Titus 1:2, “In hope of eternal life, which God, that cannot lie, promised before the world began.”
Photo: The rainbow is a token between God and man, that God will never destroy the earth by flood again; but also to me, I believe that the rainbow is a shining reminder that God always keeps His promises. The greatest of all promises is that of eternal life. John 6:47, “Verily, verily, I say unto you, He that believeth on me hath everlasting life.”
There is a great hypocrisy in those who teach and defend the heresy, that
says a
believer can lose their salvation. I will address this in a bit, but
first I want to make a few comments as introduction.
The Bible teaches that once a sinner is born-again, they are eternally secure, i.e., they can NEVER lose their salvation. John 10:28, “And I give unto them eternal life; and they shall never perish, neither shall any man pluck them out of my hand.” This truth is often referred to as “Once saved, always saved.” We read in 1st John 5:13 that we can “KNOW” that we are saved. 1st John 5:13, “These things have I written unto you that believe on the name of the Son of God; that ye may know that ye have eternal life, and that ye may believe on the name of the Son of God.”
Tragically, there are some professed
“Christians” who deny this
Biblical truth, claiming that a believer can lose their salvation, and fall
out of a state of grace with God. The Salvation Army teaches this junk
theology. The Bible is clear that, just as man
cannot go back into his mother's womb, neither can a believer go back into an
unregenerate spiritual state (John 3:1-7). Not one example is given in
the Bible of someone losing their salvation. King David lost the joy of
salvation, but not salvation (Psalm 51:12). Throughout the Psalms, David
continually makes reference to “Thy salvation.” God saves us, not we
ourselves. It is God's salvation that gets us into Heaven.
Dr. M.R. DeHaan's Heresy That Partial Faith in Christ Saves
I was recently reading an excellent book, 508 Answers to Bible Questions, by M.R. DeHaan M.D.(1891-1965). Now Dr. DeHaan was a great man of God and I respect him dearly; BUT, I disagree with something he said in his book concerning the eternal security of the believer. Dr. DeHaan DOES believe in eternal security; however, he said that those who don't are still saved, just so long as they are trusting the Savior. Now, I have a big problem with that type of thinking. Why? Because the very idea that someone can lose their salvation, if they fail to do something to keep it, places salvation in men's hands, instead of 100% in God's. In one of the best MP3 sermons I've heard, Dr. Hank Lindstrom (1940-2008) explains this very truth. The sermon is titled, “How Permanent Is Your Salvation?”
As born-again believers, why would anything we do affect whether or not we're still saved? Did we have to do any good works to get saved? No! We simply rested upon the Savior, because He paid the price for our sins with His blood. We did NOTHING to merit or deserve salvation. Salvation is of God, not man. Our part is to believe on the Lord Jesus Christ (Acts 16:31), and God's part is to save (Isaiah 43:11). If we can't do good works to be saved, then how can we do bad works to lose it? We cannot! Listen to what the Word of God has to say about men who try to establish their own salvation ...
“For they being ignorant of God's righteousness, and going about to establish their own righteousness, have not submitted themselves unto the righteousness of God. For Christ is the end of the law for righteousness to every one that believeth.” —Romans 10:3-4
Just because a person professes to be trusting the Lord, doesn't necessarily mean that they are fully trusting Him. Partial faith is not good enough to be saved. You either trust Christ completely, or else you're also trusting in something else too. Pastor DeHaan uses John 3:18 to defend the critics of eternal security, which states, “He that believeth on him is not condemned...” But they've added works to faith, which means they cannot be saved. Dr. DeHaan's argument is that a person who doesn't believe in eternal security can still be saved, just so long as they are believing on Christ. However, many Hell-bound Catholics claim to be born again and trust Christ, but they are not wholly trusting Christ. They are also trusting their priests, water baptism, religion, self-righteous works, and the sacraments to save them. So the question is consequently raised... Can a professed Christian who refuses to believe in eternal security actually be saved? Or is it unbelief and they are not really saved at all? I agree with Dr. Lindstrom, that if you deny eternal security, you are not saved.
From studying the mindset of Calvinists, I am convinced that their teaching of the “perseverance of the saints,” perverts their doctrine of salvation. It is a form of unbelief, and works salvation, to claim that a Christian can lose their salvation if they don't remain faithful (i.e., persevere). Jesus PAID our sin debt so we wouldn't have to persevere. And even if we did try to persevere, it wouldn't be enough to wash away the sins on our record. Jesus had to die for the sins of mankind. There was no other way. Calvinists believe that a person who fails to “persevere unto the end,” has “fallen from grace.” That is works salvation. The Biblical context of the phrase, “fallen from grace,” was simply a reference to those who reject the Gospel, preferring religion instead. They have missed the only way to Heaven, which is Jesus Christ alone. No genuine Christian can ever fall from grace. Believers FALL IN GRACE, but never FROM GRACE!!!
If you think that you can lose
salvation, you don't have it! God only saves those who are TRUSTING to be
saved, He never saves those who are TRYING to be saved! Partial faith in
Christ plus anything is not salvation. That's what Roman Catholics, Mormons,
Jehovah's Witnesses, Church of Christ, Lutherans and other satanic religious
groups have, not wholly trusting the dear Savior. Only those saints who
believe in eternal security have the proper mindset and are really
born-again. All else is of the Devil.
The Great Hypocrisy!
Calvinists, Hyper-Calvinists, and others, who deny the Eternal Security of the believer, are not fully trusting Christ for their salvation. The great hypocrisy is that they CLAIM to be wholly trusting God. How can that be? How can a person claim to be wholly resting upon Jesus Christ for salvation, while at the same time believing that one's salvation is CONDITIONAL upon the life we live? This cannot be, but they're in DENIAL. This is so typical of deception and lies. As an example: America is increasingly becoming a police state, yet the majority of Americans have been successfully brainwashed to believe that they are not losing their freedoms. The handwriting is all over the walls, screaming at Americans, but they're in DENIAL—and so is the crowd who doesn't believe in Eternal Security.
Those who DON'T believe in
Eternal
Security have a completely different mindset towards salvation. They
DON'T have the blessed peace and assurance which comes from resting upon the
promises of God. Jesus is our Sabbath, upon whom we solely rest for our
salvation. Titus 1:2 speaks of the promise of eternal life, from
God Who cannot lie. Titus 1:2, “In hope of
eternal life, which God, that cannot lie, promised before the world
began.”
As Christians, we can KNOW that we are saved,
because our salvation is not rooted in merit or works, but upon the finished
work of Christ. Our salvation is based upon God's love for undeserving
sinners, not upon our own self-righteousness. To say that a believer is
not eternally secure in Christ, is to lower the Christian faith to the
level of the woeful Islamic Muslim religion, which offers no security to it's
followers. In Islam, you do your best, and hope to make it. Isn't
this the same garbage that is being propagated by those who claim that there
is NO security in Christ? I find it a great hypocrisy for anyone to
claim to be wholly trusting the Savior for salvation, while at the same time
holding to the self-righteous idea that we can mess things up if we backslide
and walk into sin. If the latter be true, then our salvation is
dependent upon man, as much as it is upon God. The Word of God is clear
on this matter in Jonah 2:9, “Salvation is of the LORD.”
Jesus Died for the Ungodly
“For when we were yet without strength, in due time Christ died for the ungodly.” —Romans 5:6
The absurd idea that Jesus only died for the Saints is unbiblical. Jesus clearly taught that it was wrong to love only those who love us back (Matthew 5:46). Do you think Jesus would violate His own teachings, by only dying for those who loved Him. No, on the contrary, we read in 1st John 4:19, “We love him, because he first loved us.” Calvinists are liars.
“But there were false prophets also among the people, even as there shall be false teachers among you, who privily shall bring in damnable heresies, even denying the Lord that bought them, and bring upon themselves swift destruction.” —2nd Peter 2:1
Did you read that? ... “even denying the Lord that bought them...” Jesus BOUGHT those false prophets! Jesus has bought every human being on this planet, because Christ died for ALL sinners (1st John 2:2). If you go to Hell for all eternity, it will only be because you rejected the free gift of eternal life. Can you imagine? Can you imagine someone being cast into the Lake of Fire for all eternity to be tormented, knowing that Christ had freely paid for their ticket into Heaven? They were too proud and stubborn to accept it. John 3:20 plainly tells us that a love for sin causes many people to avoid the Truth of God's Word, and the Saviour ...
"For every one that doeth evil hateth the light, neither cometh to the light, lest his deeds should be reproved." —John 3:20
But Jesus
is willing to save ALL sinners who come to Him for forgiveness. Yes! There is
no depth of sin to which a man can go, but that God won't still
save him. If you desire forgiveness, Christ will forgive
you. Jesus said in John 5:40, “Ye will not come to me, that ye might
have life.” Notice that Jesus didn't say, “Ye CANNOT come.” No,
rather, Jesus said, “Ye WILL NOT come.” Will you come to Jesus?
The choice is yours alone to make my friend!
Eternal Life is a “Free Gift”
“But not as the offence, so also is the free gift. For if through the offence of one many be dead, much more the grace of God, and the gift by grace, which is by one man, Jesus Christ, hath abounded unto many.” —Romans 5:15
Did you ever read this verse before? Did you know that the words “free gift” are right in the Word of God for us to view? Well, they certainly are, and they're wonderful words to behold. What a precious Savior! Eternal life is a free gift, paid for by the wonderful blood of Jesus Christ (1st Peter 1:18,19). It is this FACT that causes me, once again, to wonder what in the world those who deny the Eternal Security of the believer are thinking. How can a free gift be taken away or lost? The whole concept of losing one's salvation sinfully requires Works Salvation to maintain it. I mean, if I give you a gift for your birthday and you receive it, then I have NO RIGHT to take it back, ever. If I did, then it was not a gift in the first place.
The Word of God makes no mistake when it describes salvation as a “free gift.” Romans 6:23 declares, “For the wages of sin is death; but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord.” Those foolish people who claim that there is no Eternal Security in Jesus Christ, are turning salvation into a REWARD, rather than a gift. Their false Calvinistic doctrines require you to put forth much effort, stay on the right path, and persevere in your faith for the Lord—or risk losing all. This sounds more like operating a business than it does receiving a gift from a loving Savior. There is a vast difference between receiving a free gift, and trying to succeed in a business. Salvation is not a business opportunity, it is not an on-taking venture, it is not a life's accomplishment, nor a reward—it is a FREE GIFT!
This is why I can confidently say to you my friend, according to the Word of God... that once you are saved, you will ALWAYS BE SAVED! Those who leave the church fold, sometimes leave because THEY WERE NOT SAVED to begin with (1st John 2:19). However, this doesn't mean everyone who quits church is unsaved. Many churches these days are corrupt, and people ought to quit and go elsewhere. Some scholars foolishly claim that Judas (one of Jesus' Apostles) was saved at first, but then fell from grace. That is simply not true. There is no Biblical record of Judas ever being saved, nor of showing any signs of being saved. In fact, Judas was a known thief (John 12:6). John 6:70 says that Judas had a devil in him. Judas, as so many people today, had religion without truth, and churchianity without Christianity. I heard an atheist man speaking, who claimed that he “used to be” a Christian. No he wasn't! Another man, a Mormon, who said he had gone to an Independent Baptist College when he was younger, claimed that he “used to be” a Christian. No he wasn't. 1st John 2:19 plainly teaches that they left Christianity because they were never truly Christian to begin with. They didn't lose salvation, because they never had it to begin with. They left us because “THEY WERE NOT OF US”!!!
The FACT that salvation is a FREE GIFT (Romans 5:15; 6:23) totally destroys the heresies of Lordship Salvation, Calvinism, Hyper-Calvinism, and other damnable doctrines which REQUIRE people to GIVE something in return to be saved. It is hypocrisy for anyone to claim that faith alone in the Savior is insufficient for salvation, holding to the foolish belief that one's own self-righteousness is also required. A “gift” requires nothing in return. You simply believe (trust) the Gospel to take it. If you want God's free gift of eternal life, then you must receive it freely—by acknowledging your guilt of sin and believing upon the death, burial and resurrection of the Lord Jesus Christ. The burden of sin was bore upon the cross by the Lord. Anyone who places the burden of sin upon a sinner to be saved is propagating a false gospel of self-righteousness. Jesus paid it all!
Salvation is not doing your best, it is having Christ's best put to your account through receiving Him by faith. God will not save anyone who is trying to be saved, He will only save those who are trusting to be saved. The only requirement to be saved is to admit that you are a guilty sinner in God's sight (Romans 3:19). You need to know what you're being saved from. If we say we have not sinned, the truth is not in us and we are not saved (1st John 1:8-10). You must come as an ungodly sinner to be saved. No one has ever been saved except the UNGODLY (Romans 4:5-6). God doesn't save the self-righteous, who are going about to establish their own righteousness (Matthew 7:21-23)!!! We can only be saved by God's righteousness, which is through faith alone in Christ. Philippians 3:9, “And be found in him, not having mine own righteousness, which is of the law, but that which is through the faith of Christ, the righteousness which is of God by faith.” Jesus is precious!!!
You don't even have to “ask” God to forgive your sins. That's right! That is because Jesus has already paid for everyone's sins with His precious blood. Forgiveness of sins is a free gift, that we simply receive by faith (trust) in the Gospel (Good News) of Christ crucified, buried and risen. It is that simple to be saved, and once you've been saved, it can never be undone or forfeited. Salvation is not a process, it is a new birth; a second, spiritual birth by the Holy Spirit of God. John 1:12-14, “But as many as received him, to them gave he power to become the sons of God, even to them that believe on his name: Which were born, not of blood, nor of the will of the flesh, nor of the will of man, but of God.”
“But to him that worketh not, but believeth on him that justifieth the ungodly, his faith is counted for righteousness.” —Romans 4:5
