SECURITY OF THE BELIEVER IN CHRIST

. In the last few years the argument of ARMENIANISM against

the theology of Calvinism has flared up in the Body of believers

and calls for a review of what God says on this very important

matter - not what man or denominational dogmas say. This study

will require us to look at many scriptures, but in this

particular matter, I will begin with Romans 8:38 and 39:

. "For I am persuaded that neither death, nor life, nor

angels, nor principalities, nor powers, nor things present, nor

things to come, nor height, nor depth, nor any other creature,

shall be able to separate us form the love of God, which is in

Christ Jesus our Lord."

. This is the inspired answer to the question of verse 35:

"Who shall separate us from the love of Christ?"

. To express this in today's wording, once we are Christians,

once we know the love of Christ, once we have been justified by

faith, who is there, what power is there, that can separate us

from the love of Christ? And the answer, how full, how clear, not

a shadow, not a doubt, not a question left, when the apostle says

that neither death nor life shall separate! Can you think of

anything which is neither included in death nor in life? Neither

death nor life shall separate!

. No unseen powers can separate the believer from Christ,

"Neither angels, nor principalities, nor powers." These terms are

used again and again in the New Testament, particularly in the

Epistles, for angelic hosts, good and evil. When our Saviour rose

from the dead He spoiled principalities and powers, that is, He

defeated all the hosts of evil led by Satan; and so we may take

it that the angels referred to here are good angels, and the

principalities and powers are possibly evil angels.

. But there is nothing that good angels would do, and nothing

that evil angels can do , which will result in the separation of

the believer from Christ. And then further, he says, "Neither

things present nor things to come." Again let me put the

question, Can you think of any experience through which a

believer might ever go which is neither a thing present nor a

thing to come? And the Holy Ghost says that neither things

present nor things to come shall be able to separate us from the

love of Christ. As though that were not enough, He speaks in a

more general way when He says that neither "height nor depths

(nothing in heaven, nothing in hell), nor any other created

thing, shall be able to separate us from the love of God, which

is in Christ Jesus our Lord." It looks to me as though we are

pretty safe if we are believers in the Lord Jesus Christ.

Eternal Security: Its Meaning

. When we speak of the eternal security of the believer, what

do we mean? We mean that once a poor sinner has been regenerated

by the Word and the Spirit of God, once he has received a new

life and a new nature, has been made partaker of the divine

nature, once he has been justified from every charge before the

throne of God, it is absolutely impossible that this man should

ever again be a lost soul. Having said that, let me say what we

do not mean when we speak of the eternal security of the

believer.

. We do not mean that it necessarily follows that if one

professes to be saved, if he comes out to the front in a meeting,

shakes the preacher's hand, and says he accepts the Lord Jesus

Christ as his Saviour, that this person is eternally safe.

. It does not mean that if one joins a church or makes a

profession of faith, is baptized, becomes a communicant, takes an

interest in Christian work, that this person is forever secure.

. It does not mean that because one manifests certain gifts

and exercises these gifts in Christian testimony, that this

person is necessarily eternally secure.

. Our Lord Jesus Christ said to the people of His day, as

recorded in Matthew 7: 21-23: "Not every one that saith unto Me,

Lord, Lord, shall enter into the kingdom of heaven; but he that

doeth the will of My Father which is in heaven. Many will say to

Me in that day, Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in Thy name?

And in Thy name have cast out devils? And in Thy name done many

wonderful works? And then will I profess unto them, I never knew

you: depart from Me, ye that work iniquity."

. Such people then may have been very active in what is called

Christian work - they have preached, they have cast out demons,

that is, their influence has been such that men and women have

found deliverance from satanic power through their ministrations

in the name of Jesus, they have professed with their lips, they

have accomplished many wonderful works, but they are found in

that day among the lost, and when they plead their great activity

and their earnestness in Christian testimony, the Lord says to

them, "I never knew you." Notice, He does not say to them. "I

used to know you, but you have forfeited My favor and I do not

know you any longer." He says, "I never knew you."

The Sheep of Christ

. You remember how He speaks of His own in John 10:27-30: "My

sheep hear My voice, and I know them, and they follow Me: and I

give unto them eternal life; and they shall never perish, neither

shall any man pluck them our of My hand. My Father, which gave

them Me, is greater than all; and no man is able to pluck them

out of My Father's hand. I and My Father are one."

. Of His own He says, "I know them." Of these others, in spite

of all their activity, in spite of all their accomplishments, He

says in the day of judgement, "I never knew you."

. This is a very solemn thing. This answers a question that is

frequently put to us. I do not know how many times I have had

individuals come to me with a "hypothetical" case like this:

"Suppose a man joined the church, who professed to be saved, who

for a number of years was a very active Christian worker, perhaps

a Sunday school teacher, perhaps an Elder or deacon in the

church, maybe a minister; but after some years of apparent

consistent Christian living and helpfulness in testimony he turns

his back on it all, returns to the world, utterly repudiates

Christianity, and now denies IN TOTO the Gospel that he once

professed. How does that square with your doctrine of the eternal

security of the believer?"

. This does not touch the matter at all. The Apostle John

tells us how we are to understand a case like this. He states in

the second chapter and the nineteenth verse of his first Epistle,

"that they were not altogether of us." That is, it is possible to

do all the things that I have spoken of and yet never be

regenerated. It is quite possible to join a church to make

Christian profession; It is quite possibleq to observe the

Christian ordinances, to teach and to preach, and yet never be

born again.

. If one teaches and preaches the truth, it will produce good

results, and will do men good whether the teacher or the preacher

be real or not, for it is the truth that God uses. Of course He

can use the truth to better advantage when it is proclaimed by a

holy man living to the glory of God, than when it is proclaimed

by a hypocrite. Nevertheless, God uses His truth regardless of

who may proclaim it, and that explains how people may do mighty

works in the name of Christ and yet never be born again.

New Creation

. In the third place, we base the doctrine of the eternal

security of the believer upon the fact of the new creation. In

the fifth chapter of second Corinthians, verse seventeen, we

read: "therefore if any man be in Christ, he is a new creature:

old things are passed away; behold, all things are become new."

. That verse may be rendered like this, "Therefore if any man

be in Christ, this is new creation; old things are passed away;

behold, all things are become new."

. What do we mean by new creation? Just this: we were once in

the place of death, we were once utterly lost and ruined. How did

we get there? Follow me now. It was not by any act of our own. Do

you say, "I did not get into the place of spiritual death by any

act of my own?" No, you did not. Do you say, "I was not lost

because of any act of my own?" No, you were not.

. Then why were you numbered among the lost? Because you were

born into the world a member of the old creation, of which Adam

the first was the head, and every child of Adam's race comes into

the world lost and under sentence of death. And so we read in

this same chapter in verse l4, "The love of Christ constraineth

us; because we thus judge, that if One died for all, then we were

all dead."

The Two Adams

. Let me try to make that clear. Here is Adam the first, the

head of the old creation, and he was placed on trial in the

Garden of Eden. The entire world was represented in him, you were

represented in him, I was represented in him. As the Spirit of

God says of Levi, "He was yet in the loins of his father, when

Melchisedec met him." (Heb. 7:l0)

. We, every one of us, were represented there in Adam when the

old creation was on trial. Adam failed, and God said, "In the day

thou eatest thereof, thou shalt die." As a result of that failure

the old creation fell down in death, and every person that has

ever been born in the world since that time was born down there;

no one has been born up here, where Adam the first started,

except our Lord Jesus Christ, and His birth was a supernatural

one. Therefore, as members of the old creation we were all dead,

all lost; but now see what happened.

. Our Lord Jesus Christ came into the world - the written Word

here speaks of Him as the living Word - and He stood on this

plane of sinlessness. Adam was created sinless but fell; Jesus

came, the sinless One, conceived of the Holy Ghost, born of a

virgin mother, but He saw men down there in death, and at the

cross He went down into death, down to where man was, and came up

in grace from death.

. But He did not come up alone, for God has quickened us

together with Christ, so that all who believe in Him are brought

up from that place of death; and as at one time we were made

partakers of Adam's race, so now we are made partakers of a new

creation.

. What does God do for us now? Does He put us where Adam was

before and say, "Now behave yourselves, and you won't die again"?

No, He puts us up higher than Adam could ever have gone except by

a new and divine creation. "He hath raised us up together, and

made us sit together in heavenly places in Christ Jesus."

(Eph.2:6) Because we belong to this new creation we can never be

lost. You were lost because the head of the old creation failed,

and you went down with him. You can never be lost unless the Head

of the new creation falls, and if He does you will go down with

Him. But, thank God, He remains on the throne where God Himself

has put Him, in token of His perfect satisfaction in the work He

accomplished.

. You may have heard of the Irishman who was converted but was

seized with a dreadful fear that some day he might commit some

great sin and lose his soul, that he might be lost after all, and

he trembled at the thought. He went to a meeting and heard the

words read, "Ye are dead, and your life is hid with Christ in

God." "Glory to God!" shouted Pat; "whoever heard of a man

drowning with his head that high above water?" We are linked with

Him, we belong to the new creation, and that is why we shall

never be lost.

Eternal Life Possessed Now

. In the last place, we rest the truth of the doctrine of the

eternal security of the believer upon the fact that the believer

is the present possessor of eternal life. It is not merely that

if we are faithful to the end we shall receive eternal life.

There is a sense in which that is true, there is a sense in which

our hope is eternal life.

. I am a Christian now if I believe on the Lord Jesus Christ;

believing on Him I have eternal life, but I have it in a dying

body. I am now waiting for the redemption of the body, and when

the Lord Jesus comes the second time He shall change this body of

my humiliation and make it like unto the body of His glory. Then

I shall have received eternal life in all its fullness, spirit,

soul, and body entirely conformed to Christ. In that sense I am

hoping for eternal life.

. But over, and over, and over again, Scripture rings the fact

that every believer is at the present time in possession of

eternal life. "As Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness,

even so must the Son of Man be lifted up; That whosoever

believeth in Him should not perish, but have eternal life."

. This life is nonforfeitable life, otherwise it would not be

eternal. "For God so loved the world, that He gave His only

begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in Him should not perish,

but have everlasting life." (John 3:l6). Everlasting life is life

that lasts forever, and we have it now. "He that believeth on the

Son hath everlasting life: and he that believeth not the Son

shall not see life; but the wrath of God abideth on him." (John

3:36). "Verily, verily, I say unto you, He that heareth My word,

and believeth on Him that sent Me, hath everlasting life, and

shall not come into condemnation; but is passed from death unto

life." (John 5:24).

His Sheep Follow Him

. I have purposely left this point until last because people

generally take it for granted it will be the first passage used

in taking up this subject. In John l0, reading from verse 27, we

are told, "My sheep hear My voice, and I know them, and they

follow Me."

. Notice these three things. It matters not what profession a

man makes, if does not hear the voice of the Son of God he is not

a Christian, and therefore the Saviour does not know him as his

own. No matter what profession he may make, if he does not follow

the Lord Jesus Christ he is only a sham and a fraud and a

hypocrite. He may follow for a little while outwardly, like those

of whom the apostle Peter speaks who walk in the way of

righteousness and then turn from it. "But it is happened unto

them according to the true proverb, The dog is turned to his own

vomit again; and the sow that was washed to her wallowing in the

mire." (2 Pet. 2:22).

. If that dog had ever been regenerated and become a sheep, if

that sow had ever been changed and become a lamb, neither would

have gone back to the filth; but, you see, the dog was always a

dog, and the sow was always a sow. They were just whitewashed,

not washed white, they were never regenerated, and so went back

to the old things.

. But the sheep of Christ are different. "They follow Me,"

Jesus says. Be careful. Do not profess to be one of His sheep if

you do not follow Him. It is the test of reality. There are many

people who tell us, "At such and such a time I was converted, I

went forward, I signed a card." You can do all of these things

and be lost forever. What you need is a new birth, and when you

are born again, you have God's assurance of salvation.

A Dangerous Doctrine?

. People say, "If you preach this doctrine of the eternal

security of the believer, men will say, 'Well, then it doesn't

make any difference what I do, I will get to heaven anyway.'" It

makes a tremendous difference what you do. If you do not behave

yourself, it shows that you are not a real Christian. I know that

a real Christian may fail, but the difference can be seen in

Peter and Judas. Peter failed, and failed terribly, but he was

genuine, and one look from Jesus sent him out weeping bitterly;

his heart was broken to think that he had so dishonored his Lord.

But Judas companied with the Lord almost three and a half years,

but was a devil all the time; he was a thief, and was seeking his

own interest. He was even made the treasurer of that company, and

he held the bag, but we read, "He bare away what was put therein"

(John 12:6), as this has been literally translated. At last

remorse overtook him, not genuine repentance, and what was the

result? He went and hanged himself. He was never a child of God.

. There is a great difference, you see, between a Christian

and a false professor.

Justified by Faith

. "My sheep hear my voice, and I know them, and they follow

me: and I give unto them eternal life." Do you believe it? I do

not understand how people can read a passage like that and then

talk about a Christian losing his life. It would not be eternal

if it could be lost. "And they shall never perish, neither shall

any man pluck them out of My hand." The original is very strong

here. In the English a double negative makes an affirmative, but

in Greek it only strengthens a declaration, "They shall never,

no, never perish." It is impossible, it is unthinkable that one

who has eternal life shall ever perish. "My Father, which gave

them to Me, is greater than all; and no man is able to pluck them

out of my Father's hand."

. Here I am, a poor lost sinner, but the Lord in grace picks

me up and saves me, and I am in His hand. And now the Father puts

His hand around me too, and I am in the hand of the Father and

the Son, and the devil himself cannot get me unless he can loosen

those hands. Could you think of any greater security than to be

in the hands of the Father and the Son? "Never perish" - "eternal

life" - what wondrous words are these! Do not be afraid of the

beginning of the Gospel that God can freely forgive and justify a

guilty sinner by faith in the Lord Jesus Christ.

. People try to put guards around that truth and say, "Yes,

you are justified by faith if you have enough good works to add

to it." That is not true; it is by faith alone, and good works

spring from that. When you know that you have eternal life, you

will find your heart so filled with love for Christ that you will

try to live for His glory.

Objections

. There will be certain passages coming up in the minds of

different people and they will say, "What he has said may sound

logical enough, but what about this scripture and that?" Let me

say, there is no possible scripture that will come to your mind

that the present writer has not considered carefully over and

over again. I have not the time in one address to go into all

these, but I can assure you that having examined them all with

the greatest degree of care, I have never been able to find one

that can set aside this: "Neither death, not life, nor angels,

nor principalities, nor powers, nor things present, nor things to

come, nor height, nor depth, nor any other creature, shall be

able to separate us from the love of God, which is in Christ

Jesus our Lord."

. When you have a clear, definite, positive scripture, do not

allow some passage that is perplexing, that is difficult to

interpret, that seems somewhat ambiguous, to keep you from

believing the positive statement, "He that believeth hath

everlasting life."

. It is because I have salvation like this to offer men, it is

because God has sent me to proclaim a salvation like this to

sinners, that I have confidence in inviting people to come to

Jesus, for I know if they get in living touch with my Saviour, He

will make them His forever.

. If you are interested in having the security and peace that

"passes any human understanding" we pray that you will RECEIVE

the Lord Jesus Christ as the one who paid for your sin on the

cross at Calvary. You may do this by praying to the Living

Savior, Jesus, in words such as these:

. FATHER, I AM SORRY FOR MY SINS AND MY SIN OF IGNORING YOUR

WORD AND FOLLOWING MEN TO BE THE ONES WHO CAN LEAD TO SALVATION.

I NOW KNOW THIS IS WRONG AND AGAINST YOUR WORD AND HUMBLY ASK FOR

YOUR FORGIVENESS AND MERCY. I ACKNOWLEDGE THE SACRIFICE OF JESUS

AS PAYMENT FOR MY SINS AND THANK YOU FOR THIS RELEASE. LORD

JESUS, COME INTO MY HEART AND LIVE THERE AND GUIDE MY STEPS FROM

THIS DAY FORWARD. ALLOW ME TO BE YOUR VESSEL ON EARTH TO CARRY

THE TRUE MESSAGE OF YOUR LOVE TO ALL MEN. THESE THINGS I NOW PRAY

IN THE NAME OF MY TRUE SAVIOR AND LORD, JESUS CHRIST. AMEN.

Computers for Christ - San Jose

If you pass this file on to another BBS or another person, please

leave the file included. Thank you and may God bless you and yours

on this wonderful day the that "The Lord hath made".

For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life

through Jesus Christ, our Lord. Romans 6:23