Those who believe in eternal security (often referred to by skeptics as “once saved always saved”) are normally accused of having their cake and eating it, too! They say things like this, “You once saved always saved folks believe you can live like the devil because you think that you are going to heaven no matter what you do?”
Now, are these critics concerned with the unwise testimony
(hypocrisy) of those claiming to be believers, or are they critical of the
doctrine that is purported to support the eternal security of every born again
believer out of fear of this teaching being abused, or do they just flat out
reject the entire notion of the eternal security of the believer and exchange
it for a working salvation?
Now, I appreciate those who share a concern of those claiming to be believers and expecting them to be living a life of purity or holiness in accord with the teaching of Scripture (1 Pet 1:16-17), for there are many Christians misrepresenting the kingdom of God nowadays. I emphasize those three prepositional phrases (italicized) above because of the extreme views of some sectarian groups on the meaning or composition of being set apart (holy) for the Lord’s sake. It is vital that our walk matches our talk for the glory of God, yes (Col 3:17; 1 Cor 10:31)? Boy, that’s a challenging one for any God fearing believer, living a balanced Christian life where our walk corresponds with our talk and avoiding being hypocritical!
It is important also to state the obvious here that not everyone
who claims to be a believer is born again. Even in the Bible-believing/Bible-behaving
evangelical churches, there are at least three types of attendees to be found:
(1) genuine born again believers, (2) carnal or backslidden believers, HI-HO’s,
half in/half out, and (3) tares. The latter do not have the Holy Spirit
living within them; in other words, they look like wheat (wheat is a metaphor
for a believer, tares refer to non-believers, cf. Mt 13:24-30, 36-43), but upon closer examination, they have
not been truly born from above.
Often a local church is measured unfairly by its community because
of the carnal believers and tares attending there. The authentic ones (trying
their best to live their life according to Jesus Christ) are usually in the
minority. Again, not all who attend a biblically solid evangelical church (Word-centric in belief and practice) are
believers, and nor are they necessarily legitimate representatives of a local
congregation. You may have heard something like this, “If so and so attends
such and such church, it will be a cold day in Hades before I darken its
doors,” right? That person he or she is referring to might just be a tare (a
Churchianity rep and not a Kingdom of God rep).
Those critical of the eternal security of the believer (compare some of the verses on ES: Jude 1:24; Jn 10:28, 29b; Eph 4:30; Jn 3:15-16; Rom 8:30, 38-39) not only impugn the character of God, by challenging His credibility and ability to save a believer to the uttermost, but they also fail to realize that if a genuine believer in Jesus Christ is not eternally saved, then the only alternative for redemption is a salvation by works and no longer by grace which cuts against the teaching of the New Testament (cf. Eph 2:8-9; Titus 3:5). This puts the skeptic of the eternal security of the believer in a very serious and precarious position; he or she might want to reconsider that (cf. Gal 1:8-9)!
In reality, people who attempt to live as close to hell as
possible and still go to heaven are probably not truly born again believers (Jn
3:3). I’m not going to defend them. Such fleshly endeavors ignore the command
to be holy, and we cannot glorify Yahweh living in an unholy state. The enemies
of God use such liberal and licentious theology in order to make a mockery of
the true teaching of eternal security while causing others to consider it a
theological joke.
Allow me to share an abbreviated version with you on some
reasons why any true believer in Jesus Christ knows that there is no biblical
support for a license to sin. And if he or she happens to be in error in
believing Christians are provided with a license to sin, such a person will
experience divine repercussions (cf. Gal 6:7). You could probably think of some
more reasons than what is being provided here, but this, in my humble
estimation, will hopefully help you treat eternal security in a different
light, but also, to reiterate that the eternal security of the believer does
not encourage true believers to sin against God. It is a ludicrous charge!
These four concerns listed below contribute to personal holiness which does not
look for an opportunity to go unholy!
Love (agape) for Yahweh, John 14:15. Keeping or obeying is more profound than a sense of mere duty. Like two sides of a coin, the essence of obedience is a deep love (agape) for Christ, and the effect of that love for Him is manifested in loving obedience to His commandments. Failure to obey the prime directive violates the first and second commandments (cf. Mk 12:30-31).
When you truly love (agape)
someone, like Yahweh, for instance, you do not want to hurt Him in any way by
failing to glorify Him in whatever you think, say, or do; that’s the ideal.
Since I sin because I am a sinner, as a saved sinner, I thank Yahweh for the
truth of restorative fellowship in 1 John 1:9 whenever I mess up in life.
Chastening, Heb 12:5-10. Will Yahweh stop us from sinning? No, there are, however, inevitable consequences associated with our disobedience (Gal 6:7). The immediate reaction is broken fellowship
with the Godhead due to a personal failure in holiness (cf. 1 Pet 1:15-16).
Whenever I disobeyed my dad when growing up, I never lost my
last name or my bloodline. I am biologically linked to my father and mother no
matter what. What I could expect is being corrected by my father. Boy, that was
some sweet communion! When we disobey our heavenly Father, our sonship is
unaffected, but we put our fellowship with Yahweh in jeopardy.
I do not enjoy being chastened, by the way (cf. Heb 12:11). This
chastening can run the gamut from a slap on the wrist to the severity of
physical death, depending on the manner and degree of disobedience. God is just
and righteous and will always do right by us.
Ripples, Gal 6:7. With Adam’s
rebellion, though he was forgiven, the consequences of such disobedience are
still rippling (cf. Rom 5:12; 8:22). Whenever we sin, there are unforeseen
ripples that seem to stay with us throughout our life journey! I do not want to
create ripples from disobedience that keep on giving and having to live and
deal with that on this side of eternity. How often we have been forgiven for
something and fellowship is restored, but we are still dealing with the fallout
from willful sin. Adam, though forgiven, dealt with it for 930 years (Gn 5:5)!
Many ripples in our lives were avoidable; we brought them upon ourselves. God
allows us to live out our consequences for sinning even though we may be as
white as rice now in fellowship with Yahweh.
The BEMA or the
judgment seat of Christ (1 Cor 3:8-13, 14-15; 2 Cor 5:10). Upon
spiritual regeneration, the thoughts, words, and deeds of every believer will
be evaluated for his or her earthly ministry to Yahweh and rewarded at the BEMA
based on the quality of such service to Him. One possesses an enduring quality
(gold, silver, and precious stones) while the other is a non-enduring quality
(wood, hay, and stubble).
This determination of the quality of our service to Yahweh is not for the all-knowing God to figure out; He already knows. It is for us to know the quality of our service to Him during our time on earth after being spiritually regenerated. It should be noted that the BEMA is not a judgment for our sins to determine our eternal standing; that was determined at the cross during our pre-salvation days when we made that decision to trust in the death of Christ on the cross for our deliverance from sin (cf. Eph 1:7; 2 Cor 5:21).
The BEMA is a post-salvation experience, not a discovery for sin or a determination of worthiness to enter the kingdom, but to reveal the quality of service to glorify Yahweh in the life of a believer and to be rewarded accordingly (cf. Mt 5:16; 1 Cor 10:31; Col 3:23; Eph 2:10; 1 Cor 10:31; Jas 2:17). Allow me to reiterate here that the Cross addressed the penalty for sin; the Bema deals with the quality of service in the life of a believer, the fruit of faith.
Eph 2:8-9; Titus 3:5 represent the faith aspect of salvation; Eph 2:10 is the fruit of that faith rendered unto God! The fruit of gold, silver, and precious stones are found only in the sphere of living in the will of God in a vertical-oriented lifestyle. Wood, hay, and straw are the byproducts of living outside the will of God on the horizontal plane (cf. 1 Cor 3:11-16).
How important is this service to Yahweh in the here and now? In
salvation (positional sanctification), grace is everything. Works are
meaningless or of no value whatsoever. After salvation (progressive
sanctification or maturing in Christ), however, works are everything on this
side of eternity (cf. Eph 2:10; James 2:14-19, 20-24)! Much could be said about these four deterrents to being unholy, but it is
commanded for us to be holy (cf. Lev 11:44, 45; 1 Pet 1:15-16). The best way to
glorify God is to be like Him, yes? Be holy, for I am holy.
We, who were not saved at an early age, have been down that horizontal
path; there’s nothing there of value for us. Love for Yahweh, fear of chastening, fear
of the unknown ripples from being stupid, and losing rewards in eternity
support my daily decisions in staying in a vertical orientation with my
relationship with Yahweh. Can we still get off track? You know the answer to
that. For every decision there are consequences.
I do not need to remind you, but I will; there is that unbiased
law of the harvest of reaping what you sow (cf. Gal 6:7). It simply doesn’t pay
to disobey. Let the critics say what they will, but there is no such thing as a
license to sin, and the eternal security of the believer is a New Testament
reality. Teach differently is to your peril for teaching a gospel of works
rather than of grace. If you lost it, you never had it.
The Apostle Paul told Timothy,
If we are faithless, He remains faithful; He cannot deny
Himself (2 Tim 2:13).
If Jesus cannot deny Himself, it stands to reason He cannot deny Himself in you or me either, yes? Read Paul’s words to the church at Colosse,
... Christ in you the hope of glory (Col 1:27).
Christ in you [us] [is] the hope [Grk., elpis, certainty, expectation, anticipation, assurance. There is no nuance of uncertainty with elpis.] of glory (contrast Eph 2:12).
I trust this provided you with some very good reasons on why a believer
doesn’t or shouldn't live life on the horizontal plane like an unbeliever. Blessings from Yahweh are indescribably better than chastening, yes? The Psalm
1:3 man or woman didn’t arrive at that point in his or her spiritual life by ignoring Psalm 1:1-2.
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