Rediscover the Gospel

OBJECTIONS AGAINST ETERNAL SALVATION (PART VII)
Matthew 18:21–35 (The Unmerciful Servant)

Matthew 18:21–35 (NKJV) 21 Then Peter came to Him and said, “Lord, how often shall my brother sin against me, and I forgive him? Up to seven times?” 22 Jesus said to him, “I don’t say to you, up to seven times, but up to seventy times seven. 23 Therefore the Kingdom of Heaven is like a certain king who wanted to settle accounts with his servants. 24 And when he had begun to settle accounts, one was brought to him who owed him ten thousand talents. 25 But as he was not able to pay, his master commanded that he be sold, with his wife and children and all that he had, and that payment be made. 26 The servant therefore fell down before him, saying, ‘Master, have patience with me, and I will pay you all.’ 27 Then the master of that servant was moved with compassion, released him, and forgave him the debt. 28 “But that servant went out and found one of his fellow servants who owed him a hundred denarii, and he laid hands on him and took him by the throat, saying, ‘Pay me what you owe!’ 29 So his fellow servant fell down at his feet and begged him, saying, ‘Have patience with me, and I will pay you all.’ 30 And he would not but went and threw him into prison till he should pay the debt. 31 So when his fellow servants saw what had been done, they were very grieved, and came and told their master all that had been done. 32 Then his master, after he had called him, said to him, ‘You wicked servant! I forgave you all that debt because you begged me. 33 Should you not also have had compassion on your fellow servant, just as I had pity on you?’ 34 And his master was angry and delivered him to the torturers until he should pay all that was due to him. 35 So My heavenly Father also will do to you if each of you, from his heart, doesn’t forgive his brother his trespasses.”

Another even stronger biblical text along the same lines is the following one from Matthew 6:14–15:

Matthew 6:14–15 (NKJV) 14 “For if you forgive men their trespasses, your heavenly Father will also forgive you. 15 But if you don’t forgive men their trespasses, neither will your Father forgive your trespasses.

The objection brought by some believers based on these two passages is that if you, as a child of God, fail to forgive others as you have been forgiven, your original sin debt will be reinstated, and you will lose your eternal salvation. At first glance, these passages seem to tell us God’s forgiveness, our salvation, is conditional upon how much we forgive others, and if we don’t do that, God will reinstate our sins, even after we have been forgiven initially.

We must note that what Matthew 18:21–35 conveys is in the context of the Jewish Law. At that point in time, when Jesus gave the parable, He had not died yet on the cross and nobody from His audience was yet born again. Because of this, we need to realize that Jesus, during His life before the cross, made the transition from the Law of Moses to the Gospel. Most of the things He said were in the context of the Old Covenant because that is what His audience was familiar with, while a few things were looking forward and speaking about the future New Covenant. The conditional nature of His saying in this parable sounds very much like the Law of Moses. Jesus, throughout His ministry on earth, took the Law of Moses and raised it to the strictest of standards. He talked about its spirit, about intentions, and motivations of the heart, not just outward works. By showing the extremes of the Law, Jesus was preparing them for what was coming: the New Covenant of the grace of God through Christ. Jesus used the apostle Paul to teach that grace to the Gentiles. The sermon on the Mount (Matthew 5–6) amplifies the Law of Moses, and this parable is along the same lines. So, it doesn’t say God can revoke salvation for those who are saved and whose sins were forgiven through the atonement of Jesus Christ. That would go against the many scriptures that show we are secure in Christ from the moment of our salvation. That would even contradict many of the words of Jesus Himself. Let’s take a closer look at this parable.

First, Jesus is not saying anything about those unforgiving people being thrown into hell. Second, the way the servant asks the king for mercy and the request to give him more time to pay back the debt shows this individual doesn’t grasp the reality of the situation. He thinks he can pay back the debt of sin through self-effort, but no one can do that. Only Christ accomplished this payment for people’s sins on the cross. Third, notice that nobody paid for the servant’s debt in this parable, but it was forgiven, meaning his debt was overlooked. As a child of God, you need to understand you are not just forgiven, but you are justified as well! When a husband and wife argue, they might often bring up things from the past. While the husband may have forgiven his wife (or the other way around), the moment he brings back into discussion the conflict from the past, he proves he hasn’t justified her. God is entirely different. He says, “I remember your sins no more” (Hebrews 8:12). Justification means you never sinned, and you will never be blamed for sin. You are unblameable and this is a fundamental theological concept.

God didn’t only forgive you in the sense of overlooking your sins, He didn’t only provide an atonement or a covering for your sins. These are Old Covenant concepts. Someone paid with innocent blood for your sins and for the whole world’s sins. Hebrews 10 says, “Jesus took away your sins” once and for all. Forgiveness means overlooking the mistakes without making any payment for them and God forgave us only in the sense that we were not the ones who made the payment for sins. However, we were justified, which is beyond forgiveness, because sin was also paid for in full, not just overlooked by God.

All our sins have been taken away by Christ. That is why before the cross, we had to forgive before we were forgiven but after His work, we are first and foremost forgiven completely and permanently. Yes, we should still forgive, but not as a condition of salvation.

Believers in Christ are no longer under the Law of Moses, and neither salvation is under the condition of obedience.

Unforgiveness is a sin like any other. The apostle Paul writes the following words about forgiveness:

Ephesians 4:32 (NKJV) 32 And be kind to one another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, even as God in Christ forgave you. Colossians 3:13 (NKJV) 13 bearing with one another, and forgiving one another, if anyone has a complaint against another; even as Christ forgave you, so you also must do.

Notice here that God is the One Who has forgiven you first.

Then you are called to forgive, but not under the threat of losing your own forgiveness.

The passages say you should do this as a natural flow and outcome of what has already been done for you. If you are in Christ, you have been forgiven, so, now you forgive as well! The Apostle Paul says true forgiveness comes under grace because we know how much we have been forgiven ourselves. Under the Law, it would flow out of fear of not being punished again, it didn’t come from the heart, and it kept a record of wrongs. Before Christ came, there was no forgetting of the sins of the other.

But now, when you realize God doesn’t even keep a record of your wrongs, but He has chosen to forget your iniquities, you find that forgiveness flows from His grace.

Matthew 12:31–32 (The Unpardonable Sin)

Matthew 12:31–32 (NKJV) 31 Therefore I say to you, every sin and blasphemy will be forgiven men, but the blasphemy against the Spirit will not be forgiven men. 32 Anyone who speaks a word against the Son of Man, it will be forgiven him; but whoever speaks against the Holy Spirit, it will not be forgiven him, either in this age or in the age to come.

The Mark account is even harsher, talking clearly about eternal damnation in the case of those blaspheming the Holy Spirit:

Mark 3:29 (NKJV) 29 but he who blasphemes against the Holy Spirit never has forgiveness, but is subject to eternal condemnation.

Many genuine believers have this fear from time to time, that they might have committed the unpardonable sin against the Holy Spirit and lost their salvation. That fear comes from a faulty interpretation of these passages, that born-again believers can commit that sin by mistake, in a fit of anger, and be subject to eternal condemnation, even if they were sorry about it afterward.

The word “blaspheme” means to speak evil of, defame, or revile. In context, Jesus is saying blasphemy against the Holy Spirit is attributing the working of the Holy Spirit to the Devil. Many people in the Bible did this, including Saul, who became the apostle Paul. However, in 1 Timothy 1:13, Paul said he received mercy concerning his blasphemy because he had done it ignorantly in unbelief.

Therefore, the blasphemy against the Holy Spirit Jesus is warning against here must be willfully reviling the Holy Spirit wi

OBJECTIONS AGAINST ETERNAL SALVATION (PART VI)
John 15:1–6 (Abiding in the Vine)

John 15:1–6 (NKJV) 1 I am the true vine, and My Father is the vinedresser. 2 Every branch in Me that doesn’t bear fruit He takes away; and every branch that bears fruit He prunes, that it may bear more fruit. 3 You are already clean because of the Word which I have spoken to you. 4 Abide in Me, and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit of itself, unless it abides in the vine, neither can you, unless you abide in Me. 5 I am the vine, you are the branches. He who abides in Me, and I in him, bears much fruit; for without Me you can do nothing. 6 If anyone doesn’t abide in Me, he is cast out as a branch and is withered; and they gather them and throw them into the fire, and they are burned.

This passage is often used to teach that Christians can lose their salvation. It’s easy to see why they would think that way, especially when you look at verses 2 and 6: “Every branch in Me that doesn’t bear fruit He takes away”; “anyone who doesn’t abide in Me, he is thrown into the fire, and burned.” In particular, the phrase “in Me,” which is used twice, apparently suggests a loss of salvation. The branches that don’t bear fruit—the signs of salvation—are gathered and “thrown into the fire,” a clear symbol of eternal judgment. The question is though, since these hell-bound branches were initially “in” Jesus, does that mean they represented true believers who lost their salvation? Is being “in” the vine in this parable the same thing with being saved? I would suggest the answer is no and I feel this is the correct conclusion for a few reasons. First, the Greek word translated into the verb “takes away” in Verse 2 is airo, which actually means “to lift from the ground” or “to lift with a view of carrying.” The Passion Translation (TPT) of the Bible seems to provide a more accurate rendering of that word in the first two verses of John 15:

John 15:1–2 (TPT) 1 I am a true sprouting vine, and the farmer who tends the vine is my Father. 2 He cares for the branches connected to Me by lifting and propping up the fruitless branches and pruning every fruitful branch to yield a greater harvest.

The same Greek word airo is used in John 5:8 for the verb “take up” when Jesus tells the lame man from the pool of Bethesda to take up his bed and walk. Then, in Matthew 16:24, when Jesus says, “If anyone wants to come after me, let him deny himself and take up his cross and follow me,” the airo is used for the verb “take up” again. As a matter of fact, every other instance of this Gr. word airo in the New Testament is translated as “lift up” or “take up” except in John 15:2, where it is interpreted as “cut off” or “remove,” and I have an explanation for why. The theological “lenses” of the translators really matters. All of us wear certain “lenses” of interpretation when we read the Scripture, whether we are aware of it or not. I hear sometimes believers saying, “I only obey what the Word says” when in fact they obey whatever they think the Word says most of the times. And what they say the Word says is filtered through the “glasses” they use. Blessed are those who know what kind of glasses they use! So, I believe the translators chose to render airo as “cut off” or “take away” because of their theological understanding, but it should have been translated as “lift up.” Why? Because the vine is a creeper or a crawling plant. You often see a vinedresser picking up the branches from the ground and tying them up with strings to the pillars of the vine. If the branches sit on the ground in the dust, they don’t bear fruit. In this passage, Jesus is saying the Father lifts up every fruitless branch to help it bear fruit. He is not waiting for a given opportunity to cut people off, but to make them bear fruit. That is the Father’s job. Jesus is the vine and the Father God is the vinedresser Who is making sure we bear fruit.

Furthermore, Verse 2 of this passage says God, the Father, prunes every branch that bears fruit so that it will bear more fruit. When God prunes, He always does it with the purpose of life in mind. Even His so-called discipline is life-giving. Jesus seems to have understood our potential and capacity to misinterpret scripture here. So, immediately in the next verse He tells us what He uses to prune. “You are already clean because of the Word which I have spoken to you” (John 15:3). The Greek word for “to prune” or “to clean or cleanse” is the same: kataros. The instrument God uses to prune us is His Word and not a cancer or a life-changing car accident in which you lose one of your limbs. Moreover, the dust talks about serpent mentality. In the garden of Eden, God cursed the serpent, saying: “From now on, dust shall be your food.” Whenever the branch is in the dust, it does not bear fruit. Whenever we feed with what the serpent feeds itself, when the serpent’s food becomes the atmosphere of our living, we do not bear fruit. If we keep feeding on the lies of the enemy, we will not bear fruit. That is why God lifts us up and cleanses us by His Word—to bear fruit. Just because a couple has a legal marriage certificate does not necessarily mean they have a great marriage. The certificate validates the union, but life in the union is purely relational. A certificate does not give birth to babies. It is not the legal union that brings fruit, but the relational intimate union. Likewise, in our walk with Christ, it is our relational intimate union with Him that brings fruit and life.

The second reason I believe John 15 is not a passage about the possibility of believers losing their salvation is because metaphors are only meant to go so far. Jesus here is speaking in a parable. He uses an illustration to make a point. As with any picture or parable, one can take it too far. In His wisdom, Jesus uses an everyday image—especially for ancient Easterners—to make a spiritual point, that is, our continual spiritual fruition and growth here on earth. The picture of vines, branches, and gardening was a reference the commoner could understand. The whole thrust of John 15 is to prove Jesus is the source of all spiritual life. This is clear since the punch line is that bearing fruit comes only from staying in Jesus. Just as a branch separated from the vine will wither and die, so will people who are separated from Christ. In this context of fruitfulness, separation from the vine or Christ, as well as withering or death does not refer to being without God and unsaved, but to having certain parts of the whole body of truth, which is fully revealed in Scripture, “turned off” in our lives about what Christ has accomplished for us, what we have a right to, who we really are in Christ, and what our lives should look like. And this may be due to lack of knowledge, revelation and understanding because of wrong teachings or due to failure to keep the faith fresh and strong always in the areas where we have been enlightened. The Bible says in John 8:32 that we will know the truth and the truth will make us free. There is a truth about sanctification, about healing, about blessing, about walking by the Holy Spirit, etc. We can sanctify ourselves either through faith in the grace provided by Christ or through our own efforts. We can live either in healing and physical health through faith in what Jesus won on the cross or in fear and suffering. We can have a life that is prosperous and blessed by faith, or one dominated by poverty and want, or one in which we try to prosper only by our own efforts. We can make any life decision by letting ourselves be guided by the Holy Spirit or relying only on our human wisdom. In any area of ​​life where we do not live by faith in the spiritual truth about us, there comes separation from the vine and partial fruit bearing or temporary cessation of fruiting, but not irreversible separation from God. Perhaps the summary statement of Jesus’s teaching is Verse 5: “I am the vine; you are the branches. He who abides in Me, and I in him, bears much fruit; for without Me you can do nothing.”

A parable is not meant for every single detail to correspond to some sort of spiritual reality. It’s rather meant to make a single, central point. The fact that the branches were already “in” Jesus to begin with is not the main point, so it’s not good to build a doctrine based on a secondary point or a limited metaphor.

Third, the branches didn’t require attachment first. If one was to take the phrase “in Me” literally to refer to someone who is already saved, it creates another problem with the metaphor: how did the branches get attached to Jesus in the first place? If the branches represent people and attachment to the vine symbolizes salvation, then the branches should first be separated from the vine at the beginning of the metaphor since everyone is born apart from Christ and needs to put their faith in Him before salvation.

Let me give you an example to clarify. Imagine Bill is twenty-five years old when he believes in Jesus as His Savior. Using Jesus’s imagery, Bill was a dead and shriveled branch for twenty-five years before connecting with the vine. Yet Jesus’s parable completely glosses over any branches needing to be attached to begin with. If we consider the removal of fruitless branches a loss of salvation, then we must also notice that every branch started already attached to Jesus. This means everyone is already saved unless they depart from Jesus

OBJECTIONS AGAINST ETERNAL SALVATION (PART V)
Matthew 25:1–13 (The Ten Virgins)

Matthew 25:1–13 (NKJV) 1 Then the Kingdom of Heaven shall be likened to ten virgins who took their lamps and went out to meet the bridegroom. 2 Now five of them were wise, and five were foolish. 3 Those who were foolish took their lamps and took no oil with them, 4 but the wise took oil in their vessels with their lamps. 5 But while the bridegroom was delayed, they all slumbered and slept. 6 And at midnight a cry was heard: “Behold, the bridegroom is coming; go out to meet him!” 7 Then all those virgins arose and trimmed their lamps. 8 And the foolish said to the wise, “Give us some of your oil, for our lamps are going out.” 9 But the wise answered, saying, “No, lest there should not be enough for us and you; but go rather to those who sell, and buy for yourselves.” 10 And while they went to buy, the bridegroom came, and those who were ready went in with him to the wedding, and the door was shut. 11 Afterward the other virgins came also saying, “Lord, Lord, open to us!” 12 But he answered and said, “Assuredly, I say to you, I don’t know you.” 13 Watch therefore, for you know neither the day nor the hour in which the Son of Man is coming.

The most common interpretation of this parable is that those ten virgins represent born-again believers belonging to the Kingdom of God who were all saved at one time. Then some of them lost their salvation due to their lack of watchfulness in morality and good works.

Let’s analyze first what we know for sure about this parable. First, the parable is about the Kingdom of Heaven, about a bridegroom who is king Jesus, and about ten virgins who represent the visible church of Christ. Second, the action in this parable occurs between the first and second coming of Jesus. Third, the harshness of the bridegroom’s answer in Verse 12—“I don’t know you” or “I never knew you”—makes very clear this parable is about an eternal matter of life and death, respectively the matter of eternal salvation into the Kingdom of God or of eternal damnation. Fourth, it’s also obvious that when the bridegroom came, alluding to the second coming of Jesus, some of those virgins, representing some Christians, participated in the wedding of the Lamb. That means they entered heaven while the rest were rejected and went to hell. Only three things are left to elucidate: (1) First, what do the oil in the lamps and the extra oil in the jars represent? (2) Second, were the people rejected genuinely born again in the first place or not? (3) Third, what does watchfulness mean?

The oil in the Old Testament was used to anoint kings and priests. It was a picture of anointing to work for God:

1 Samuel 16:13 (NKJV) 13 Then Samuel took the horn of oil and anointed him (David) in the midst of his brothers; and the Spirit of the Lord came upon David from that day forward. So, Samuel arose and went to Ramah.

In the New Testament, believers are anointed with the Holy Spirit, as we see in these passages:

Acts 10:38 (NKJV) 38 how God anointed Jesus of Nazareth with the Holy Spirit and with power, who went about doing good and healing all who were oppressed by the Devil, for God was with Him. 2 Corinthians 1:21 (NKJV) 21 Now He who establishes us with you in Christ and has anointed us is God. 1 John 2:20 (NKJV) 20 But you have an anointing from the Holy One, and you know all things. 1 John 2:27 (NKJV) 27 But the anointing which you have received from Him abides in you, and you don’t need that anyone teach you; but as the same anointing teaches you concerning all things, and is true, and is not a lie, and just as it has taught you, you will abide in Him.

Jesus was anointed with the Holy Spirit, and believers are also anointed with the Holy Spirit at the time of salvation. 1 John 2:27 says the anointing the believers received from Him abides in them and teaches them all things. According to John 14:16, 14:26, and 16:13, the Holy Spirit is the Helper given to believers to be with them forever, teach them all things, and lead them into all truth. So, the oil in the parable of the virgins is a picture of the Holy Spirit. The light of the lamps represents good works, morality, fruits of the Spirit, or different divine acts of the Spirit like healing the sick, casting out demons and raising the dead.

Now, what is the difference between the oil already in the lamps and the oil in the extra jars? On one hand, based on John 14:16 and 1 John 2:27, we know once the Holy Spirit comes into believers, He abides in them forever. He no longer comes and leaves like He used to do in the Old Testament with the people of God. Moreover, Ephesians 1:13–14 strengthens this eternal presence of the Holy Spirit in believers by asserting that He is a seal of salvation, a guarantee of believers’ inheritance until they acquire full possession of it:

Ephesians 1:13–14 (NKJV) 13 In Him you also trusted, after you heard the word of truth, the Gospel of your salvation; in whom also having believed, you were sealed with the Holy Spirit of promise, 14 who is the guarantee of our inheritance until the redemption of the purchased possession, to the praise of His glory.

The Greek word translated as “guarantee” in this passage (gr. arrabon) is a legal and commercial term that means first installment, deposit, down payment, or pledge. It represents a payment that obligates the contracting party to make further payments. When God gave believers the Holy Spirit, He committed Himself to give them all the consequent blessings of eternal life, as well as a great reward in heaven with Him. So, the five virgins for whom lamps ceased to burn cannot represent genuinely born-again believers who once had the Holy Spirit in them as a seal and then lost Him.

On the other hand, a closer look into Scripture, in both the Old and New Testaments, will reveal that the Holy Spirit can come over people just for a while, for them to fulfill some divine tasks or even to do good works. However, it is not necessary for the Holy Spirit to remain inside them in a saving way. In other words, the Holy Spirit comes upon them, but not in them. A few examples from the Old Testament include Samson, who received the spirit and anointing of might, King Saul, who received the spirit of prophecy, Joshua, and King Solomon, who both received the spirit of wisdom in different measures. All those people “burned” for a while by the anointing of the Holy Spirit without being saved during their lifetime because Jesus had not come yet. At that moment in history, they belonged to the kingdom of darkness.

Coming into the New Testament, in the age before the death of Jesus, Judas Iscariot, the disciple who betrayed Jesus, healed people, and cast out demons through the Holy Spirit, together with the other disciples, but he was called the son of perdition in John 17:12, and ended his life without being saved. Furthermore, as we have seen earlier in Hebrews 6:4–6, there can be people represented by the rocky ground from the parable of the Sower who are enlightened with the Gospel, who taste the heavenly gift, who become partakers of the work of the Holy Spirit, and who taste the good Word of God, but have no root in themselves. These people continue to rely on their good works, morality, and self-righteousness for acceptance before God. Moreover, Matthew 7:21–23 seems to imply somehow that there can be people who prophesy, who cast out demons, and who do mighty works in Jesus’s name, but still are not recognized by Jesus in the end. The way Jesus didn’t recognize the foolish virgins is not different:

Matthew 7:21–23 (NKJV) 21 Not everyone who says to Me, “Lord, Lord,” shall enter the Kingdom of Heaven, but he who does the will of My Father in heaven. 22 Many will say to Me in that day, “Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in Your name, cast out demons in Your name, and done many wonders in Your name?” 23 And then I will declare to them , “I never knew you; depart from Me, you who practice lawlessness!”

1 John 2:19 advocates as well that those who apparently departed from faith were not really in it, for if they had been, they would have continued until the end. But they “went out,” and so it became clear they had not been in faith:

1 John 2:19 (NKJV) 19 They went out from us, but they were not of us; for if they had been of us, they would have continued with us; but they went out that they might be made manifest, that none of them were of us.

Now putting all these facts together, who are these people who are not genuinely born again but have a very strong appearance of being saved by their external deeds? Their works even consist of miracles of healing and acts of deliverance. They can be included in three categories. The first one is people who are sincerely excited about Christ, who stay for a while in the church and try to model their lives after biblical principles, but never tak

1 Timothy 4:1–5 (Departing from the Faith)

1 Timothy 4:1–5 (NKJV) 1 Now the Spirit expressly says that in latter times some will depart from the faith, giving heed to deceiving spirits and doctrines of demons, 2 speaking lies in hypocrisy, having their own conscience seared with a hot iron, 3 forbidding to marry, and commanding to abstain from foods which God created to be received with thanksgiving by those who believe and know the truth. 4 For every creature of God is good, and nothing is to be refused if it’s received with thanksgiving; 5 for it’s sanctified by the word of God and prayer.

The first two verses of the above text state that in the last times some people will depart from the faith by giving heed to deceiving spirits and doctrines of demons, not realizing it of course, and out of hypocrisy they will speak lies, their conscience being marked with a hot iron. Many Christians believe that the apostasy in these verses refers to the loss of eternal salvation, because they interpret deceiving spirits and the teachings of demons as immoral sins that will eventually cause some genuine Christians to lose their salvation. However, I invite you to take things one at a time and see first what these wrong teachings consist of and then who are those “some” who will fall away from the faith, what kind of faith they are referring to, and what this distancing means.

Verses 3 and 4 describe some of the things and doctrines these people promote, namely: the prohibition of marriage and abstinence from certain foods. The things related here are not immoral sins and carnal pleasures in which people usually like to indulge in, but rather “other apparently good ways” and ascetic ways of attaining righteousness. They are teachings and doctrines, but not sins.

These teachings are clothed in an appearance of holiness which makes them very subtle and deceptive. Judging by their nature, it seems that those who propagated them were trying to be holy by works instead of faith. They believed that holiness came from strict adherence to a set of rules. These doctrines seem to resemble very much the Law of Moses and to be Jewish in nature. Who can these people be? Since the passage speaks of a falling away from faith it means that those people had contact at some point with the pure teaching of salvation by faith alone in Christ. They were either so convinced that they were also born again, or they only joined the church for a while, but they could not fully renounce the Law of Moses and were never born again. Paul calls them hypocrites and liars because they preached one thing to others, but they did the exact opposite in their private lives, and their consciences became numb because of their constant living in that lifestyle. They no longer saw the seriousness of the contradiction in their lives from the desire to appear before men as religious and holy. Just as the area where an animal is marked with a hot iron becomes numb and insensitive to pain, so the conscience of these people had become desensitized. Because of this, the apostle Paul describes their conscience as being marked with a hot iron.

It is very possible that those “some” influenced by the teachings of the Jews were even leaders (pastors and teachers) of the church of Christ in Ephesus, since the heresies had to do with doctrines that are usually preached from the front. Moreover, in 1 Timothy 1:7, they are described as wanting to be teachers of the Law. If they were born again, they probably loved God, were eternally saved by grace, but from time to time were “bitten” by the self-righteousness propagated by the followers of the Law of Moses, and focused mainly on their good works in order to please God here on earth, and this was because of a lack of understanding and revelation. They were not yet fully established in Christ and believing the truth in all areas. This does not mean that they had lost their eternal salvation, but that in their daily lives, they relied more on their self-righteousness to attract God’s favor, instead of applying the same simple faith that they had at the moment of salvation. Therefore, their departure from the faith was not an irreversible fall from the faith, but a temporary distancing or limited to only some aspects of their faith life. The same is happening today with many genuine Christians in the body of Christ who slip from time to time into self-righteousness or do not have full faith in the truth in all areas of their lives. Paul did not have in mind here the loss of eternal salvation. Lots of born-again Christians who are still legalistic and self-righteous will still go to heaven because they put their faith in Jesus for forgiveness of sins and eternal salvation.

From this passage we can also draw some general principles of faith. For example, the devil’s lie will always result in a works-based salvation. This is appealing because a religion oriented toward good works seems impressive, holy, and righteous for others. We can examine religion by religion and we will see that they are all based on what you do or don’t do. It is believed that thus God is tempered in His demands, or, in other words, good human works temper Him, they appease God. However, all these teachings are satanic and demonically fueled. True Christianity is not based at all on human works, but only on the grace of God. False religions teach that we must work for salvation, but true Christianity teaches that God has done everything in Christ. This is one way to identify falsehoods in teachings. Satan’s lies always refer to the same thing: spirituality achieved through human effort and not based on Christ alone.

Revelation 3:1–5 (The Book of Life)

Revelation 3:1–5 (NKJV) 1 And to the angel of the church in Sardis write, “These things says He who has the seven Spirits of God and the seven stars: ‘I know your works, that you have a name that you are alive, but you are dead. 2 Be watchful, and strengthen the things which remain, that are ready to die, for I haven’t found your works perfect before God. 3 Remember therefore how you have received and heard; hold fast and repent. Therefore, if you will not watch, I will come upon you as a thief, and you will not know what hour I will come upon you. 4 You have a few names even in Sardis who haven’t defiled their garments; and they shall walk with Me in white, for they are worthy. 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.’”

These verses seem to focus on good works, on the idea of being watchful, not defiling our garments, and overcoming. Verse 5 specifically says that only those who overcome will be clothed in white, their names will not be blotted out of the Book of Life or the book of the saved, and Jesus will confess their names before His Father and before His angels. One of the most common interpretations of this verse in the Christian world is that some born-again people will not be watchful enough, will not overcome, and eventually their names will be blotted out of the Book of Life, even though they were once truly saved. At first glance, this seems a plausible conclusion. But let’s take a closer look at each verse.

These words were addressed to the pastor of the church of Sardis, who represented, in fact, the whole church from that city. It consisted of two kinds of people: (1) genuinely saved, (2) and those who called themselves Christians and did all kinds of good, moral works, but they didn’t have a relationship with Jesus Christ and had never been born again spiritually.

In Verse 1, Jesus told this church in Sardis it had some works and a reputation for being alive, but it was dead. What is a dead church? It is a Christian community where most people (but not all) present themselves as good Christians, but in reality, have a dead faith. The church in Sardis consisted mainly of such people. They were doing a lot of good works and activities for their community, and probably that is why the church of Sardis had such a good reputation, but all those things they were doing were dead works because they were not coming from faith in Christ and were just some good works. Verse 2 mentions their works were not perfect (or completed in the NASB translation) before God, strengthening the idea that these people were not born again. Galatians 5:6 says the only thing that counts in Christ is faith working through love. For any work to be alive, it must be worked out from a faith-based relationship in Christ through love. Moreover, Colossians 2:9 says whoever is in Christ is complete in Him already. Only someone in Christ is complete and perfect and, so, can perform perfect works before God.

There might have been a time when the church of Sardis was fully alive, meaning most of the people in it were born again and effective in the Kingdom. However, in time, through teaching that was maybe too inclusive and too negatively influenced by the society’s culture, the church became dead. That doesn’t mean people who were born again lost their salvation, but it means the church as a whole became dead in the sense that some believers left from there, new people were added, and in time, the spiritually dead outnumbered the spiritually alive. Verse 4 highlights that even in that dead church of Sardis, a few people still didn’t comprom

OBJECTIONS AGAINST ETERNAL SALVATION (PART III)
Galatians 5:19–21 (The Practice of Fleshly Works)

Galatians 5:19–21 (NKJV) 19 Now the works of the flesh are evident, which are: adultery, fornication, uncleanness, lewdness, 20 idolatry, sorcery, hatred, contentions, jealousies, outbursts of wrath, selfish ambitions, dissensions, heresies, 21 envy, murders, drunkenness, revelries, and the like; of which I tell you beforehand, just as I also told you in time past, that those who practice such things will not inherit the Kingdom of God.

Some preachers use this passage to threaten Christians that, if they habitually practice the works of the flesh described in the text, they can lose their salvation at any time without knowing. First, as we demonstrated in the previous section, inheriting the Kingdom is tantamount to being saved. Second, Paul doesn’t say that those people who practice fleshly works will be disinherited from a state of heirs, but that they will not inherit anything in the first place. Third, he doesn’t specify a clear timeline or a number of times after which those who practice the works of the flesh will lose their salvation.

Fourth, if we look carefully at the context (a few verses before and a few verses after our passage), we can quickly discover that the apostle Paul is portraying a stark contrast between the flesh and the Spirit and between the works of the flesh and the fruits of the Spirit: “I say then: Walk in the Spirit, and you shall not fulfill the lust of the flesh. For the flesh lusts against the Spirit, and the Spirit against the flesh; and these are contrary to one another, so that you do not do the things that you wish” (Galatians 5:16–17). He merely puts them side by side for comparison and godly instruction to believers. After enumerating all the works of the flesh, he begins Verse 22 with the preposition “BUT,” which commences the enumeration of the fruits of the Spirit. He concludes in Verse 24 that those who are Christ’s (who are different from those who practice the works of the flesh and will not inherit the Kingdom) have already crucified their flesh with its passions and desires. So, he encourages believers to live according to the truth about their already changed nature. In fact, in Verse 25, he says this: if you are in the Spirit, live in Him, and belong to God, then also walk, and behave in the Spirit or according to Him. The theme is clearly the renewal of the minds of believers in Christ and not their loss of salvation.

Ephesians 5:5–6 (The Sons of Disobedience Part 1)

Ephesians 5:5–6 (NKJV) 5 For this you know, that no fornicator, unclean person, nor covetous man, who is an idolater , has any inheritance in the Kingdom of Christ and God. 6 Let no one deceive you with empty words, for because of these things the wrath of God comes upon the sons of disobedience.

This text, which is often used as an objection to eternal salvation, is very similar to two other scriptures from previous sections with a new addition: “the wrath of God comes upon the sons of disobedience.” The implication is that believers in Christ, who are sons of God and disobey Him by doing any of the shameful things enumerated, will come under the wrath of God after a certain point. However, what kind of disobedience is Paul talking about here? It’s disobedience of faith, not disobedience to the Law. He also says in Romans 1:5 that through Jesus, we received the grace and apostleship to bring about “the obedience of faith” among all nations. Sons of obedience are those who put their faith in Christ while the sons of disobedience are those without Christ.

Again, here the main argument to this objection is that the apostle Paul describes the behavior of those who will never inherit the Kingdom of God and are under His wrath with the purpose of teaching believers how not to live. He begins in Ephesians 4:17 by saying, “you should no longer walk as the rest of the Gentiles walk,” and he continues with this contrast throughout Chapters 4 and 5. In Ephesians 5:1, Paul encourages believers in the church of Ephesus to become imitators of God, as beloved children, and in Verse 7 of the same chapter, he instructs them not to be partakers with the sons of disobedience. In Verse 8, Paul clarifies even more that they were once darkness, but now they are light in the Lord, so they should walk according to that light from inside of them. So, they are not those who will be disinherited if they persist long enough in sinful behaviors. The phrase “wrath of God” is meant to emphasize the gravity of sin. Although Jesus Christ has removed all sin and condemnation at the time of salvation, that doesn’t mean God became softer on sin and we can be relaxed about it. We should strive to differentiate ourselves from darkness and live according to the Kingdom standards we inherited.

Colossians 3:5–11 (The Sons of Disobedience Part 2)

Colossians 3:5–11 (NKJV) 5 Therefore put to death your members which are on the earth: fornication, uncleanness, passion, evil desire, and covetousness, which is idolatry. 6 Because of these things the wrath of God is coming upon the sons of disobedience, 7 in which you yourselves once walked when you lived in them. 8 But now you yourselves are to put off all these: anger, wrath, malice, blasphemy, filthy language out of your mouth. 9 Do not lie to one another, since you have put off the old man with his deeds, 10 and have put on the new man who is renewed in knowledge according to the image of Him who created him, 11 where there is neither Greek nor Jew, circumcised nor uncircumcised, barbarian, Scythian, slave nor free, but Christ is all and in all.

This passage is identical to Ephesians 5:5–6, which we already explained. Still, I wanted to include it separately for repetition and to cover all possible objections people might bring to the eternal salvation of the new creation. Based on the context of the passage, we can quickly notice again the contrast Paul clearly makes between the unsaved (the sons of disobedience) and the saved who might still do sinful things. That is precisely the reason for such a comparison because Christians usually still do sinful things in the process of mind renewal and sanctification. Verse 5 begins with the preposition “therefore,” which introduces the result of what has already happened. Because you died with Christ (Colossians 3:3) and were raised with Christ (Colossians 3:1), therefore put to death the earthly things like fornication, uncleanness, evil desires, etc. Verse 7 continues in the past tense: “in which you yourselves once walked when you lived in them.” Finally, Verse 8 says, BUT NOW, put aside all these things: anger, wrath, malice, etc.

So, Paul doesn’t say the Christians in the church of Colossae might become sons of disobedience through their sinful deeds and come under wrath, but that they should change their way of life now that they have inherited the Kingdom of God and are no longer under His wrath.

Revelation 21:8 (The Punishment of the Second Death)

Revelation 21:8 (NKJV) 8 But the cowardly, unbelieving, abominable, murderers, sexually immoral, sorcerers, idolaters, and all liars shall have their part in the lake which burns with fire and brimstone, which is the second death.

Some Christians in the body of Christ use this verse to advocate that believers who don’t live a holy enough life according to decent moral standards might end up in the lake of fire that is the second death. If you want to believe this interpretation, no one can stop you. However, if we are really interested in knowing the intention and truth of the verse in the context of the whole scripture, we can see it clearly. First, notice the apostle John doesn’t say those in Christ who behave cowardly, unbelievingly, abominably, or murderously will suffer the second death. Instead, he names them according to their nature and identity, which is not in Christ. Moreover, he begins Verse 8 with the preposition “but,” clearly demarcating those who conquer and who will inherit the things of God in Verse 7 from the liars and the sexually immoral people who will go to the lake of fire. Furthermore, as I previously mentioned, the Bible never identifies the righteous people of God with those sinful designations described in Revelation 21:8.

Matthew 24:3–14 (Many Will Fall Away)

Matthew 24:3–14 (NASB95) 3 As He was sitting on the Mount of Olives, the disciples came to Him privately, saying, “Tell us, when will these things happen, and what will be the sign of Your coming, and of the end of the age?” 4 And Jesus answered and said to them, “See to it that no one misleads you. 5 For many will come in My name, saying, ‘I am the Christ,’ and will mislead many. 6 You will be hearing of wars and rumors of wars. See that you are not frightened, for those things must take place, but that is not yet the end. 7 For nation will rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom, and in various places there will be famines and earthquakes. 8 But all these things are merely the beginning of birth pangs. 9 Then they will deliver you to tribulation, and will kill you, and you will be hated by all nations because of My n

OBJECTION AGAINST ETERNAL SALVATION (PART II)

Hebrews 3:12–14 (Falling Away from God)

Hebrews 3:12–14 (NASB95)
12 Take care, brethren, that there not be in any one of you an evil, unbelieving heart that falls away from the living God.
13 But encourage one another day after day, as long as it’s still called “Today,” so that none of you will be hardened by the deceitfulness of sin.
14 For we have become partakers of Christ, if we hold fast the beginning of our assurance firm until the end.

Some Christians interpret “falls away from the living God” in this passage as the loss of salvation. However, here we have the same explanation as before. Falling away from God or departing from the living God means beginning to profess faith in Christ but still leaning back to the old system of the Law that God has abolished and not believing fully in Christ (i.e., having an evil heart of unbelief). The “deceitfulness of sin” referred to here is the deceit of the sin of unbelief in Christ. That is the context. The following verse talks about holding fast the beginning of our assurance in Christ and not sliding back into unbelief. Also notice that in Verse 14, holding fast to the beginning of your assurance, firm until the end, is not a condition to remain in a relationship with Christ, but a result of having already become a partaker of Him. The verse doesn’t say you remain this way as long as you hold fast, but it says you know those who really have become partakers of Christ (past tense) by seeing them hold firm to their conviction of salvation until the end. The same idea is expressed in Hebrews 3:5–6:

Hebrews 3:5–6 (NKJV)
5 And Moses indeed was faithful in all His house as a servant, for a testimony of those things which would be spoken afterward,
6 but Christ as a Son over His own house, whose house we are if we hold fast the confidence and the rejoicing of the hope firm to the end.

Some preachers render from this passage that believers remain the house of God as long as they hold fast and firm to the end the confidence and the rejoicing in hope. However, the verse doesn’t say that. It instead says believers already are the house of God, and the proof lies in the fact that they will hold fast the confidence to the end as a result of their faith. In other words, you know your house is connected to the electric grid if the lights stay on. You don’t keep the lights on to make sure you remain connected to the power grid.

Hebrews 12:14 (The Pursuit of Sanctification)

Hebrews 12:11–17 (NASB95)
11 All discipline for the moment seems not to be joyful, but sorrowful; yet to those who have been trained by it, afterwards it yields the peaceful fruit of righteousness.
12 Therefore, strengthen the hands that are weak and the knees that are feeble,
13 and make straight paths for your feet, so that the limb which is lame may not be put out of joint, but rather be healed.
14 Pursue peace with all men, and the sanctification without which no one will see the Lord.
15 See to it that no one comes short of the grace of God; that no root of bitterness springing up causes trouble, and by it many be defiled;
16 that there be no immoral or godless person like Esau, who sold his own birthright for a single meal.
17 For you know that even afterwards, when he desired to inherit the blessing, he was rejected, for he found no place for repentance, though he sought for it with tears.

Many Christians take Hebrews 12:14 out of context and conclude that genuine born-again believers need to pursue practical sanctification (i.e., performing good works and omitting evil deeds) while they live on earth, to maintain their salvation. Otherwise, they will not get to see the Lord, meaning they can lose their salvation any moment. I admit this is a difficult verse to interpret in the right way by itself or isolated from its context, and I will explain why is so.

The sanctification referred to in Hebrews 12:14 can be only one of two types. The first type is behavioral and practical sanctification at the level of body and soul. This is progressive and consists of a process of transformation that begins after the new birth and can last a lifetime. The second type is the sanctification or righteousness given by Jesus at the time of being born again at the spirit level. This is no longer progressive but given once and for all. It is mentioned in 1 Corinthians 6:11 where Paul tells the Corinthians in the past tense that they were sanctified. As a general rule, there is much confusion in the Christian community about the work already finished in us and about what is still in the process of completion, precisely because the authors of the books of the Bible alternate the discourse of the body and soul with that of the spirit without announcing the audience. And then it falls on to us and to the Holy Spirit to make this distinction, which is not always simple. But if we have a sincere heart and desire to get to the root of pure truth, with the help of the Holy Spirit, we will succeed.

Let’s suppose Hebrews 12:14 refers to the progressive sanctification of behavior. Seeking such sanctification is a good and desirable thing and it is a process in which we must be constantly involved as Christians, because God is holy and we know that He very much wants us to be holy in our conduct as well, as the apostle Peter mentions in 1 Peter 1:15–16. The fact that the text exhorts us to pursue this sanctification may be an indication that here it is not about justification received only once at the time of salvation. And if the verse had stopped there, perhaps this would have been the best interpretation that would have instilled in us an even greater desire to sanctify ourselves. But when the verse ends with the fact that no one will see the Lord without this sanctification, there can no longer be a question of practical sanctification. Why? Because God is perfect and He only demands perfection, according to Matthew 5:48. He doesn’t accept half measures or progressive quests. Are we ever perfect, after salvation, in all our conduct? Of course not. This means that progressive sanctification, which is always imperfect, cannot be a factor in determining whether we see the face of God or not. In this situation, no one will even see His face. I can guarantee it. With God, it is not as if there is a threshold of holiness that only He knows in His mind and keeps it secret, which may be 60% or 90%, and if your effort exceeds that threshold, you will succeed in seeing His face, otherwise, you won’t. Unfortunately, from what I’ve seen so far, practically too many Christians believe this without, perhaps, even being aware of it. Generally, the conclusion the audience is left with, after a sermon on Hebrews 12:14, is that they must do their best to live as holy as possible to increase their chances of being above God’s secret threshold of sanctification and reaching to the end in a satisfying state. But besides the fact that God would not accept such deficient sanctification as a condition of seeing His face, if the maintenance of salvation depends on our good works, then it is no longer by grace and faith alone, which contradicts other powerful scriptures about salvation. Moreover, the threat of not seeing the Lord if we do not do well enough would bring fear to the forefront as the primary motivator for holiness rather than God’s unconditional love.

That is why we need to take a closer look both at the immediate context of this passage and the larger context of the whole book of Hebrews. As I mentioned before, the book of Hebrews is written mainly to Hebrew Christians—both genuine and just professing—who were suffering and struggling because of their identification with Jesus Christ and the new way of justification by faith alone. These Christians committed to following Christ, but what that looked like for them was not a glorious road or a journey through Disneyland. Their identification with Jesus has brought them more pain and persecution than they previously had experienced. Up to Chapter 10, the author of Hebrews explains to these people in detail what Jesus did on the cross, the implications of that act, and His superiority to the Law of Moses. Then in Chapter 11, the author enumerates a list of people from the Old Testament who had to fight for their faith in God and endure persecution. In Chapter 12, the author shifts gears from teaching mode and begins to encourage these believers to stay strong through persecution and to fight for faith, as their predecessors did, because that suffering works as their training in righteousness. The discipline described in Chapter 12 is not one in the sense of God’s punishment toward His children, but a discipline in terms of training like military training. Military preparation and instruction is difficult and painful but necessary for success in battle. When someone works out at the gym, the exercises may not be comfortable or easy, but they build the muscles and help make the person fit. Similarly, persecution and suffering for the sake of the faith yield the fruit of righteousness (Hebrews 12:11).

Many of these Christians were weary and tired, spiritually exhausted, and the writer tries to encourage them in Verse 12 by saying, “therefore, strengthen the hands that are weak and the knees that are feeble.” This phrase is quoted from Isaiah 35:3. In Isaiah 34, God announces the righteous judgment and vengeance agai

Objections against Eternal Salvation

Principles of Interpretation

Whenever we approach a biblical passage that apparently contradicts believers’ eternal security of salvation, we can utilize several principles or tools to help us understand the correct and intended meaning of that text. First, we need to look at the historical and cultural context of the book to which the passage belongs and search for answers to questions like the following: Who is the author of the book? In what period was the book written? What is the theme of the book? To whom was it addressed? What issues of the day was the author trying to address? What was the author’s tone and the atmosphere created by him? When doing this research, we might find important clues about the interpretation of our initial text. Second, we need to read the passage in its immediate context, meaning a few verses before it and a few verses after it, to see what the author was really talking about. Third, it is recommended to read the same passage in multiple translations of the Bible and in different languages, if it’s possible, like English and Greek. Some languages are much richer in words and meanings than others. The Greek language is one of the most comprehensive and richest on earth. That is probably why God ordained things so that the New Testament was written during a period when Greek was prevalent. For instance, the Greek language has six different words for “love,” three different words for “knowledge,” and three different words for “wisdom.” Moreover, the word “salvation” comes from the Greek word soteria, translated as restoration to a state of safety, soundness, health, and well-being as well as rescue, deliverance, and preservation from danger or destruction. However, as Christians, when we read the word “salvation” in the Bible in our native language, we think it refers only to salvation from hell and from the lake of fire. If we read these difficult passages in only one translation of the Bible and in only our native language, we can miss much of the text’s initial intended meaning.

The fourth key to an authentic interpretation of complex texts on the security of salvation is to understand that salvation is a holistic and complete package, including salvation from hell, as well as physical health, material prosperity, and deliverance from sinful habits and addictions here on earth. Along the same lines, the fifth principle is that salvation includes our spirit, as well as our soul, and body. The salvation of the spirit is instant and eternal, while the salvation of the soul and body is progressive and happening here on earth. Sometimes, even as Christians, we might forfeit our lives here on earth earlier than God had planned and not reap the full benefits of the Gospel, primarily because of a lack of knowledge and understanding. We might even have periods of backsliding or apostasy. However, that does not mean we also forfeit our eternal salvation.

The sixth principle of interpretation is that salvation includes two parts: a minor part and a significant part. The secondary part has to do with atonement for our past sins, which grants us eternal entrance into the Kingdom and escape from hell, while the significant part has to do with the New Covenant of blessings, holiness, peace, joy, health, and prosperity here on earth. The salvation Jesus Christ brought was not a salvation from hell primarily, but a salvation from sin and all the effects that entered the world with it. Salvation from hell is a by-product of salvation from sin. For example, let’s look at the journey of the people of Israel from Egypt to the promised land. Their coming out of Egypt and crossing the Red Sea is a symbol of our escape from sin and hell, of being born again and baptized in water. However, we all know that was not God’s primary purpose—just to get them out of slavery, help them cross the Red Sea, and then let them live on their own in the desert.

Deuteronomy 6:22–23 says God brought them OUT of Egypt to take them INTO the promised land of Canaan. Getting them out of Egypt was only a secondary and necessary step for God to take them into the promised land. Many Christians think the promised land for us believers is heaven after physical death, but that is not so. Why? Because in heaven there will no longer be giants with whom to fight the fight of faith, like the giants the Israelites fought in Canaan. The giants of disease, poverty, curse, demonic influences, sinful habits, and addictions are here on earth, not in heaven. Canaan is the supernatural manifestation of the freedom of the New Covenant here on earth. Unfortunately, many believers think only of getting into heaven and escaping hell, and these are already granted to them anyway. They die in the “wilderness” without ever getting to live in the Canaan of the Gospel here on earth. We are called to heal the sick, cast out evil spirits, and raise the dead (Matthew 10:8). How many of these benefits of the Gospel happen regularly in Christian churches? They are almost nonexistent. However, we worry about hell! Why do so many believers still indulge in the world’s sinful pleasures? Because, like the people of Israel in the desert, if they haven’t tasted Canaan yet, they will always think back to Egypt’s “meat and garlic” when they were in bondage. Many Christians received Jesus just to have their sins blotted out. They crossed the Red Sea spiritually and then stopped there, waiting to die physically and go to heaven. And that’s why they tend to desire “Egypt” so much. Moreover, the people of Israel who died in the desert and never reached Canaan because of their unbelief were punished by God in different ways—primarily by physical death—but He never sent them back to Egypt.

The seventh and last principle that will help us interpret difficult passages is that “contending for the faith,” “continuing in faith,” “watching in faith,” or “doing good works” are all effects of genuine salvation and not conditions of maintaining salvation. Otherwise, salvation would not be by faith alone anymore, and we would have works to boast of before God.

Hebrews 6:4–6 (Renewal Impossibility)

Hebrews 6:1–9 (NKJV)
1 Therefore, leaving the discussion of the elementary principles of Christ, let’s go on to perfection, not laying again the foundation of repentance from dead works and of faith toward God,
2 of the doctrine of baptisms, of laying on of hands, of resurrection of the dead, and of eternal judgment.
3 And this we will do if God permits.
4 For it’s impossible for those who were once enlightened , and have tasted the heavenly gift, and have become partakers of the Holy Spirit,
5 and have tasted the good Word of God and the powers of the age to come,
6 if they fall away, to renew them again to repentance, since they crucify again for themselves the Son of God, and put Him to an open shame.
7 For the earth which drinks in the rain that often comes upon it, and bears herbs useful for those by whom it’s cultivated, receives blessing from God;
8 but if it bears thorns and briers, it’s rejected and near to being cursed, whose end is to be burned.
9 But, beloved, we are confident of better things concerning you, yes, things that accompany salvation, though we speak in this manner.

Many people have taught others (and some still teach today) that this passage clearly shows Christians can lose their salvation. And, in normal reading, it does seem this interpretation is correct. But, as is the case with many scriptures, we should be aware of the “heresy of the first glance.” First, let’s take a look at the historical context and the target audience of the Book of Hebrews. From a historical standpoint, the early church was generally made up of Jewish believers. Some of these people were genuinely born again and fully convinced of Christ and of the new way of salvation. However, others just got excited about Jesus Christ and, at the thought of Him being the expected Messiah, they gladly joined the church. But they had come out of centuries of their families being steeped in the Jewish traditions of going to the Temple to get their sins covered again and again on the holy day of atonement and offering other ongoing animal sacrifices. That sacrificial system had ceased for the most part after the destruction of the Temple in AD 70. After the Temple was set on fire, Roman soldiers tore it down, stone by stone, to get melted gold that had run down through the cracks. Probably, even after this time, there were still pockets of Jews performing animal sacrifices. However, without the Temple and the prescribed method for sacrifices, the days of animal sacrifices have ceased.

Before the destruction of the Temple, at the time the book of Hebrews was written, Jews had had a mindset of rules, laws, and repeated sacrifices, built into them over hundreds of years. Salvation by grace through faith in Christ was a radical shift from the Law of Moses, and because of that, many Jewish believers were having doubts about Christ and were struggling in their conviction of Him. They admired Jesus Christ, and they liked the new way, but they were not fully convinced in their hearts to give up on the Law of Moses and leave it entirely behind. For them, it was a little bit like moving from Greek Orthodoxy, Catholicism, or Islam (all based mainly on good works, worship of idols, and traditions) to simple faith in Jesus Christ. It was difficult for them to leave behind the works mentality. Besides th

Proofs of the Eternal Salvation

Perfect World versus Fallen World

Let’s see another proof of the security of salvation. Lucifer himself and the first Adam fell away into sin in a perfect world and from a position of perfect holiness. Even more so, in a world full of evil, temptations, and of all the appetites and bad habits working against you as a believer, the probability of you falling from salvation is a million to one unless God keeps you and maintains your salvation intact by the power of the Holy Spirit. Apostle Paul says in 1 Corinthians 1:7–9 that not ourselves, but our Lord Jesus Christ is the One who will sustain us guiltless to the end because God is faithful:

1 Corinthians 1:7–9 (ESV)
7 so that you are not lacking in any gift, as you wait for the revealing of our Lord Jesus Christ,
8 Who will sustain you to the end, guiltless in the day of our Lord Jesus Christ.
9 God is faithful, by whom you were called into the fellowship of his Son, Jesus Christ our Lord.

Then, Jude says those who are called are sanctified by God the Father and preserved by Him in Jesus Christ:

Jude 1:1 (NKJV)
1 Jude, a bondservant of Jesus Christ, and brother of James, to those who are called, sanctified by God the Father, and preserved in Jesus Christ…

1 Thessalonians 5:23–24 conveys the same idea that the God of peace will Himself sanctify us and preserve us blameless at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ because He who called us is faithful, and He is the One who will also do it:

1 Thessalonians 5:23–24 (NKJV)
23 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.

Finally, Jude says God is able to keep us from stumbling and present us faultless before the presence of His glory:

Jude 1:24 (NKJV)
24 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,…

The Everlasting Covenant

Let’s read a compelling passage from Jeremiah 32:37–40 about the New Covenant and its effects on the believer:

Jeremiah 32:37–40 (NKJV)
37 Behold, I will gather them out of all countries where I have driven them in My anger, in My fury, and in great wrath; I will bring them back to this place, and I will cause them to dwell safely.
38 They shall be My people, and I will be their God;
39 then I will give them one heart and one way, that they may fear Me forever, for the good of them and their children after them.
40 And I will make an everlasting covenant with them, that I will not turn away from doing them good; but I will put My fear in their hearts so that they will not depart from Me.

In this passage, God speaks through the prophet Jeremiah to the people of Israel specifically, but about the New Covenant in Christ extended later to the Gentiles as well. In Verse 37, God tells the people of Israel something pertaining only to them as a nation, namely that one day He will gather them out of all countries and bring them back to Jerusalem. But then, from Verse 38 to Verse 40, God begins to tell them things about the New Covenant that apply to all believers in Christ today. How do we know that? First, God promises them they shall be His people. This is a recurring theme in both the Old and New Testaments. God has always been looking for a chosen race and a Kingdom of priests that will be His temple to dwell in. We see in Exodus 19:5–6 a promise to the people of Israel that if they obey the Law, they will be that people:

Exodus 19:5–6 (NKJV)
5 Now therefore, if you will indeed obey My voice and keep My covenant, then you shall be a special treasure to Me above all people; for all the earth is Mine.
6 And you shall be to Me a Kingdom of priests and a holy nation. These are the words which you shall speak to the children of Israel.

Then, in the New Testament, in 1 Peter 2:9, after the Crucifixion of Jesus, God tells all people who are in Christ (both Jews and Gentiles), in the present tense, that they are that chosen generation, His own special people, because Christ has fulfilled all the Law and conditions:

1 Peter 2:9 (NKJV)
9 But you are a chosen generation, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, His own special people, that you may proclaim the praises of Him who called you out of darkness into His marvelous light.

The second proof that the text from Jeremiah applies to the new creation is the promise of God that He will give this people one heart, a new heart, and one way, that they may fear Him forever. Who is the way, the only way to God? Jesus Christ. He says this in John 14:6:

John 14:6 (NKJV)
6 Jesus said to him, “ I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through Me.”

Now, after we have established that Jeremiah 32:38–40 applies to believers in Christ, let’s notice what God says about that New Covenant, respectively about salvation. First, in Verse 39, God says He will give them one heart and one way, that they may fear Him FOREVER. In other words, this new heart guarantees that they, by their own free choice, will fear God FOREVER, not just temporarily. Second, in Verse 40, God says He will make with these believers an EVERLASTING COVENANT. A covenant between two parties ends only when one of the parties dies. We know God never dies, but we also know believers can never die either since they have eternal life in their new spirits at the time of salvation. Moreover, an EVERLASTING covenant means that covenant will NEVER end, suggesting believers, even by their free choice, will never want to come out of that covenant. Third, in the second part of Verse 40, God reiterates that He will put His fear in their hearts so that they, even by their free choice, will not depart from Him.

Individual Deeds versus Inherited Nature

Before Christ came, why were people condemned to a future hell, after physical death? Was it because of their individual sinful deeds or on the account of Adam’s sin that was transmitted to them? It was because of Adam’s sin because, if Jesus had not come and died on the cross, the good people of the Old Testament like Abraham, Noah, Elijah, and all the others who have ever manifested faith in God and had good deeds, would have still been condemned to hell despite their good works. In the same way, believers in Christ are saved and remain as such based on the last Adam’s righteousness, which is Jesus’s righteousness, and not on account of their good works after salvation.

The Position of the New Creation

God would not have had any guarantee that His Son didn’t die in vain or that anyone would make it to the end if He didn’t sustain that salvation. Let’s try to answer these deeper questions: In what position are you before God today as a Christian? There are three possibilities. You are either in Adam’s position before the fall, in which you can forfeit salvation anytime, or you are in Jesus’s position before the cross, meaning that you have to earn and keep your salvation, or you are in Jesus’s position after resurrection, in which you can neither fall away back to death nor have to earn and keep your salvation. Of course, the third position is the true one, and that is the heart of the Gospel, the great news, the mystery God kept hidden for ages.

The Impossible Switch of Natures

Is it possible for a human being to switch natures at will? Even naturally speaking, human beings can never change their DNA or become sons and daughters of somebody else. It’s impossible! Why would that be possible in the spiritual sense, especially since this realm always governs the natural one, knowing that the things in the natural realm are an analogy of the spiritual things? How can it be possible to be an old creation today, a new creation tomorrow, and then, after a while, back to an old creation? Of course, it’s not possible.

The Impossible Separation from Love

Let’s see another biblical support for assurance of salvation in Romans 8:38–39.

Romans 8:38–39 (NKJV)
38 For I am persuaded that neither death nor life, nor angels nor principalities nor powers, nor things present nor things to come,
39 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.

This passage states in a very detailed manner that nothing and no one, nor any other created thing, can separate believers from the love of God. However, most Christians again add in their minds that “no one can separate them, BUT THEMSELVES.” Not true. The word says, “nor any other CREATED THING.” Are believers human beings created by God? Then they cannot sep

Introduction

Am I still saved? Was I ever saved in the first place? Have you ever had these kinds of questions come to your mind as a born-again believer? I know I had them eating away at me many times, although I thought I was a genuine believer in Christ, born again, baptized in water, and saved. Why? Because I was still sinning as a Christian and sometimes repeatedly in the same area. When that happened, I was feeling ashamed and sorry, and I was wondering: “Will I ever see any real progress in holiness in my Christian life so that I don’t have to worry or be afraid of losing my salvation? Will I ever overcome, completely and permanently, sinful behaviors that keep reoccurring again and again, although I have confessed them and decided to change so many times?” I didn’t know what to do because I wanted so much to be pleasing to the Lord, but I felt hopeless. My conscience kept weighing me down with condemnation for years until I began to fear the accumulation of these sins had undone or would undo my eternal salvation somewhere in the near future, although I confessed them and I was genuinely sorry. I used to ask myself: “How much will God bear with me until He gives up on me completely?” Whenever I boarded a plane, I would cry before God and make sure I confessed all my sins, so I would not be eternally lost if the plane crashed. With these questions constantly bothering me, I became disheartened in my Christian walk. Instead of rejoicing in my salvation, loving God more and more, and pursuing Him with an unburdened heart, I was always feeling unworthy, even when I may not have had a specific sin in mind. I was finding it difficult to pray or read the Bible at times. Even more problematic was the fact that I was regularly involved in public ministry in the church. I was leading worship every week, preaching the Word, and praying for people. Slowly, I lost all confidence in ministering to God and people. I became so self-focused I lost sight of Christ and all He has done for me. Despite my best efforts and good intentions, I kept sinning. My unresolved sins continued to pile up, burdening my conscience and making me feel spiritually hopeless and paralyzed. I began to think I could never live a holy life and I would always be in condemnation, guilt, and depression. Mind you, I wasn’t living in grave sins like adultery, drugs, drinking, smoking, stealing, or lying. I was a pastor’s kid, born and raised in a Christian family. But I still had some issues I had to deal with. One day after the church meeting, I seriously decided to give up on following the Lord because I was tired of fighting and pretending I was well. I was also convinced my Christian life had suffered irreparable damage and I was already lost. So, I thought to myself: “What’s the use? I’ve already lost my salvation. Why try anymore?” If you’ve ever experienced something similar, this teaching series is for you. Fortunately, the Holy Spirit had mercy on me and didn’t leave me there. He slowly began revealing to me deeper truths about what really happened at the cross and about salvation.

Can true believers, who are born again and justified by faith in Christ, ever lose their salvation by sinning? I soon realized this question has been a source of controversy for a long time among Christians. This is indeed an issue of considerable importance in practical Christian living. On one hand, if there is no guarantee that salvation is permanent, believers may experience a great deal of anxiety and insecurity like I did, undermining the effectiveness and the power of the Gospel in their Christian lives. On the other hand, if salvation is secure and believers are preserved saved independently of their lives and actions, the result might be lassitude or indifference to the moral and spiritual demands of the Gospel, something called libertinism. Therefore, clarifying and establishing the scriptural teaching concerning the security of the believer is essential for a victorious life.

There have been two predominant perspectives to this controversy on eternal security: one in which our perseverance in faith and sanctification conditions the keeping of salvation, and the other in which salvation is secured by God eternally, independent of our sanctification. In this teaching series, I will advocate that genuine salvation is preserved by God forever, with sanctification a result of this salvation and not a condition to maintain it. I will accomplish this by first unfolding the biblical proofs according to which genuine believers in Christ can never lose their salvation. Then I will tackle the most common biblical objections to the eternal security of salvation for true born-again believers and attempt to answer them.

This teaching series describes another application or implication (besides confession of sins and the Lord’s Supper) of the reality that believers have become free of condemnation forever, and their future sins have been eradicated as well.

Chapter 1: Proofs of the Eternal Salvation

A Free and Irrevocable Gift

Let’s read two passages that illustrate the very nature of salvation and eternal life:

Ephesians 2:8 (NKJV)
8 For by grace you have been saved through faith, and that not of yourselves; it is the gift of God. Romans 6:23 (NKJV)
23 For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.

The first proof that you, as a born-again believer, can never lose your salvation is the fact that salvation and eternal life are free gifts from God. Even the expression “free gift” is a pleonasm because any gift is free by the very definition of the word “gift,” but I used it to make sure we understand it’s free. A gift means no strings attached, no conditions, no work, or good deeds needed to earn or keep it. Knowing this gift doesn’t come from a human being but from Almighty God, who is ever faithful and reliable, never changing, and gives only good and perfect gifts to people (James 1:17), gives us even more confidence and trust.

Moreover, eternal justification of your sins is received by faith alone and independent of the works of the Law. That means you did not receive your salvation based on your good works, it is not maintained by your good works done after the time of salvation, and it is not lost by your evil works. What are the works of the Law? They are good and holy deeds done for the Lord, but they are done through human effort and with the wrong purpose of keeping yourself right with God and be pleasing to Him. Since your salvation is independent of your works, it is secure and eternal. Romans 3:28 shows this clearly:

Romans 3:28 (NKJV)
28 Therefore, we conclude that a man is justified by faith apart from the deeds of the Law.

Salvation is also an irrevocable gift. How do we know that? The very nature of God illustrated in Romans 11:29 reveals to us this fact:

Romans 11:29 (NKJV)
29 For the gifts and the calling of God are irrevocable.

Although the context of this verse is Israel’s calling by God, it reveals something generally true about God’s nature: once He has given a gift to someone, once He has called or has blessed someone, He doesn’t repent or feel sorry for it no matter what. The gifts, the callings, and the blessings from God are always irrevocable. The born again have received the gift of righteousness and have been called to salvation. This gift and this calling are irrevocable from God’s point of view once believers accept them by faith.

Eternal Life’s Definition

Furthermore, according to many passages like Romans 6:23, John 3:36, John 5:24, and John 6:47, believers in Christ have eternal life already. How can they become un-eternal and temporal again? Among other things, the very definition of ETERNAL includes the concept of existence without end. Not only that, but this existence without end is full of the life of God.

The Holy Spirit Seal

Let’s move a step forward. According to John 14:16, the Holy Spirit has been given to believers to abide with them and in them FOREVER:

John 14:16 (NKJV)
16 And I will pray the Father, and He will give you another Helper, that He may abide with you forever.

The verse doesn’t add any qualification or condition of how long the Holy Spirit will stay within believers. It just says FOREVER. How can He abide forever in them if they can lose their salvation anytime? How can the Holy Spirit be taken back? How can “forever” become finite and oscillating? How can the eternal seal of the Holy Spirit described in Ephesians 1:13–14, Ephesians 4:30, 2 Corinthians 1:21–22, and 5:5 be broken? It cannot. A spiritual seal done by God is eternal.

2 Corinthians 1:21-22 (NKJV)
21 Now He who establishes us with you in Christ and has anointed us is God,
22 who also has sealed us and given us the Spirit in our hearts as a guarantee.

Eternal Redemption and Eternal Inheritance

Hebrews 9:12, 15 say Jesus has obtained for us an ETERNAL REDEMPTION and an ETERNAL INHERITANCE:

Hebrews 9:12 (NKJV)
12 Not with the blood of goats and calves, but with His own blood He entered the Most Holy Place once for all, having obtained eternal redemption. Hebrews 9:15 (NKJV)
15

Introduction

Hebrews 3:7–4:16 (NKJV) 7 Therefore, as the Holy Spirit says: “Today, if you will hear His voice, 8 Do not harden your hearts as in the rebellion, in the day of trial in the wilderness, 9 Where your fathers tested Me, tried Me, and saw My works forty years. 10 Therefore I was angry with that generation, and said, ‘They always go astray in their heart, and they have not known My ways.’ 11 So I swore in My wrath, ‘They shall not enter My rest.’ ” 12 Beware, brethren, lest there be in any of you an evil heart of unbelief in departing from the living God; 13 but exhort one another daily, while it is called “Today,” lest any of you be hardened through the deceitfulness of sin. 14 For we have become partakers of Christ if we hold the beginning of our confidence steadfast to the end, 15 while it is said: “Today, if you will hear His voice, do not harden your hearts as in the rebellion.” 16 For who, having heard, rebelled? Indeed, was it not all who came out of Egypt, led by Moses? 17 Now with whom was He angry forty years? Was it not with those who sinned, whose corpses fell in the wilderness? 18 And to whom did He swear that they would not enter His rest, but to those who did not obey? (God’s purpose was not just to get them out of Egypt, but to get them into an inheritance, into His rest) 19 So we see that they could not enter in because of unbelief. 4:1 Therefore, since a promise remains of entering His rest, let us fear lest any of you seem to have come short of it. 2 For indeed the gospel was preached to us as well as to them; but the word which they heard did not profit them, not being mixed with faith in those who heard it. 3 For we who have believed do enter that rest, as He has said: “So I swore in My wrath, ‘They shall not enter My rest,’ ” although the works were finished from the foundation of the world. 4 For He has spoken in a certain place of the seventh day in this way: “And God rested on the seventh day from all His works”; 5 and again in this place: “They shall not enter My rest.” 6 Since therefore it remains that some must enter it, and those to whom it was first preached did not enter because of disobedience, 7 again He designates a certain day, saying in David, “Today,” after such a long time, as it has been said: “Today, if you will hear His voice, Do not harden your hearts.” 8 For if Joshua had given them rest, then He would not afterward have spoken of another day. 9 There remains therefore a rest for the people of God. 10 For he who has entered His rest has himself also ceased from his works as God did from His. 11 Let us therefore be diligent (make every effort, work) to enter that rest, lest anyone fall according to the same example of disobedience. 12 For the word of God is living and powerful (active), and sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing even to the division of soul and spirit, and of joints and marrow, and is a discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart. 13 And there is no creature hidden from His sight, but all things are naked and open to the eyes of Him to whom we must give account. 14 Seeing then that we have a great High Priest who has passed through the heavens, Jesus the Son of God, let us hold fast our confession. 15 For we do not have a High Priest who cannot sympathize with our weaknesses, but was in all points tempted as we are, yet without sin. 16 Let us therefore come boldly to the throne of grace, that we may obtain mercy and find grace to help in time of need.

God promises Abraham 700 years in advance that the people of his seed will go through slavery in Egypt, but then will be brought out and taken to the promised land. And then God sends Moses to the people in captivity to bring them this good news, to preach the gospel to them about a promised land flowing with milk and honey into which they will go and enter. They will live in houses they did not build and eat from vines they did not plant. Great news! It sounded too good to be true.

What happened? They came out of Egypt’s captivity and in how many days did they reach Kadesh-Barnea? In 11 days (Deuteronomy 1:2). After 400 years of slavery, God wanted them in the promised land in 11 days. So, these spies go and inspect the land and then they come back and rebel against God saying they will not enter the land. And here in Hebrews 3, God says that “your parents tested me for 40 years. I did not test them, but they tested Me. For 40 years I tried to get these people to a country where they didn’t have to work hard for a living, but they didn’t want to come in.” And then God says that “I have sworn that they shall not enter into My rest.” Interesting! He did not say “you shall not enter Canaan, but you shall not enter My rest.”

Then the passage says that Joshua led the people into the land of Canaan in the end. But if this land was God’s rest (v. 4:8), then why would God have spoken to David later in Psalms 95:7-8 about another day, that is today, in which we should not harden our hearts? Therefore it is and still remains a rest for God’s people, that is, for us who are born again, into which we are invited to enter.

I think we know a lot about faith, how it comes, how it works, what faith does, how faith catapults you into God’s power, how faith leads you into God’s promises, and how you need faith to receive all that God has given you. But before faith does all these things in your life, before faith produces results in your life, there is one thing that faith will do first: faith will first lead you into God’s rest.

 

What Is God’s Rest?
God’s rest is a place, a dimension, or a realm that we enter.

Genesis 2:1–3 (NKJV) 1 Thus the heavens and the earth, and all the host of them, were finished. 2 And on the seventh day God ended His work which He had done, and He rested on the seventh day from all His work which He had done. 3 Then God blessed the seventh day and sanctified it, because in it He rested from all His work which God had created and made.

On the seventh day we see God creating a realm of rest into which He also invites man after creating him at the end of the sixth day. In the Garden of Eden was God’s rest and man had work, but it was not hard sweaty work. Everything he did or worked, he did from a place and a realm of rest.

In God’s Sabbath, in God’s rest, work and marriage were not done out of or under pressure, but out of pleasure. When man sinned, he destroyed that day of rest, or rather, stepped out of it. The realm of rest remained intact, but man came out of it and entered into hard work. Married life has become work. Why? Because they were no longer in that place of rest and peace. Marriage was designed for that rest, and so was work planned within that rest.

 

The First Man Who Re-entered Rest

John 14:10 (NKJV) 10 Do you not believe that I am in the Father, and the Father in Me? The words that I speak to you I do not speak on My own authority; but the Father who dwells in Me does the works.

Jesus was the first man to re-enter God’s rest. He lived constantly in rest, allowing the Father to work through Him.

The rest I’m talking about doesn’t mean a pillow to sleep peacefully on for days and rest or a vacation where you relax. Physical rest is also needed, but that’s not what we’re talking about here. Jesus on the Sabbath, a day of rest, goes to a man who was lying on a pillow and says to him: take up your bed and walk.

Whenever the Bible speaks of rest it refers to a realm, a constant mental dimension from which Jesus operated. Do you think Jesus didn’t work hard? You only need to read through the Gospels and try to make a chronological line of all His activities in one day and you will realize that He was not idle at all. But He was constantly in the realm of rest, in that zone of rest. You will never see Jesus in a petrified posture, scared, panicked, or impulsive. Jesus was annoyingly calm. Jairus comes and tells Him that his daughter is dying and Jesus is waiting and not in a hurry, and in the meantime the little girl actually dies. He does the same with Lazarus, His best friend. If we were in Jesus’ place, when we heard of Lazarus that he was on his deathbed, we would have started praying immediately and commanding death to leave. But Jesus did not do so, but simply said that “this disease is not unto death.” Then during the storm at sea, Jesus sleeps. Mary comes to the wedding in Cana alarmed that there is no wine at the wedding. The disciples come stres