life” (Gk, zoe) is
where we get our English words, zoo and zoology, a life that is common to man
and animals (Acts 17:25). But here in Col 3:3 zoe refers to life as God has it, eternal life (1 Jn 1:2) promised
to all who place their faith in Christ as their Lord and Savior (Jn 5:24; 1 Jn
3:14). So we read that our eternal “life is hidden with Christ in God.” What
does this rich expression mean?
An eminent Greek scholar of the past described our [eternal] life
as “hidden” as “concealed, locked together with Christ in God.” He went so far as to say, “No hellish burglar
can break that combination” (Robertson’s
Word Pictures), that is, the all-powerful combination of “with Christ in God.” Vincent
says; “Your new spiritual life is no longer in the sphere of the earthly
and sensual, but is with the life of the risen Christ, who is unseen with God” (Vincent’s Word Studies, cf. Php
3:20).
This life is
hidden or literally “covered” from the world that cannot see our spiritual life
and question our thinking and behavior. And those who live for Christ can
readily understand this. The world doesn’t understand the Christian point of view. The world thinks it is strange that we don’t think, act, and live like
they do. Have you ever heard the question, “What do you do for fun?” It is more
a problem of misunderstanding due to a lack of spiritual capacity rather than
understanding (1 Cor 2:14; 1 Jn 3:1; 4:5-6).
This life is safe
and secure (suggested by hidden) because it is “with Christ in God” (Jn
10:28; Rom 8:31-39; Heb 7:25; 1Pet 1:4). Because our eternal life is with
Christ in God, how can anyone declare that we can lose our salvation? Such advocates
of conditional salvation are actually claiming by virtue of their position on salvation that there is a power greater
than omnipotence! It is a logical conclusion. This is a very dangerous position
to take (cf. Gal 1:8).
John MacArthur makes an insightful observation that believers
share a common spiritual life with the Son and the Father, citing 1 Cor 6:17 (The MacArthur Bible Commentary). Our
union with Christ is so close that one cannot act without affecting the other. For
a man or an angel to be capable of separating that spiritual union and robbing
a genuine believer of that spiritual life has to be more powerful than the Son
and the Father. An anti-eternal security doctrine is an untenable position and unscriptural.
We are secure because our eternal life is hidden with Christ in God, not
because we are doing something.
“And this is the
testimony: that God has given us eternal life, and this life is in His Son. He
who has the Son has life; he who does not have the Son of God does not have
life. These things I have written to you who believe in the name of
the Son of God, that you may know that you have eternal life, and that you may continue
to believe in the name of the Son of God.” (1 Jn 5:11-13).
If you are a new creation in Christ, your
[eternal] life is invisible, safe, and secure from the world with Christ in
God. And there is no power on earth that can defeat that all-powerful
combination and separate our spiritual life from Christ in God. If we are truly
in Christ, we are eternally secure, a natural byproduct of a faith-based relationship.
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