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Because of the trustworthy and holy
nature of God, every believer can be absolutely certain of one thing:
God will fulfill every promise He makes to us. Every Christian can have
the same attitude as Abraham: "being fully persuaded that God had
power to do what he had promised" (Rom. 4:21).
When we examine the promises of God to the believer,
we can see that they are finally only compatible with the position of
eternal security. They do not fit the view of believers losing their
salvation.
If we examine the promises of God relating to our a)
spiritual abundance, b) Scripture’s straightforward presentation of
our glorification, c) God’s infinite love for us, d) being God’s
workmanship, e) being God’s children, f) being given the Holy Spirit
as a seal and pledge of our inheritance, g) names being in the Lamb’s
Book of Life in eternity, and h) the promise of our reward, these can
only be true as stated if the believer is eternally secure. Let’s
examine these items in order.
A. The spiritual abundance of the believer
No Christian can presently understand all that is
theirs by virtue of their faith in Christ, and even Scripture only can
give us a foretaste. Nevertheless, consider the following.
Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord
Jesus Christ, who has blessed us with every spiritual blessing in
the heavenly places in Christ. (Eph. 1:3)
And in him you have been made complete
and he is the head over all rule and authority. (Col. 2:10)
For all things belong to you
whether Paul or Apollos or Cephas or the world or life or death or
things present or things to come; all things belong to you, and you
belong to Christ; and Christ belongs to God. (1 Cor. 3:21-23)
But we have the mind of Christ. (1
Cor. 2:16)
For of his fullness we have all
received and grace upon grace. (Jn. 1:16)
Therefore if any man is in Christ he is a
new creature; the old things passed away; behold, new things have
come. (2 Cor. 5:17)
He who did not spare his own Son but
freely delivered him up for us all, how will he not also with him freely
give us all things? (Rom. 8:32)
But God, being rich in mercy, because of his
great love with which he loved us, even when we were dead in our
transgressions, made us alive together with Christ (by grace you have
been saved) and raised us up with him and seated us with him in the
heavenly places in Christ Jesus, in order that in the ages to come he
might show the surpassing riches of his grace and kindness towards us in
Christ Jesus. (Eph. 2:4-7)
And God is able to make all grace
abound to you, that always having all sufficiency in everything,
you may have an abundance for every good deed. (2 Cor. 9:8)
Now to him who is able to do exceedingly
abundantly beyond all that we ask or think according
to the power that works within us. (Eph. 3:20)
For the sake of the truth which abides in
us and will be with us forever. (2 Jn 1:2)
The above verses and those such as found in 1
Corinthians 2:9, Ephesians 1:18-19, and many others reveal that God
desires that the Christian comprehend who they are in Christ. How can
the above verses be true if a believer—potentially many or most
believers—could lose their salvation?
B. The believer’s glorification
The Scripture straightforwardly offers the believer
assurance of their glorification in heaven. Why? Because in the mind of
God, who lives in eternity, it is already true—and has been true
forever.
Those he justified, he also
glorified. (Rom. 8:30)
For if we have become united with him in
the likeness of his death, certainly we shall also be in the
likeness of his resurrection. (Rom. 6:5)
When Christ, who is our life, is
revealed, then you also will be revealed with him in glory.
(Col. 3:4)
When he appears, we shall be like him
because we shall see him just as he is. (1 Jn. 3:2)
And just as we have borne the image of
the earthly, we shall also bear the image of the heavenly. (1 Cor.
15:49)
Jesus said to her, "I am the
resurrection and the life; he who believes in me shall live even
if he dies." (Jn. 11:25)
Knowing that he who raised the Lord Jesus
will raise us also with Jesus and will present us with you. (2
Cor. 4:14)
The Lord Jesus Christ, who, by the power
that enables him to bring everything under his control, will
transform our lowly bodies so that they will be like his glorious
body. (Phil. 3:21)
Certainly, if any believer could lose their
salvation, it would not seem fair to have an abundance of Scriptures
which indicate that they will be glorified.
C. The love of God
God’s love is unique as only the love
of an infinite God could be. The Bible teaches that "in love
he predestined us to adoption as sons" (Eph. 1:4-5). When the Bible
teaches that "God is love," it "means that He has
never acquired love, he does not maintain it by any effort whatsoever
nor does his love depend upon conditions...."23
The love of men may be imperfect, but the love of God
cannot be, and in that fact squarely lies eternal security of the
believer—for if God could stop loving a believer at some point in
time, who is to say this could not happen at any point in eternity?
Consider the following Scriptures:
I have loved you with an
everlasting love; therefore I have drawn you with lovingkindness.
(Jer. 31:3)
And did love them even as you did
love me. (Jn. 17:23)
Just as the Father has loved me I have
also loved you; abide in my love. (Jn. 15:9).
Keep yourselves in the love of
God. (Jude 21)
The Lord will accomplish what concerns
me; thy lovingkindness, O Lord is everlasting. (Ps. 138:8)
For the Father himself loves you.
(Jn. 16:27)
Beloved
of God. (Rom. 1:7)
But God demonstrates his own love
toward us in that while we were yet sinners Christ died for us. (Rom.
5:8)
Now may our Lord Jesus Christ himself and
God our Father who has loved us and given us eternal comfort.
(2 Thess. 2:16)
In this is love, not that we loved
God, but that he loved us and sent his Son to be the propitiation
for our sins. (1 Jn. 4:10)
God is love and the one who abides
in love abides in God. (1 Jn. 4:16)
And so, as those who have been chosen of
God, holy and beloved. (Col. 3:12)
But because of his great love for us
God, who is rich in mercy, made us alive with Christ. (Eph. 2:4)
And I pray that you. . .may have power,
together with all the saints, to grasp how wide and long and high and
deep is the love of Christ. (Eph. 3:17-18)
Therefore, as dearly loved
children. (Eph. 5:1)
For we know, brothers loved by God,
that he has chosen you. (1 Thess. 1:4)
But we ought always to thank God for you,
brothers loved by the Lord, because from the beginning God chose
you to be saved. (2 Thess. 2:13)
May the Lord direct your hearts into God’s
love and Christ’s perseverance. (2 Thess. 3:5)
What kind of infinite love would allow the objects of
one’s love to perish forever?
(to be continued)
Note:
23. Chafer, Systematic Theology, Vol. 3.
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