Security of Salvation

I've been musing over this for the past little while. The idea of being secure - having assurance of salvation - is one that I hold quite dear. I believe it is an encouraging truth for the believer.

The perseverance of the saints is often cast in a negative light. I don't think it should be, as it is something that should be received with joy and praise unto God. So, I'm going to outline as much as I can here in this post. It is of course a much weightier topic than one small post can justify, but bear with me as I try to explain it. I do not have the space to get into the biggest aspect of this argument - that of adoption - but I may at some point in the future.

Are We Secure?

The first question of course is whether or not we really are secure in salvation.

Friends of mine do not believe so. As far as I can tell, they believe instead that, while God is certainly at work in salvation, we can indeed fall away and no longer believe in Christ as Lord and Saviour. It is up to us to follow Christ and remain saved.

While I can agree with that in some measure, I do not believe it gives credit where credit is due. It is not us, after all, who are the instigators of our salvation. We do not make ourselves a new creation. We do not give ourselves a new heart. God does these things. God is first and foremost in all things, including the salvation of our souls.

More than that, we have promises from God in Scripture. The main one I want to highlight here is the idea of being sealed with the Holy Spirit, since that pertains to the idea of security.

Ephesians 1:13 "In him you also, when you heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation, and believed in him, were sealed with the promised Holy Spirit, who is the guarantee of our inheritance until we acquire possession of it, to the praise of his glory."

Ephesians 4:30 "And do not grieve the Holy Spirit of God, by whom you were sealed for the day of redemption."

The definition of sealed is:

"established irrevocably;

closed or secured;"

It would seem to me that this means our salvation is kept by the power of the Holy Spirit - and we could only lose our salvation if the Spirit broke away.

2 Corinthians 1:21-22 "And it is God who establishes us with you in Christ, and has anointed us, and who has also put his seal on us and given us his Spirit in our hearts as a guarantee."

Can We Therefore Be Assured?

Security and assurance are slightly different - security is from God's perspective; we are saved, and He will keep us for eternity.

Assurance, on the other hand, is our understanding - and acceptance - of this fact.

I believe that we can be assured of God's saving, powerful grace. We can take Him at His word, and trust in His promises, and be confident in our salvation.

Hebrews 13:6 "So we can confidently say, “The Lord is my helper; I will not fear; what can man do to me?”"

Trust me, I have gone through rough times. I've never been afraid I lost my salvation; but I have wondered in the past whether I was truly saved or not. I still have struggles every so often, wondering if I'm fooling myself into believing I am saved when I don't really trust in Christ.

The remedy for such worries is to look to Christ. As Mom has said so often before, we have to preach the gospel to ourselves. If I wasn't saved before, I can be now. Trust in Christ! Trust in Christ.

We can therefore have confidence in the power of Jesus Christ as Lord and Saviour. We don't have to worry whether we are doing or believing enough in order to remain saved.

Does That Mean We Don't Have to Try to Be Godly?

In no way does the perseverance of the saints mean that we don't have to strive toward holiness.

This is where the idea of "once saved, always saved" has such negative effects. Some take this to mean that they can then do whatever they want, live however they want, etc. and they will still be saved.

Perseverance of the saints argues against this. The whole idea of it is exactly opposite to "once saved, always saved" in this sense. For those who believe such things, I would say that the Bible states love of God equals obeying His commandments. We are responsible to change our lifestyles, to live in a way that is acceptable to God.

Some might say "Fine! I'm saved! Now I can go out and do as I like!"

But in the Sermon on the Mount, (Matthew 5-6) Jesus says, No, you may not. He goes on to say there are characteristics we must have. We must look like Christ!

We should seek after holiness and put sin to death, not say "that's just the way I am". Those who would take such a "cheap grace" view would do well to reflect on these:

1 John 2:3-4 "And by this we know that we have come to know him, if we keep his commandments. Whoever says "I know him" but does not keep his commandments is a liar, and the truth is not in him..."

2 Cor 13:5 "Examine yourselves, to see whether you are in the faith. Test yourselves. Or do you not realize this about yourselves, that Jesus Christ is in you?- unless indeed you fail to meet the test!"

James 2:14-17 "What good is it, my brothers, if someone says he has faith but does not have works? Can that faith save him? If a brother or sister is poorly clothed and lacking in daily food, and one of you says to them, "Go in peace, be warmed and filled," without giving them the things needed for the body, what good is that? So also faith by itself, if it does not have works, is dead."

All through Scripture there are commands to put things off - put off the old man, put off evil...and then put on; the new man, righteousness, etc. (Romans 13:12; Ephesians 4:22; Colossians 2:11; Colossians 3:9; Romans 13:14; Galatians 3:27; Ephesians 4:24; Ephesians 6:11; Colossians 3:5 ; Colossians 3:10; Colossians 3:12; Colossians 3:14; 1 Thessalonians 5:8)

We are to battle every day with our sin nature.

2 Peter 1:10 "Therefore, brothers, be all the more diligent to make your calling and election sure, for if you practice these qualities you will never fall."

We do have to work out our salvation, but we must remember that we are not alone in doing this. While we are working on our salvation, God works in us too, for He is over all:

Philippians 2:12-13 "Therefore, my beloved, as you have always obeyed, so now, not only as in my presence but much more in my absence, work out your own salvation with fear and trembling, for it is God who works in you, both to will and to work for his good pleasure."

Therefore

So, to cast perseverance in a more positive light, I hope you can see that we have hope in Jesus Christ as our Perfect, Eternal, Victorious Saviour. He will, He can, He has.

"My God is so big, so strong and so mighty there's nothing my God cannot do."

There are those who fall away. For some, this means they were deceived, and did not truly accept Christ or rely on Him. For others, for believers, falling away is something different.

It is not losing their salvation, but stepping into a dark, rebellious time; a time in which they have wanted nothing to do with God, where they'd prefer if God left them alone. This I have seen. I have also been there.

This kind of falling away of believers can also be something like a denial of God. In times of distress or pressure, we don't always have the strength to stand up for the truth. This also is a type of "falling away".

Mark 14:26-31 "And when they had sung a hymn, they went out to the Mount of Olives. And Jesus said to them, “You will all fall away, for it is written, ‘I will strike the shepherd, and the sheep will be scattered.’ But after I am raised up, I will go before you to Galilee.” Peter said to him, “Even though they all fall away, I will not.” And Jesus said to him, “Truly, I tell you, this very night, before the rooster crows twice, you will deny me three times.” But he said emphatically, “If I must die with you, I will not deny you.” And they all said the same."

But this does not equal a loss of salvation. Salvation is secured. Christ paid the price. The Father has adopted us. He has given us a place. We are sealed with the Holy Spirit. The Hound of Heaven will by no means let us go so easily.

We need to remember something. If there is someone we have known as a brother or sister in Christ, who has suddenly come to a point where they say they no longer believe, we can do two things:

1) Act upon their former proclamation, and consider them to be a believer who has come to a rebellious point. Hold them accountable for their sins. Exhort them from Scripture. In short, still treat them (with all kindness, gentleness, and humility, mind you) as a believer.

2) Pray for their souls.

Remember this promise from God: those who abide in Him, abide in Him eternally.

2 John 1:9 "Everyone who goes on ahead and does not abide in the teaching of Christ, does not have God. Whoever abides in the teaching has both the Father and the Son."