
The ETERNAL SECURITY of the believer is connected to the doctrine of election. God has chosen or elected His people before the foundation of the world. If God has chosen us, we are eternally SECURE because of Him and not because of us or anyone else.
“Yet in all these things we are more than conquerors THROUGH HIM who loved us. 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 created thing, SHALL BE ABLE TO SEPARATE US FROM THE LOVE OF GOD which is in Christ Jesus our Lord.” – Rom 8:37-39
ETERNAL SECURITY for the believer is described as “once saved, always saved’. That is correct, but it involves more than that. It is possible because God continues in love for His saints. It is connected to the providence of God. ETERNAL SECURITY of the believer is because of God, not because of man or his efforts. God has elected His saints to be saved and that election is without any conditions. It is security that is in Christ, because of Christ, and for the glory of Christ.
“And He said, ‘Therefore I have said to you that no one can come to Me unless it has been GRANTED TO HIM by my Father.'”- John 6:65
“My sheep hear My voice, and I know them, and they follow Me. And I GIVE THEM ETERNAL LIFE, AND THEY SHALL NEVER PERISH; neither shall anyone, SNATCH THEM OUT OF MY HAND. My Father, who has GIVEN THEM to Me, is greater than all; and NO ONE IS ABLE TO SNATCH THEM OUT OF MY FATHER’S HAND.” – John 10:27-29
“In Him also we HAVE OBTAINED an inheritance, being PREDESTINED according to the purpose of Him who works all things ACCORDING TO THE COUNSEL OF HIS WILL.” -Eph 1:11
“But we are bound to give thanks to God always for you, brethren beloved by the Lord, because GOD FROM THE BEGINNING CHOSE YOU FOR SALVATION through sanctification by the Spirit and belief in the truth, to which HE CALLED YOU by our gospel, for obtaining of the glory of our Lord Jesus Christ.”- 2 Thess 2:13-14
So, we know that our salvation is secure because we have Jesus Christ, as our Lord and Savior. We can confidently continue to believe in Him because He has saved us and given us all that we need to be ETERNALLY SECURE is in Christ. God our Savior is able to keep us from losing our salvation.
“And this is the testimony: that God HAS GIVEN US ETERNAL LIFE, and this life is in Jesus. He who has Jesus HAS LIFE; He who does not have Jesus does not have life. These are the things I have written to you WHO BELIEVE in the Name of Jesus, that YOU MAY KNOW THAT YOU HAVE ETERNAL LIFE, and that you may CONTINUE TO BELIEVE in the name of JESUS.”- 1 John 5:11-13
”Now to Him who is able TO KEEP YOU from stumbling, and TO PRESENT YOU FAULTLESS BEFORE THE PRESENCE OF HIS GLORY with exceeding joy, to God our Savior, who alone is wise, be glory and majesty, dominion and power, BOTH NOW AND FOREVER. Amen. – Jude 1:24-25
-Michael Alan Nichols
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I LOVED this lesson! My personal testimony with my day of salvation was when I was 13 years old. I was in a youth group with my church called CYC (Christian Youth Cadets). We would do a lot of fun activities and go on may adventures with our youth group leaders. We did have scriptures to memorize and recite and one day I was asked if we would like to be ‘born again’. I was not raised Catholic although my parents both were, and although they baptized me as an infant, my mother decided to send me to a non-denominational congregation. Here they simply taught us the LOVE of CHRIST, that Christ was Salvation and that all we needed was to belief in our hearts and confess with our mouths that HE was Lord, and He rose from the Dead to bring us unto this salvation.
because if you acknowledge and confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord [recognizing His power, authority, and majesty as God], and believe in your heart that God raised Him from the dead, you will be saved. For with the heart a person believes [in Christ as Savior] resulting in his justification [that is, being made righteous—being freed of the guilt of sin and made acceptable to God]; and with the mouth he acknowledges and confesses [his faith openly], resulting in and confirming [his] salvation.- Rom 10:9-10
Now, I know many struggles with “once saved, always saved” concept, many call it slippery grace. But I do know for me that confession was from my heart, and I truly believed in the simplicity of Christ and the finished works at the cross. I have spent my days knowing on a deep level that My salvation was going to be CHRIST BASED AND NOT WORKS BASED. However, I also knew that if I trusted and put my faith ON HIM that HE would sustain me, lead, me and guide me. I was in no way a perfect teen, nor did I remain unblemished, but It was by the very power of my intimate relationship with Christ that He remain faithful to me even if I wasn’t perfect. See It isn’t by our ‘perfection’ that we are saved but IT IS BY HIS PERFECTION THAT WE ARE SUSTAINED! NOTHING-ABSOLULTEY NOTHING CAN PLUCK US OUT OF HIS HANDS.
To add to this testimony: When I first built and bought this house a knock came to my door and it was a ‘man of God’ and when I opened my door, His very first words to me was, “If you died today would you go to heaven?” I didn’t pause, I didn’t stop to evaluate my sins vs. my good deeds, I didn’t stop to think (and I am a thinker in most things), I immediately said, “YES”! This man became our pastor for many years, a pastor that ordained me 12 years later into the Christian ministry. This church sent me to Bible college and so much awesomeness and love came from that journey. My pastor shared this story with many (never sharing my name) because he had been walking home to home asking this question and I as the only way to say undoubtably “YES”. Everyone else said they were NOT sure about their salvation. I found it very sad to realize so many had no security in their relationship (or lack thereof) with their savior, they based their salvation on their ‘good deeds’ vs their sins. 😦
See it wasn’t by my merits that I believed I was saved but it was by my secure relationship with Christ that I knew He’d never ‘unsave’ me! This day was a day I knew I was no longer ‘insecure’ within myself, but I was IN SECURE love with my SAVIOR!
See our salvation is NOT about us, it is about What Christ did at Calvay! He completed the prophecy of Isa 9:6 – He was the ‘son born unto us’ that would be our Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace. IN HIM every jot and tittle is complete! We can rest now in our ETRENAL SECURITY!
Those perfect infamous words’ “IT IS FINISHED” translates to ALL WHOM BELIEVE IN ME ARE IN ETERNAL SECURITY WITH ME! ❤
-All my IN SECURE ETERNAL LOVE, ❤ Diana xo 🙂
*Edited added -Note: Take heed, anyone can walk out of their salvation though, just like in any relationship- we can choose to leave because we have freewill to make HIS GRACE NOT SUFFICNENT for us. OUR God is not a God of forcing relationship upon us. So, although we can never be PLUCKED out of HIS hands, we can free-willingly choose to leave His loving hands. And that is the tragic truth.