Salvation, and Eternal Security
Eternal security is an issue today, and many have there theology, thoughts, and ideas. But are they biblical, can they be proven from the Bible? In the book of Revelations we read of 144,000 Jews sealed by the Spirit of God to go out during the tribulation, and Paul did say all of Israel will be saved, but in the book of Zachariah we read only a third will make it through the tribulation. I believe the 12,000 of each tribe that are sealed during the tribulation which is 144,000 represent all of Israel. Meaning that that hundred and 44,000 will believe in Jesus by their choice, and in this we see the sovereignty of God and the sovereignty of man fulfilling prophecy to the exact number. Not one more or less, but exactly 144.000. The truth of the cross is the sovereignty of God for it pleased God to bruise his son but yet it was man who crucified him. Though nobody comes to Jesus except it be given to them by God the father, because we were first chosen by him and drawn by Him. There is a sovereignty of our choice deep in one's heart by which he draws us through truth according to his word and by his Spirit. Nobody is robot truth can be accepted or resisted, we can be hardened by it or softened by it, and God does both.
I don't claim to know it all, but they promote submission and trust, where is the theology of once saved always saved promotes loose living and pride.
| 1. What Jesus Said | 3. True Salvation and Man's Wisdom |
| 2. Blaspheming the Holy Ghost |
(Joh 15:5-7)
I am the vine, ye are the branches: He that abideth in me, and I in him, the same bringeth forth much fruit: for without me ye can do nothing. If a man abide not in me, he is cast forth as a branch, and is withered; and men gather them, and cast them into the fire, and they are burned. If ye abide in me, and my words abide in you, ye shall ask what ye will, and it shall be done unto you.In Mark 10:15, and Luke 18:17 Jesus said that unless we receive the Kingdom of God as a little child we shall in no wise enter in. The Gospel is plain, and simple enough for a little child to understand!
In our text John 15 Jesus says those who abide in Him will bring forth fruit, but those who don't will be cut off, and the one who is cut off is cast forth as a branch gathered by men and is cast into the fire. The word men is not in the original text, the original text reads and they were gathered. Check any of the revised versions and it has been corrected. The King James is the standard by which all the other translations should be measured by, but in John 15:6 the KJV added something that shouldn't have been added. In Matt 13:40-42 and 47-50 we have the words of Jesus who said in the last days angels will gather them and they will be cast into a furnace of fire where there will be wailing and gnashing of teeth. If they were cast out then they were once in. Once in the Vine always in the Vine is not biblical. Why does Jesus say if you abide in Me, and My Words abide in you ye shall ask what ye will and it shall be done unto you. Because abiding in Him is the most important thing we can do. God is willing to move heaven and earth to keep us. Christ is able to save to the uttermost. He is able to keep us no matter the trial or temptation or what befalls His People. All power in heaven and earth Has been given unto Christ, and we have a High Priest who is faithful, and touched with the feelings of our infirmities.
I'm glad God is sovereign, but God in His wisdom and power has established spiritual laws just as He has established physical laws. Every action has a reaction, cause and effect, a ripple or a domino effect, because of what we do or don't do. We will reap what we sow, God is not mocked (Gal 6:7). Just as there is a domino effect from neglect unto condemnation there is a domino effect unto justification, through choice. Its not for us to figure out the how of salvation but to believe and act upon the moving of the Spirit. I'm glad that God drew me by His Spirit one day, and through faith I believed, and acted upon what I herd through the Holy Ghost. Jesus said to do the works of God believe on the Son of God (John 6:28, 29). Back to the Top
Every man has been given a measure of faith (Rom 12:3), but if we don't use it we can loose it. The deepest darkest sins that have ever been committed can be forgiven through faith in Christ, but this sin of blaspheming the holy Ghost can never be forgiven (Matt 12:30-33). Its not a one time act or thought in the heart, but a process. When we resist the Holy Ghost we grieve Him Eph 4:3, and if we persist and continue to resist then we are quenching the Holy Ghost 1 Thess 5:19. Then comes the hardening of the heart Heb 3:7-10. This leads to a depraved mind calling good evil and evil good Isa 5:20, and Rom 1:28.
The Bible speaks of a seared conscience one that has been seared as with a hot iron 1 Tim 4:2. The word here for seared is to brand ; in a medical sense, to cauterize, remover by cautery. The word for conscience here speaks of the moral consciousness of a person. The allusion is doubtless to the effect of applying a hot iron to the skin. The cauterized part becomes rigid and hard, and is dead to sensibility. So it is with the conscience of those referred to. Albert Barns - Notes on the Bible.
Anyone who thinks they have done this sin of blaspheming the Holy Ghost yet desires to repent and come to Christ, can still be forgiven, and receive full salvation. The very fact that they fear, and desire to come to Christ, and repent proves they haven't blasphemed the Holy Ghost. With all that Judas saw its hard to imagine him betraying Christ with a kiss. John tells us that Jesus did so many miracles that the world itself could not contain the books if they were all written down (John 21:25). It staggers the mind for what Judas did, yet it was his choice. Yes he did appear to repent, but it was not true repentance (Matt 27:3-5). True repentance leads the sinner to the Savior. This led away from the Savior to the gallows. Biblical repentance turns from sin and to the Savior, some have regret and sorrow but do not have a desire for righteousness. We must correctly distinguish regret, remorse, and true repentance. Regret is an activity of the mind; whenever we remember what we’ve done, we ask ourselves, “Why did I do that?” Remorse includes both the heart and the mind, and we feel disgust and pain, but we don’t change our ways. But true repentance includes the mind, the heart, and the will. We change our mind about our sins and agree with what God says about them; we abhor ourselves because of what we have done; and we deliberately turn from our sin and turn to the Lord for His mercy. Biblical apostasy not only has to do with departing from right doctrine, but also the Spirit of God departing after regeneration see Heb 3:12 and 6:4-6. A person no longer hates iniquity and loves righteousness, but instead becomes enslaved to sin and unrighteousness.
(2Co 7:10) says - For godly sorrow worketh repentance to salvation not to be repented of: but the sorrow of the world worketh death. His was the sorrow of the world.
Its important to note that when Jesus was warning against blaspheming the Holy Ghost. He was speaking to the Jews Gods people. They were not only resisting the Holy Ghost who bears witness of Christ, sin, righteousness, and judgment to come (John 16:8-11). They were also ascribing the works of Christ to demons, although His works were done in the power of the Holy Ghost (Matt 12:22-24, and 30-33). Be careful what you ascribe to be of God or not.
3. True Salvation and Man's Wisdom
We don't need a theology that excuses, or hides sin. What we do need is a Savior that is stronger than sin, death hell ,and the grave, and that is just what we have in Christ. True salvation is not by mans wisdom. Isa 55:6-11 speaks of the power of God's Word when received in simplicity, and truth. For as already stated the Bible clearly says unless we become as a little child we shall in no wise enter into the Kingdom of God.
(Isa 55:6-11)
Seek ye the LORD while he may be found, call ye upon him while he is near: Let the wicked forsake his way, and the unrighteous man his thoughts: and let him return unto the LORD, and he will have mercy upon him; and to our God, for he will abundantly pardon. For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways, saith the LORD. For as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways, and my thoughts than your thoughts. For as the rain cometh down, and the snow from heaven, and returneth not thither, but watereth the earth, and maketh it bring forth and bud, that it may give seed to the sower, and bread to the eater: So shall my word be that goeth forth out of my mouth: it shall not return unto me void, but it shall accomplish that which I please, and it shall prosper in the thing whereto I sent it.a. The first thing I would like to bring out is the great mercy of God in these verses, how God promises to pardon. I truly believe that God still grieves over Judas in hell today, because the love of God is far greater than mans love, and far more desiring to forgive than man. But it was Judas who made his decision, and chose the path he did.
b. Gods Word is true, and faithful, we can stand on it when all else fails, God's word will never fail. It will not return void. Just as sure as we see crops rise from the ground weather it be corn, wheat or some other seed. Gods Word is like the rain that comes down and waters the soul, heart, and spirit of man. There's healing for the complete man spirit, soul and body in the atonement of Christ. Provision has been made. God watches over His Word to perform it. No devil, no circumstance, no obstacle, no weapon formed against you can prosper. Nothing can keep back the working of Gods Word when believed, and obeyed. There is power in the precious Blood of Christ, and through Him all the promises of God are yes and amen (2 Cor 1:20, and Rom 8:35-39). This is why Jesus said "If ye abide in me, and my words abide in you, ye shall ask what ye will, and it shall be done unto you." This being true about the power of Gods Word. We find some remarkable statements from Paul, and even from Christ. Paul in 1 Cor 1:17 says plainly Gods Word can be made of none effect.
(1Co 1:17) For Christ sent me not to baptize, but to preach the gospel: not with wisdom of words, lest the cross of Christ should be made of none effect.
be made of none effect-literally, "be made void" (Rom_4:14); namely, by men thinking more of the human reasoning and eloquence in which the Gospel was set forth, than of the Gospel itself and of Christ crucified, the sinner's only remedy, and God's highest exhibition of love. Jamieson, Fausset, and Brown Commentary.
Jesus also spoke of the Pharisees; (Mar 7:13) Making the word of God of none effect through your tradition, which ye have delivered: and many such like things do ye.
The Gospel is the power of God yet man can and does make it void of the good effect God would have it to make! God is able to keep us and present us blameless before Him in that day, but Gods Word must be received in meekness and truth (James 1:21, and Jude 24). Once saved always saved is not Bible, that's mans wisdom. The Catholics teach about some kind of purgatory where a person can go, and there sins be purged, and later inter into heaven. And some in the Church of Christ believe that unless a person is baptized in water there not saved, or that some how that water baptism can save. There's many traditions and fallacies in the religious world today under the banner of Christianity that make the Word of God void. The thief on the Cross looked to Jesus as they were both dying. He looked to Jesus in faith of another life, after death. He saw Christ as a King, and expressed remorse and repentance of sin. The thief did not have time to get water baptized or remember a creed, but in simple heart felt faith as a child he looked to Jesus. Only He has the power to save, because of who He is, and what He has done. He shed His Blood He died in your place, and mine.
True Salvation is by faith in the Blood of Christ - We know the story of Israel's exodus from Egypt. How they had to apply the Blood on the door posts, and stay in there houses. How that the scripture says plainly Jesus is our Passover(1 Cor 5:7). This world is a type of Egypt under the judgment of God, and His wrath is coming. God did not tell the Jews back then to take a live lamb without spot or blemish and put it in front of there door for the death angel to pass by. No He said kill it, and put the blood of it on the door posts. If they would have not obeyed, the death angel would have went into there house and laid his cold hands on there eldest child, and there child would have died that night. Very likely when all the lords and dukes road through the land and saw the Israelites sprinkling the blood they probably thought they were ruining there houses. They probably laughed and called it foolishness. Every house had blood on it. But on the night when the death angel entered into the palace and all the land lost there first born even to all the beasts of the country. There went up a cry such as never was herd in Egypt. It was the blood of a lamb speaking of the shed blood of Christ that kept them from falling under the wrath of God that night, and salvation is in no other, but Christ.
Christ is able to save to the uttermost (Heb 7:25). Meaning He will not leave us half way, but is fully able to complete what He has started in us. If we are to please God we must have faith in God.
The Bible teaches that we can loose our salvation. That the security of the believer lies in faith, and abiding in Christ. He is our Great High Priest, merciful, longsuffering, and touched with the feelings of our infirmities. God is Sovereign, and the foundation of God standeth sure, having this seal, the Lord knoweth them that are his. And, Let every one that nameth the name of Christ depart from iniquity (2 Timothy 2:19). Our finite brains cannot fully understand the infinite workings of almighty God! (Rom 11:21-36, Heb 6:1-9). As good as some theology is it cannot save us. It is God that justifies (Rom 8:33). Back to the Top