Why A Truly Born Again Christian CANNOT Be Lost
INTRODUCTION
By Dr. Michael E. Todd
Copyright © 1991
Note that all of the enclosed verses are written directly in proper context to the born again believer. No vague or unclear passages are used to offset the clear passages in the scriptures.
Please look at these verses carefully and see what the Bible says about the believer's salvation.
ALL BELIEVERS ARE POSITIONALLY NOW IN HEAVEN
"(God)...hath RAISED us up together, and made us sit together IN HEAVENLY PLACES in Christ Jesus" (Eph. 2:6).
ALL BELIEVERS ARE MEMBERS OF THE BODY OF CHRIST
"For we are members of his body, of his flesh, and of his bones" (Eph. 5:30).
"But now hath God set the members every one of them IN THE BODY, AS IT HATH PLEASED HIM.. .Now ye are the BODY OF CHRIST..." (I Cor.12:18,27).
Will Christ be in heaven missing a foot or a hand? How absurd! A young girl was asked, "Aren't you afraid you might slip through the Lord's fingers?" "No Sir, I AM ONE OF HIS FINGERS," she replied.
ALL BELIEVERS ARE COMPLETE IN HIM
"And ye are COMPLETE IN HIM, which is the head of all principality and power" (Col. 2:10).
If we could lose our salvation we would not be complete in Him.
ALL BELIEVERS ARE ACCEPTED IN THE BELOVED
Paul wrote that God "...hath made us accepted in the beloved" (Eph. 1:6).
"The sinner can not make himself acceptable to God. Our acceptance by God, therefore is not based upon our practice, but rather upon our position in Christ." 1
ALL BELIEVERS ARE SAVED BY GRACE
WITHOUT ANY MIXTURE OF WORKS
"For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that NOT OF YOURSELVES; it is the gift of God: NOT OF WORKS, lest any man should boast" (Eph. 2:8, 9).
"Now to him that worketh is the reward NOT RECKONED OF GRACE, but of debt" (Rom. 4:4).
"And if by grace, then is it NO MORE OF WORKS; otherwise grace is NO MORE GRACE" (Rom. 11:6).
GRACE AND WORKS CANNOT MIX FOR SALVATION. Note also: Rom. 3:24; II Tim. 1:9; Titus 3:5.
ALL BELIEVERS ARE CONFIRMED BLAMELESS UNTO THE END
"Who shall also confirm you unto the end, that ye may be BLAMELESS in the day of our Lord Jesus Christ" (ICor.1:8).
ALL BELIEVERS WILL APPEAR AT THE JUDGEMENT SEAT OF CHRIST
"For other foundation can no man lay than that is laid, which is Jesus Christ. Now if any man build upon this foundation gold, silver, precious stones, wood, hay, stubble; Every man's WORK shall be made manifest: for the day shall declare it, because it shall be revealed by fire; and the fire shall try every man's WORK of what sort it is. If any man's WORK abide which he hath built thereupon, he shall receive a reward. If any man's WORK shall be BURNED, he shall suffer loss: BUT HE HIMSELF SHALL BE SAVED: yet so as by fire"2 (I Cor. 3:11-15).
ALL BELIEVERS ARE SEALED UNTO THE DAY OF REDEMPTION
"And grieve not the holy Spirit of God, whereby ye are SEALED unto the day of REDEMPTION." (Eph. 4:30)
(The Bible did NOT say, "sealed unto the day of damnation; but REDEMPTION." Did you note the difference???)
Seal in scripture denotes OWNERSHIP. Therefore we are God's possession. Can God lose us? The Holy Spirit has promised to keep us. Will God break His promise? NO!! (Eph. 4:30).
Earnest means the Holy Spirit's promise with an obligation to fulfill. He will keep His promise.
"In whom (Jesus Christ) also we have obtained an inheritance, being PREDESTINATED according to the purpose of him who worketh all things after the counsel of HIS OWN WILL: That we should be to the praise of his glory who first trusted in Christ: In whom ye also trusted after that ye heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation: in whom also after that ye believed, ye were SEALED with that Holy Spirit of PROMISE, which is the EARNEST of our inheritance UNTIL THE REDEMPTION OF THE PURCHASED POSSESSION, unto the praise of his glory" (Eph. 1:11 -14).
ALL BELIEVERS ARE PRESERVED UNTO THE HEAVENLY KINGDOM
"And the Lord shall deliver me from every evil work, and WILL PRESERVE ME unto his heavenly kingdom..." (II Tim. 4:18).
ALL BELIEVERS SHALL NEVER THIRST AGAIN
"Jesus answered and said...But whosoever drinketh of the water that I shall give him SHALL NEVER THIRST" (John 4:13, 14). You could not say this about a man that could lose his salvation. He could thirst again.
ALL BELIEVERS HAVE EVERLASTING LIFE
Everlasting means lasting or enduring forever; eternal; existing or continuing without end; immortal. (Webster's American Dictionary)3
"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. . ." (John 5:24). The Lord did not say that he that believes has only "temporary" life.
"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 3:16). It would not be everlasting if you could lose it.
ALL BELIEVERS ARE SECURE IN THE LOVE OF GOD WHICH IS IN CHRIST
"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 from the love of God, which is IN CHRIST JESUS OUR LORD"4 (Rom. 8:38, 39).
ALL BELIEVERS ARE SECURE IN THE HAND OF CHRIST
"And I give unto them eternal life; and they SHALL NEVER PERISH, neither shall any man pluck them out of my hand" (John 10:28).
ALL BELIEVERS ARE ALSO IN THE FATHERS 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" (John 10:29).
JESUS WILL NEVER LOSE A BELIEVER
"And this IS THE FATHER'S WILL which hath sent me, that of ALL which he hath given me, I SHOULD LOSE NOTHING. . ." (John 6:39).
JESUS WILL NEVER CAST THE BELIEVER OUT
All that the Father giveth me shall come to me; and him that cometh to me I will in no wise cast out. (John 6:37)
THE HOLY SPIRIT ABIDES WITH THE BELIEVER FOREVER
"And I will pray the Father, and he shall give you another Comforter (The Holy Spirit), that he may abide with you FOREVER" (John 14:16).
THE BELIEVER EXPERIENCES ONLY ONE SPIRITUAL BAPTISM
"There is one body, and one Spirit, even as ye are called in ONE HOPE of your calling; one Lord, one faith, ONE BAPTISM" (Eph. 4:4,5).
If a person could lose his salvation and get saved again, that would make TWO baptisms, not just one. The Bible does not talk about a second, third or fourth baptism in dealing with salvation. It says that there is only ONE.
"For by one Spirit are we ALL baptized into ONE body, whether we be Jews or Gentiles, whether we be bond or free; and have been all made to drink into ONE SPIRIT" (I Cor. 12:13).
ALL BELIEVERS ARE SAVED BY HIS LIFE,
NOT BY A GOOD LIFE OF THEIR OWN
"For if, when we were enemies, we were reconciled to God by the death of his Son, much more, being reconciled, we shall be SAVED BY HIS LIFE" (Rom. 5:10).
THE BELIEVER IS JUSTIFIED BY CHRIST'S RIGHTEOUSNESS AND NOT BY HIS OWN RIGHTEOUSNESS
Righteousness is given as a free gift and not something that we earn.
"...Even so by the righteousness of one THE FREE GIFT came upon all men unto justification of life. For as by one man's disobedience many were made sinners, so by the obedience of one shall many be made righteous" (Rom. 5:18-19).
THE BELIEVER IS CALLED, JUSTIFIED AND GLORIFIED
"Moreover whom he did predestinate, them he also CALLED: and whom he called, them he also JUSTIFIED: and whom he justified, them he also GLORIFIED" (Rom. 8:30).
THE BELIEVER IS PREDESTINATED TO BE LIKE CHRIST
Predestination means to appoint or ordain beforehand by an UNCHANGEABLE PURPOSE.
"For whom he did foreknow, he also did predestinate TO BE CONFORMED TO THE IMAGE OF HIS SON..." (Rom. 8:29).
THE BELIEVER’S BODY MAY BE DESTROYED,
BUT HE HIMSELF SHALL BE SAVED
"It is reported commonly that there is fornication among you...I have judged already: to deliver such an one unto Satan for the destruction of the flesh, THAT THE SPIRIT MAY BE SAVED IN THE DAY OF THE LORD JESUS" (I Cor. 5:1-5).
THE BELIEVER MAY HAVE CONFIDENCE
"Being CONFIDENT of this very thing, that he which hath begun a good work in you will perform it UNTIL THE DAY OF JESUS CHRIST" (Phil. 1:6).
A Christian once remarked: "Before I learned the truth of my eternal security, I held on to Christ with one hand and tried to serve Him with the other; but when I realized that both Christ's arms were around me, and I could never be lost, it left both my hands free to serve Him!"5
"During the construction of the Golden Gate bridge, it was observed that many of the workmen, fearing for their safety if they fell, were reluctant to perform their work effectively. A net was constructed under the whole span, so that any person falling from the bridge would be caught in it and saved. From that time on, the work went forward with increased speed and efficiency. Once the men knew they were secure, they worked with confidence. To constantly have the fear of being eternally lost is not conducive to confident, loving, and effective service. It is not fear, but love, that should be the motive for the Christian's serving."6
"For God hath NOT given us the spirit of fear; but of power, and of love, and of a sound mind" (II Tim. 1:7).
THE BELIEVER HAS A SECOND BIRTH, NOT A THIRD OR FOURTH
"Marvel not that I said unto thee, Ye must be born again" (John 3:7). Jesus did NOT say, "Ye must be born again and again and again." "Like begets like. An eternal God begets eternal children."7 Can a person become unborn once he has been born? NO!!!
THE BELIEVER CAN KNOW THAT HE HAS ETERNAL LIFE
"These things have I written unto you that believe...that ye may KNOW that ye have eternal life" (I John 5:13).
THE BELIEVER CAN KNOW THAT HE SHALL BE LIKE CHRIST
"Beloved NOW are we the sons of God, and it doth not yet appear what we shall be: but we KNOW that, when he shall appear, WE SHALL BE LIKE HIM..." (I John 3:2).
THE BELIEVERS INHERITANCE IS RESERVED
"To an inheritance incorruptible, and undefiled, and that FADETH NOT AWAY, RESERVED IN HEAVEN FOR YOU" (I Pet. 1:4).
THE BELIEVER IS KEPT BY THE POWER OF GOD
"Who are KEPT BY THE POWER OF GOD through faith UNTO SALVATION.. ." (I Pet. 1:5).
THE BELIEVER IS BORN OF INCORRUPTIBLE SEED
"Being born again, not of corruptible seed, but of INCORRUPTIBLE, by the word of God, which liveth and abideth forever" (I Pet. 1:23). If a person could lose his salvation then the seed would be corrupted. The Bible says, however that the seed is incorruptible.
THE BELIEVER RECEIVES SALVATION AS A GIFT FROM GOD
"For the wages of sin is death; but the GIFT of God is ETERNAL LIFE through Jesus Christ our Lord" (Rom. 6:23). Do we receive a gift and then try to work for it to keep it?
THE BELIEVER WILL BE A PART OF THE ETERNAL HOUSEHOLD OF GOD
"For we KNOW that if our earthly house of this tabernacle were dissolved, we HAVE a building of God, an house not made with hands, ETERNAL IN THE HEAVENS" (II Cor. 5:1).
If a Christian dies, he KNOWS that he will be a part of the eternal household of God.
THE BELIEVER HAS EVERLASTING CONSOLATION
"Now our Lord Jesus Christ himself, and God, even our Father, which hath loved us, and hath given us EVERLASTING CONSOLATION and good hope through grace" (II Thes. 2:16).
How could we have everlasting consolation if we could lose our salvation?
SOME REASONS WHY PEOPLE BELIEVE
THEY CAN LOSE THEIR SALVATION
Their church teaches it (traditions of men). We are to go by the Word of God as our final authority and NOT by man's opinions. Verses taken OUT OF CONTEXT and misapplied. Vague or unclear passages are used. Using verses that belong and deal with a different time period than for the church age. (Example: Quoting Matt. 24:13: which deals with the tribulation period).
Getting salvation and service mixed up for the Christian. Salvation means Grace as a FREE GIFT WITHOUT WORKS (Eph. 2:8, 9). Service deals with rewards, i.e. works; (I Cor. 3:11-15).
CONCLUSION
Problems arise when a person does not understand the Biblical doctrine of the two natures in the Believer, the difference between STANDING and STATE.
Passages in MATTHEW, ACTS, HEBREWS, and JAMES are the four books that people misquote the most to prove that a person can lose his salvation.
BIBLIOGRAPHY
1 & 7 - Salvation Is Forever by Robert G. Gromacki, Published by Moody Press, P. 47-48 & 54.
2 & 4 - Eternal Security Of The Bible Believer, by Dr. Peter S. Ruckman. Published in Pensacola, Florida: P. 2.
3- American Dictionary Of The English Language by Noah Webster. Vol. I, P. 75.
5 & 6 - Eternal Security by Alfred P. Gibbs, Published by Christian Missions Press. Waynesboro, Georgia, P. 6.