By Clyde Pilkington Jr.
Not only was Paul not one of "the Twelve" Apostles, he also was given a new message, about a new dispensation, with a new commission, resulting in the forming and building of a new people.
Paul Ministered a New Message
Paul did not preach what "the Twelve" taught – he preached the gospel of the grace of God. "… The ministry, which I have received of the Lord Jesus, to testify the gospel of the grace of God" (Acts 20:24).
This gospel did not come to Paul from others; it was a divine revelation.
"… I certify you, brothers, that the gospel which was preached of me is not after man. For I neither received it of man, neither was I taught it, but by the revelation of Jesus Christ" (Galatians 1:11-12).
So much was this a new message that Paul had to make a trip to Jerusalem to tell them of this heavenly revelation.
"… I went up by revelation, and communicated unto them that gospel which I preach among the Gentiles … for they who seemed to be somewhat in conference added nothing to me: but contrariwise, when they saw that the Gospel of the Uncircumcision was committed unto me, as the Gospel of the Circumcision was unto Peter" (Galatians 2:2-7).
Notice that Paul called this new gospel "the Gospel of the Uncircumcision." He also called it distinctly his gospel – i.e., "my gospel."
"In the day when God shall judge the secrets of men by Jesus Christ according to my gospel" (Romans 2:16).
"Now to Him that is of power to establish you according to my gospel" (Romans 16:25).
"Remember that Jesus Christ of the seed of David was raised from the dead according to my gospel" (II Timothy 2:8).
This was a new message "which was kept secret in ages past."
"Now to Him that is of power to establish you according to my gospel, and the preaching of Jesus Christ, according to the revelation of the mystery, which was kept secret in ages past" (Romans 16:25).
Paul Ministered in a New Dispensation
Paul's good news was a part of a revelation of a whole new divine administration with mankind – the unreserved dispensing of God's grace.
"If you have heard of the dispensation of the grace of God which is given me to you" (Ephesians 3:2). Also, "Whereof I am made a minister, according to the dispensation of God which is given to me for you, to fulfill the Word of God; even the mystery which has been hidden from ages and from generations, but now is made manifest to His saints: to whom God would make known what is the riches of the glory of this mystery among the Gentiles; which is Christ in you, the hope of glory" (Colossians 1:25-27).
Paul Ministered with a New Commission
"For Christ sent me not to baptize, but to preach the gospel …" (I Corinthians 1:17).
"And all things are of God, Who has reconciled us to Himself by Jesus Christ, and has given to us the ministry of reconciliation; to wit, that God was in Christ, reconciling the world unto Himself, not imputing their trespasses unto them; and has committed unto us the Word of reconciliation. Now then we are ambassadors for Christ, as though God did beseech you by us: we pray you in Christ's stead, be reconciled to God. For He has made Him to be sin for us, Who knew no sin; that we might be made the righteousness of God in Him" (II Corinthians 5:18-21).
Paul Ministered to a New People
Unlike "the Twelve" who ministered to Israel, Paul ministered to the newly formed Body of Christ, the heavenly creation. All earthly, fleshly distinction was now gone.
"Wherefore henceforth know we no man after the flesh: yea, though we have known Christ after the flesh, yet now henceforth know we Him no more. Therefore if any man is in Christ, he is a new creature: old things are passed away; behold, all things are become new" (II Corinthians 5:16-17).
"For by one Spirit are we all baptized into one Body, whether we are Jews or Gentiles, whether we are bond or free … Now you are the Body of Christ, and members in particular" (I Corinthians 12:13, 27).
Paul Ministered that we have Righteousness in Christ
Righteousness is simply an old word for rightness. When we say that God is righteous, we simply mean that what He does is always right; that He will not and cannot do anything that is not right. This is why Paul declares in Romans 1:16, 17:
"I am not ashamed of the gospel of Christ, for it is the power of God unto salvation to every one that believeth...FOR THEREIN IS THE RIGHTEOUSNESS [rightness] OF GOD REVEALED..."
Paul was called to proclaim the gospel of the grace of God because it emphasizes God's rightness. The gospel does not tell us that God will overlook our sins or wink at them and smuggle us into heaven. It doesn't tell us that He will forgive us if we are sorry enough or do enough good deeds to counterbalance our sins. By no means.
The "gospel of the grace of God" is based on His rightness. It is the wonderful message that "Christ died for our sins", that He paid for them Himself so that He might justly offer us forgiveness and declare us righteous. See Philippians 3:9-10 & 2 Corinthians 5:21.
In Romans 3:26 the apostle declares that since our sins were paid for by Christ at Calvary, God can now "be just -- and the Justifier of him who believes in Jesus".
For centuries religious people have said to each other: "We must be truly sorry for our sins and do all the good we can and surely God will forgive and accept us". But this is not the gospel. The gospel gives us more solid ground to plant our feet upon. It says to every man, woman and child: "Your sins were PAID FOR by Christ at Calvary. Trust in Him and you will be saved". This is gospel [good news] indeed, for it is based on the just payment of the penalty for sin.
Friday, July 16, 2010
Do Not Judge
The Danger of Being Judgmental of Other Christians.
Being judgmental of other Christians is one of the biggest problems we face as Christians. We quickly judge others based on the sins they are committing. We seem to reserve our most severe judgment for those whom we disagree with about what they are believing or teaching in regards to the Bible. Unbelievers God has already judged so it is not our duty to be judgmental of them. See 1 Cor. 5: 12. We are to present them with the Gospel and let the Holy Spirit do the work.
Since God accounts righteousness (being recognized as without sin) by faith and faith alone should not we give Christians the same courtesy even when we see their failures?
Titus 3:5 “not by works of righteousness which we have done, but according to His mercy He saved us, through the washing of regeneration and renewing of the Holy Spirit.
Eph. 2:8-9 For by grace you have been saved through faith, and that not of yourselves; it is the gift of God, not of works, lest anyone should boast.
Jesus said the greatest commandments, (God’s goals for human performance, not being judged under law currently…see Rom. 3:28, 4:8, 4:15) are to love Him first and then love others as ourselves. See Matt. 22:37-39.
Paul confirms this with the following verse…
"And though I have the gift of prophecy, and understand all mysteries and all knowledge, and though I have all faith, so that I could remove mountains, BUT HAVE NOT LOVE, I AM NOTHING." I Cor. 13:2.
There are many verses of warning against being judgmental.
In Mathew 7:1-5 Jesus said to “Judge not, lest you be judged.”
See also Romans 2:1-4.
These verses show us that when we judge harshly we fall into danger of placing judgment upon ourselves. This judgment does not come from God (since there is no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus) but come from others bouncing it back at us. It can also bring conviction from our own hearts robbing us of our peace with God.
When we adversely judge others we are actually cursing them since we are placing them under our “law”. Read Galatians 3:10-13. If you are judging them harshly then you may be guilty of robbing them from operating under God’s grace. See Gal. 5:4.
Do we then ignore sin and just pat these overt “Christian” sinners on the back and say “Go ahead and sin because your not under law anymore?” Of course not. Teach and correct them humbly and gently on how to be led by the Spirit and not by the lust of the flush. Do not beat them over the head with law! Any law! 2 Tim. 2-24-26. Gal. 5:16.
If this does not work, we are to remove ourselves from them or else we and the people who fellowship with us become deceived into wrong doing. 1 Cor. 5:6-13. Use NLT for the best translation. We must take a stand on “Christians” who are doing much evil for many reasons. I am not judging if they are saved or not, I am judging the consequences of their sin and what should be done about it. Consideration should be made on a case by case basis. Some people are really doing the best they can and it is God who does the process of sanctification and not us. Others are sinning without any concern about trying to do better. They may still need to be “saved”.
Now I would like to briefly address the problem of judging based on the Bible views held by people. We have three categories in which teachings can fall into.
Dogma. Cannot be disputed. The Bible is absolutely clear on these views and to be a “Christian” you must agree.
Doctrine. The Bible seems to be clear on these views and there is usually agreement but disagreements should not and do not disqualify you from being “saved”.
Opinions. These are views in which the Bible is not clear at all on. We should be able to disagree and feel “comfortable” that it is OK to disagree.
My view is as long as we agree on Dogma, (not going into detail here on what I think is dogma but we could start with John 14:6, 1 Cor. 2:2, Eph. 2:8,9) we should be considered brothers, do everything possible to get along and not get upset at each other even if we do disagree on doctrine or opinions. I know that one man’s opinion may be another man’s doctrine but we need to remain civil and be willing to listen to the other person’s point of view, no matter how right YOU think You are. This is where we need to take special care NOT to be judgmental. I’ve been proven wrong many times and I am thankful that God has given me the patience to hear other people out. Study the word together, be patient and God will reveal the truth by his Word. See 1 Cor. 1:10-15.
Being judgmental of other Christians is one of the biggest problems we face as Christians. We quickly judge others based on the sins they are committing. We seem to reserve our most severe judgment for those whom we disagree with about what they are believing or teaching in regards to the Bible. Unbelievers God has already judged so it is not our duty to be judgmental of them. See 1 Cor. 5: 12. We are to present them with the Gospel and let the Holy Spirit do the work.
Since God accounts righteousness (being recognized as without sin) by faith and faith alone should not we give Christians the same courtesy even when we see their failures?
Titus 3:5 “not by works of righteousness which we have done, but according to His mercy He saved us, through the washing of regeneration and renewing of the Holy Spirit.
Eph. 2:8-9 For by grace you have been saved through faith, and that not of yourselves; it is the gift of God, not of works, lest anyone should boast.
Jesus said the greatest commandments, (God’s goals for human performance, not being judged under law currently…see Rom. 3:28, 4:8, 4:15) are to love Him first and then love others as ourselves. See Matt. 22:37-39.
Paul confirms this with the following verse…
"And though I have the gift of prophecy, and understand all mysteries and all knowledge, and though I have all faith, so that I could remove mountains, BUT HAVE NOT LOVE, I AM NOTHING." I Cor. 13:2.
There are many verses of warning against being judgmental.
In Mathew 7:1-5 Jesus said to “Judge not, lest you be judged.”
See also Romans 2:1-4.
These verses show us that when we judge harshly we fall into danger of placing judgment upon ourselves. This judgment does not come from God (since there is no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus) but come from others bouncing it back at us. It can also bring conviction from our own hearts robbing us of our peace with God.
When we adversely judge others we are actually cursing them since we are placing them under our “law”. Read Galatians 3:10-13. If you are judging them harshly then you may be guilty of robbing them from operating under God’s grace. See Gal. 5:4.
Do we then ignore sin and just pat these overt “Christian” sinners on the back and say “Go ahead and sin because your not under law anymore?” Of course not. Teach and correct them humbly and gently on how to be led by the Spirit and not by the lust of the flush. Do not beat them over the head with law! Any law! 2 Tim. 2-24-26. Gal. 5:16.
If this does not work, we are to remove ourselves from them or else we and the people who fellowship with us become deceived into wrong doing. 1 Cor. 5:6-13. Use NLT for the best translation. We must take a stand on “Christians” who are doing much evil for many reasons. I am not judging if they are saved or not, I am judging the consequences of their sin and what should be done about it. Consideration should be made on a case by case basis. Some people are really doing the best they can and it is God who does the process of sanctification and not us. Others are sinning without any concern about trying to do better. They may still need to be “saved”.
Now I would like to briefly address the problem of judging based on the Bible views held by people. We have three categories in which teachings can fall into.
Dogma. Cannot be disputed. The Bible is absolutely clear on these views and to be a “Christian” you must agree.
Doctrine. The Bible seems to be clear on these views and there is usually agreement but disagreements should not and do not disqualify you from being “saved”.
Opinions. These are views in which the Bible is not clear at all on. We should be able to disagree and feel “comfortable” that it is OK to disagree.
My view is as long as we agree on Dogma, (not going into detail here on what I think is dogma but we could start with John 14:6, 1 Cor. 2:2, Eph. 2:8,9) we should be considered brothers, do everything possible to get along and not get upset at each other even if we do disagree on doctrine or opinions. I know that one man’s opinion may be another man’s doctrine but we need to remain civil and be willing to listen to the other person’s point of view, no matter how right YOU think You are. This is where we need to take special care NOT to be judgmental. I’ve been proven wrong many times and I am thankful that God has given me the patience to hear other people out. Study the word together, be patient and God will reveal the truth by his Word. See 1 Cor. 1:10-15.
Monday, February 1, 2010
Eternal Security
Why I believe in “Eternal Security”
This is a controversial topic but one that needs to be addressed since the lack of belief of eternal security can cause needless condemnation against those who are struggling with sin. The “carnal” Christian can become discouraged and give up on their Christian walk.
What is the definition of “Eternal Security”? Otherwise known as “once saved, always saved”, it just means that once you are “born again” or once you have become regenerated by the Holy Spirit into “newness of life” you cannot lose it or become “unsaved”. Those who endorse “Conditional Security” are basically saying you can become “unborn” or you can lose your salvation by losing your faith. I used to believe that you could lose your salvation because that is what my church taught me. Sometimes we need to question what we have been taught. Before I go into the arguments against eternal security allow me to defend it based on scriptures and on simple logic.
Colossians 3:3-4; “For you died, and your life is hidden with Christ in God. 4 When Christ who is our life appears, then you also will appear with Him in glory”.
The born-again believer is a “new creation” and the old life is gone. (2 Cor. 5:17) The old man has died. God no longer recognizes the old man. Our life is hidden with Christ in God. The old “life” is . We are now in the body of Christ.
Eph. 5:30 says, “For we are members of His body, of His flesh and of His bones.”
My comment: Jesus does not cut off parts of his body. We cannot become “unborn”. We cannot return to the old “dead man”. Regeneration, the single act of being “born-again”, is a work of the Spirit, it is final because God willed it and God did it. We can’t undo it. Is our will stronger than Gods? 1 Tim. 2:4 (Young’s Literal) “who doth will all men to be saved, and to come to the full knowledge of the truth;”
Philippians 1:6 “being confident of this very thing, that He who has begun a good work in you will complete it until the day of Jesus Christ;”
My comment: We are suppose to be confident that if he has begun the good work then he certainly complete despite our efforts to resist. These efforts to resist come from our flesh! God is stronger than our flesh, he is stronger than our soulish life.
Galatians 3:3 (Amplified Bible) “Are you so foolish and so senseless and so silly? Having begun [your new life spiritually] with the [Holy] Spirit, are you now reaching perfection [by dependence] on the flesh?”
My Comment: If the work is begun by the Spirit then the flesh cannot enhance it or destroy it. God does not judge us according to lapses in our mental reasoning.
John 10:27-29 “My sheep hear My voice, and I know them, and they follow Me. 28 And I give them eternal life, and they shall never perish; neither shall anyone them out of My hand. 29 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.”
Ephesians 2:8 (New Living Translation) “God saved you by his grace when you believed. And you can’t take credit for this; it is a gift from God”.
My comment: Humans don’t take back gifts and neither does God.
Galatians 2:20 (King James Version) “I am crucified with Christ: nevertheless I live; yet not I, but Christ liveth in me: and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by the faith of the Son of God, who loved me, and gave himself for me.”
My comment: We have been given the faith OF God and By God (Rom. 12:3). It cannot fail if the Spirit has truly come in and regenerated us.
"The gifts and the calling of God are irrevocable." Romans 11:29
If salvation is a free gift (Eph. 2:8-9) then it cannot be called back...irrevocable.
Romans 8:29-34 (NLT) [my comments in brackets] For God knew his people in advance, and he chose them to become like his Son, so that his Son would be the firstborn [can one become “unborn”?] among many brothers and sisters. 30 And having chosen them, he called them to come to him. And having called them, he gave them right standing with himself. And having given them right standing, he gave them his glory. [so this is all “revocable”?] 31 What shall we say about such wonderful things as these? If God is for us, who can ever be against us? 32 Since he did not spare even his own Son but gave him up for us all, won’t he also give us everything else? 33 Who dares accuse us whom God has chosen for his own? No one—for God himself has given us right standing with himself. 34 Who then will condemn us? No one—for Christ Jesus died for us and was raised to life for us, and he is sitting in the place of honor at God’s right hand, pleading for us….38 And I am convinced that nothing can ever separate us from God’s love. Neither nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither our fears for today nor our worries about tomorrow—not even the powers of hell can separate us from God’s love. 39 No power in the sky above or in the earth below—indeed, nothing in all creation will ever be able to separate us from the love of God that is revealed in Christ Jesus our Lord.
Hebrews 12:2; looking unto Jesus, the author and finisher of our faith…
My comment: If HE is the author and finisher of our faith how can WE lose it?
Jude 1:24 Now to Him who is able to keep you from stumbling…
1 Thessalonians 5:23-24 “Now may the God of peace Himself sanctify you completely; and may your whole spirit, soul, and body be preserved blameless at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ. 24 He who calls you is faithful, who also will do it.”
Ephesians 1:13-14 “And now you Gentiles have also heard the truth, the Good News that God saves you. And when you believed in Christ, he identified you as his own by giving you the Holy Spirit, whom he promised long ago. 14 The Spirit is God’s guarantee that he will give us the inheritance he promised and that he has purchased us to be his own people. He did this so we would praise and glorify him.”
If we have received the Spirit then we have a guarantee. A guarantee is defined in the dictionary as “a promise or official statement that something will definitely happen.”
Will you believe God’s promise or not? Jesus sits at the right hand of the Father making intercession for us. Hebrews 7:24. His prayers are always answered!
Part 2 What about “conditional security”? Can you lose your salvation?
Why do people resist the teaching of eternal security? Here are a few simple reasons.
Opponents think that believing in it will cause people to sin more since they think sinning doesn’t matter because they are saved anyway. I will show this is not true.
They think it is the same thing as Calvinism. I will show that it is not the same.
Opponents also think there are many scriptures which prove that you can lose your salvation. I will show that these scriptures are misinterpreted or mistranslated.
God’s promises are not revoked based on man’s behavior. Just because “Jimmy” uses eternal security as an excuse to sin does not mean the promise from God is not valid. If Jimmy is looking for excuses to sin then Jimmy has probably never repented for his sins and has not been born-again of the Spirit. Paul knew his revelations would cause some to think they can just keep on sinning and he was persecuted by the religious because of it. He warns of this mistake in Romans 6:1. We know that young/carnal Christians will fall, fail and use excuses for their sin. If they are truly born again, from the Spirit, then it is the Spirit’s job to sanctify them outwardly and their job to yield to the leadings of the Spirit. Their fruits will help us determine where they are in their maturity but we are not to judge them outwardly. We cannot know the thoughts and intents of a person’s heart; only God knows.
Some would say I’m teaching Calvinism. Since many reading this are not familiar with Calvinism I will keep this answer short. Calvinism teaches “Perseverance of the Saints”, they don’t call it “eternal security”. They are basically saying that those who are called and chosen will persevere because they are called and chosen. Their “works” will prove they have been called and chosen. As we know, Paul writes that works play no part in the salvation of the believer. Salvation is a gift of God “not out of us”. Eph. 2:8-9. Their definitions and theology is different than I have described in part 1 of this paper.
Now to a few scriptures that seem to support the idea you can lose your salvation.
Romans 11:20-21 “Quite right, they (the Jews) were broken off for their unbelief, but you stand by your faith. Do not be conceited, but fear; for if God did not spare the natural branches, He will not spare you, either.”
We see here that the Jews (not born-again believers) were “broken off”. In the context of chapter 11, being “broken off” was part of God’s plan for the Jews in order to open the gospel to the Gentiles. But we also see that “all Israel will be saved” in the end in verse 26. The warning about falling from God’s grace from working in your life currently. Operating outside God’s grace because of unbelief (as Israel has found out) is a fearful thing. You can lose your joy, protection, fellowship, etc. The same reasoning can be applied to Galatians 5:4. These verses do not say you will be lost for eternity. We also need to ask if the verse is speaking to a nation as the first part of the verse indicates and so does it apply to nations, groups or individuals in the latter part of the verse.
We also need to ask if Paul may have been warning those in the audience who’s faith may not yet be genuine and may not have been truly born again. Every “church” has those too.
Hebrews 3:14 For we have become partakers of Christ, if we hold fast the beginning of our assurance firm until the end.
Hebrews 6:4-6 NLT For it is impossible to bring back to repentance those who were once enlightened—those who have experienced the good things of heaven and shared in the Holy Spirit, 5 who have tasted the goodness of the word of God and the power of the age to come—6 and who then turn away from God. It is impossible to bring such people back to repentance; by rejecting the Son of God, they themselves are nailing him to the cross once again and holding him up to public shame.
My comment: Hebrews was written to the Jews. The Jews who received this letter at this time did not yet understand the “grace system” that Paul taught to US, the Gentiles. Some of the Pentecostal Jews were being tempted to go back to Judaism even though they themselves had enjoyed the spiritual gifts. They fell under the “repentance and baptism” system, a pardon system, in which one can walk away from the faith. We are in the age of Grace, salvation by the blood of Jesus Christ received by faith alone which comes from God alone, incorruptible and irrevocable.
2 Corinthians 13:5 “Examine yourselves as to whether you are in the faith. Test yourselves. Do you not know yourselves, that Jesus Christ is in you?—unless indeed you are disqualified.”
The Corinthians were questioning Paul’s apostleship. He was asking them to check themselves if they were qualified to be promoting themselves as men of faith. He was not questioning their salvation, it was a rhetorical question.
Revelation 3:5 “He who overcomes shall be clothed in white garments, and I will not blot out his name from the Book of Life; but I will confess his name before My Father and before His angels.”
Simply states he will not erase those names in the book. A reassuring promise to those who may be worried about it. The verse does not say that he is erasing names of people who supposedly have lost their faith. All “true” Christians will overcome.
Colossians 1:22-23 yet He has now reconciled you in His fleshly body through , in order to present you before Him holy and blameless and beyond reproach-- if indeed you continue [the literal Greek (Concordant) does not say “if” but says “surely you are persisting in the faith”] in the faith firmly established and steadfast, and not moved away from the hope of the gospel that you have heard…
My comment: In this case we see the scripture was not accurately translated from the original Greek. As we see here, it can make a big difference. Other scriptures can be sited. If we look at those in the light that the individual has never come to a saving faith in the first place then we can see that the warnings can apply. None of the scriptures above or others that can be sited actually says a person has totally lost their faith. They mostly have to do with a continuation of a performance of works as to the guideline of having faith or not. As stated before, salvation comes apart from works.
This is a controversial topic but one that needs to be addressed since the lack of belief of eternal security can cause needless condemnation against those who are struggling with sin. The “carnal” Christian can become discouraged and give up on their Christian walk.
What is the definition of “Eternal Security”? Otherwise known as “once saved, always saved”, it just means that once you are “born again” or once you have become regenerated by the Holy Spirit into “newness of life” you cannot lose it or become “unsaved”. Those who endorse “Conditional Security” are basically saying you can become “unborn” or you can lose your salvation by losing your faith. I used to believe that you could lose your salvation because that is what my church taught me. Sometimes we need to question what we have been taught. Before I go into the arguments against eternal security allow me to defend it based on scriptures and on simple logic.
Colossians 3:3-4; “For you died, and your life is hidden with Christ in God. 4 When Christ who is our life appears, then you also will appear with Him in glory”.
The born-again believer is a “new creation” and the old life is gone. (2 Cor. 5:17) The old man has died. God no longer recognizes the old man. Our life is hidden with Christ in God. The old “life” is . We are now in the body of Christ.
Eph. 5:30 says, “For we are members of His body, of His flesh and of His bones.”
My comment: Jesus does not cut off parts of his body. We cannot become “unborn”. We cannot return to the old “dead man”. Regeneration, the single act of being “born-again”, is a work of the Spirit, it is final because God willed it and God did it. We can’t undo it. Is our will stronger than Gods? 1 Tim. 2:4 (Young’s Literal) “who doth will all men to be saved, and to come to the full knowledge of the truth;”
Philippians 1:6 “being confident of this very thing, that He who has begun a good work in you will complete it until the day of Jesus Christ;”
My comment: We are suppose to be confident that if he has begun the good work then he certainly complete despite our efforts to resist. These efforts to resist come from our flesh! God is stronger than our flesh, he is stronger than our soulish life.
Galatians 3:3 (Amplified Bible) “Are you so foolish and so senseless and so silly? Having begun [your new life spiritually] with the [Holy] Spirit, are you now reaching perfection [by dependence] on the flesh?”
My Comment: If the work is begun by the Spirit then the flesh cannot enhance it or destroy it. God does not judge us according to lapses in our mental reasoning.
John 10:27-29 “My sheep hear My voice, and I know them, and they follow Me. 28 And I give them eternal life, and they shall never perish; neither shall anyone them out of My hand. 29 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.”
Ephesians 2:8 (New Living Translation) “God saved you by his grace when you believed. And you can’t take credit for this; it is a gift from God”.
My comment: Humans don’t take back gifts and neither does God.
Galatians 2:20 (King James Version) “I am crucified with Christ: nevertheless I live; yet not I, but Christ liveth in me: and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by the faith of the Son of God, who loved me, and gave himself for me.”
My comment: We have been given the faith OF God and By God (Rom. 12:3). It cannot fail if the Spirit has truly come in and regenerated us.
"The gifts and the calling of God are irrevocable." Romans 11:29
If salvation is a free gift (Eph. 2:8-9) then it cannot be called back...irrevocable.
Romans 8:29-34 (NLT) [my comments in brackets] For God knew his people in advance, and he chose them to become like his Son, so that his Son would be the firstborn [can one become “unborn”?] among many brothers and sisters. 30 And having chosen them, he called them to come to him. And having called them, he gave them right standing with himself. And having given them right standing, he gave them his glory. [so this is all “revocable”?] 31 What shall we say about such wonderful things as these? If God is for us, who can ever be against us? 32 Since he did not spare even his own Son but gave him up for us all, won’t he also give us everything else? 33 Who dares accuse us whom God has chosen for his own? No one—for God himself has given us right standing with himself. 34 Who then will condemn us? No one—for Christ Jesus died for us and was raised to life for us, and he is sitting in the place of honor at God’s right hand, pleading for us….38 And I am convinced that nothing can ever separate us from God’s love. Neither nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither our fears for today nor our worries about tomorrow—not even the powers of hell can separate us from God’s love. 39 No power in the sky above or in the earth below—indeed, nothing in all creation will ever be able to separate us from the love of God that is revealed in Christ Jesus our Lord.
Hebrews 12:2; looking unto Jesus, the author and finisher of our faith…
My comment: If HE is the author and finisher of our faith how can WE lose it?
Jude 1:24 Now to Him who is able to keep you from stumbling…
1 Thessalonians 5:23-24 “Now may the God of peace Himself sanctify you completely; and may your whole spirit, soul, and body be preserved blameless at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ. 24 He who calls you is faithful, who also will do it.”
Ephesians 1:13-14 “And now you Gentiles have also heard the truth, the Good News that God saves you. And when you believed in Christ, he identified you as his own by giving you the Holy Spirit, whom he promised long ago. 14 The Spirit is God’s guarantee that he will give us the inheritance he promised and that he has purchased us to be his own people. He did this so we would praise and glorify him.”
If we have received the Spirit then we have a guarantee. A guarantee is defined in the dictionary as “a promise or official statement that something will definitely happen.”
Will you believe God’s promise or not? Jesus sits at the right hand of the Father making intercession for us. Hebrews 7:24. His prayers are always answered!
Part 2 What about “conditional security”? Can you lose your salvation?
Why do people resist the teaching of eternal security? Here are a few simple reasons.
Opponents think that believing in it will cause people to sin more since they think sinning doesn’t matter because they are saved anyway. I will show this is not true.
They think it is the same thing as Calvinism. I will show that it is not the same.
Opponents also think there are many scriptures which prove that you can lose your salvation. I will show that these scriptures are misinterpreted or mistranslated.
God’s promises are not revoked based on man’s behavior. Just because “Jimmy” uses eternal security as an excuse to sin does not mean the promise from God is not valid. If Jimmy is looking for excuses to sin then Jimmy has probably never repented for his sins and has not been born-again of the Spirit. Paul knew his revelations would cause some to think they can just keep on sinning and he was persecuted by the religious because of it. He warns of this mistake in Romans 6:1. We know that young/carnal Christians will fall, fail and use excuses for their sin. If they are truly born again, from the Spirit, then it is the Spirit’s job to sanctify them outwardly and their job to yield to the leadings of the Spirit. Their fruits will help us determine where they are in their maturity but we are not to judge them outwardly. We cannot know the thoughts and intents of a person’s heart; only God knows.
Some would say I’m teaching Calvinism. Since many reading this are not familiar with Calvinism I will keep this answer short. Calvinism teaches “Perseverance of the Saints”, they don’t call it “eternal security”. They are basically saying that those who are called and chosen will persevere because they are called and chosen. Their “works” will prove they have been called and chosen. As we know, Paul writes that works play no part in the salvation of the believer. Salvation is a gift of God “not out of us”. Eph. 2:8-9. Their definitions and theology is different than I have described in part 1 of this paper.
Now to a few scriptures that seem to support the idea you can lose your salvation.
Romans 11:20-21 “Quite right, they (the Jews) were broken off for their unbelief, but you stand by your faith. Do not be conceited, but fear; for if God did not spare the natural branches, He will not spare you, either.”
We see here that the Jews (not born-again believers) were “broken off”. In the context of chapter 11, being “broken off” was part of God’s plan for the Jews in order to open the gospel to the Gentiles. But we also see that “all Israel will be saved” in the end in verse 26. The warning about falling from God’s grace from working in your life currently. Operating outside God’s grace because of unbelief (as Israel has found out) is a fearful thing. You can lose your joy, protection, fellowship, etc. The same reasoning can be applied to Galatians 5:4. These verses do not say you will be lost for eternity. We also need to ask if the verse is speaking to a nation as the first part of the verse indicates and so does it apply to nations, groups or individuals in the latter part of the verse.
We also need to ask if Paul may have been warning those in the audience who’s faith may not yet be genuine and may not have been truly born again. Every “church” has those too.
Hebrews 3:14 For we have become partakers of Christ, if we hold fast the beginning of our assurance firm until the end.
Hebrews 6:4-6 NLT For it is impossible to bring back to repentance those who were once enlightened—those who have experienced the good things of heaven and shared in the Holy Spirit, 5 who have tasted the goodness of the word of God and the power of the age to come—6 and who then turn away from God. It is impossible to bring such people back to repentance; by rejecting the Son of God, they themselves are nailing him to the cross once again and holding him up to public shame.
My comment: Hebrews was written to the Jews. The Jews who received this letter at this time did not yet understand the “grace system” that Paul taught to US, the Gentiles. Some of the Pentecostal Jews were being tempted to go back to Judaism even though they themselves had enjoyed the spiritual gifts. They fell under the “repentance and baptism” system, a pardon system, in which one can walk away from the faith. We are in the age of Grace, salvation by the blood of Jesus Christ received by faith alone which comes from God alone, incorruptible and irrevocable.
2 Corinthians 13:5 “Examine yourselves as to whether you are in the faith. Test yourselves. Do you not know yourselves, that Jesus Christ is in you?—unless indeed you are disqualified.”
The Corinthians were questioning Paul’s apostleship. He was asking them to check themselves if they were qualified to be promoting themselves as men of faith. He was not questioning their salvation, it was a rhetorical question.
Revelation 3:5 “He who overcomes shall be clothed in white garments, and I will not blot out his name from the Book of Life; but I will confess his name before My Father and before His angels.”
Simply states he will not erase those names in the book. A reassuring promise to those who may be worried about it. The verse does not say that he is erasing names of people who supposedly have lost their faith. All “true” Christians will overcome.
Colossians 1:22-23 yet He has now reconciled you in His fleshly body through , in order to present you before Him holy and blameless and beyond reproach-- if indeed you continue [the literal Greek (Concordant) does not say “if” but says “surely you are persisting in the faith”] in the faith firmly established and steadfast, and not moved away from the hope of the gospel that you have heard…
My comment: In this case we see the scripture was not accurately translated from the original Greek. As we see here, it can make a big difference. Other scriptures can be sited. If we look at those in the light that the individual has never come to a saving faith in the first place then we can see that the warnings can apply. None of the scriptures above or others that can be sited actually says a person has totally lost their faith. They mostly have to do with a continuation of a performance of works as to the guideline of having faith or not. As stated before, salvation comes apart from works.
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