Eternal Life
2010-09-24
It has been said before that there are two types of religion in this world: do and done. In other words, you either believe that you must do something to obtain eternal life, or you believe on what Jesus Christ has already done on the cross of Calvary. When Jesus Christ breathed his last, he said, in John 19:30, “It is finished.”
Most people who are, or claim to be, followers of Christ, do not deny that salvation is by grace through faith. But for one who already believes on the Lord Jesus, there are two major points of view as to the nature of salvation. There are those who still hold to the finished work of Christ that, indeed, that it is still finished. There are also those who believe that somehow, by human volition, that one can get unsaved by a sinful lifestyle, not believing anymore, lack of fruit in one’s life, or something subtly related to these things. It is worth it to search the Scriptures, to see what the truth of the matter is. The conclusion is rather clear: once one believes on the Lord Jesus Christ, the same will always be saved.
Everlasting Life Now
Before looking into the Scriptures, I want to state the obvious. The phrases “eternal life” and “everlasting life” mean exactly the same thing: it is life that does not end because the source of the life is from the eternal and everlasting one, Jesus Christ. If we can find concise and clear passages that say that we who believe on Jesus Christ have eternal life now, then we have a slam-dunk case for the unconditional security of any who believe on Jesus. Consider the following passage, in 1 John 5:10-13:
He that believeth on the Son of God hath the witness in himself: he that believeth not God hath made him a liar; because he believeth not the record that God gave of his Son. And this is the record, that God hath given to us eternal life, and this life is in his Son. He that hath the Son hath life; and he that hath not the Son of God hath not life. These things have I written unto you that believe on the name of the Son of God; that ye may know that ye have eternal life, and that ye may believe on the name of the Son of God (1 John 5:10-13).
He that believes has the witness within, which we know from the context (back in verse 6) is the Holy Spirit. Ever since John 20:22, every believer has received the Holy Spirit, and this is confirmed in Romans 8:9; 2 Corinthians 1:22; and Ephesians 4:30. We will consider the significance of this in a future section. The one who does not believe rejects the record of Jesus Christ, which is that God has given, repeat, has given to us eternal life. This happened already. As I have said previously, if he gave us eternal life already, and eternal means never-ending, we can clearly see that we cannot lose that eternal life. Eternal life that ends is an oxymoron.
Another clear verse along this thinking is John 3:36: “He that believeth on the Son hath everlasting life: and he that believeth not the Son shall not see life; but the wrath of God abideth on him.” He who believes has everlasting life; not “will obtain life” but has everlasting life.
Born Again
When Nicodemus came to Jesus at night, Jesus said to him, “Verily, verily, I say unto thee, Except a man be born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God” (John 3:3). When we believe on Jesus Christ, we become sons of God. In Romans 8:16, it says that “The Spirit itself beareth witness with our spirit, that we are the children of God.” Many passages refer to believers as the “sons of God.” Here are a few concise verses to read: John 1:12; Galatians 4:6; and 1 John 3:1-2. Now for us who are fathers, can our children cease being our children? Will my daughter ever cease to be genetically connected to me? No. Once you are a child of God, you do not become unborn again.
Consider also that we are called a new creation when we believe on Jesus Christ. Second Corinthians 5:17 states, “Therefore if any man be in Christ, he is a new creature: old things are passed away; behold, all things are become new.” Colossians 1:13 states that God “hath delivered us from the power of darkness, and hath translated us into the kingdom of his dear Son: In whom we have redemption through his blood, even the forgiveness of sins.” Note once again the tense of the verbs “hath delivered,” “hath translated,” and “have redemption.” Once again, it is finished; we are new creations living in a new realm (Colossians 3:3).
The Indwelling Holy Spirit
There are several good verses that show the indwelling Holy Spirit is a seal of our salvation. In Ephesians 1:13, the Bible says, “In whom ye also trusted, after that ye heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation: in whom also after that ye believed, ye were sealed with that holy Spirit of promise.” Second Corinthians 1:21-22 reads, “Now he which stablisheth us with you in Christ, and hath anointed us, is God; Who hath also sealed us, and given the earnest of the Spirit in our hearts.” For a particularly interesting verse, consider Ephesians 4:30, which reads, “And grieve not the holy Spirit of God, whereby ye are sealed unto the day of redemption.” God has established us in Jesus Christ; who can undo what God has established? We can grieve the Holy Spirit, and we can actually walk contrary to how he guides us, but we are still “sealed unto the day of redemption.”
God’s Reputation
The previous examples of the indwelling Holy Spirit indicate that God is promising us eternal life. Consider also 1 John 2:25, “And this is the promise that he hath promised us, even eternal life.” Titus 1:2 also states, “In hope of eternal life, which God, that cannot lie, promised before the world began.” God promises eternal life, which is why that those who reject the Son in 1 John 5:10 call God a liar, because they do not believe him. But God cannot lie, as Titus 1:2 explicitly states. Consider Romans 6:23: “For the wages of sin is death; but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord.” If God takes back eternal life, he is both a liar and a thief, because eternal life was given to us freely, with no expectation of payment in return. Eternal life through Jesus Christ ceases to be a gift.
Very Unmistakable Concise Statements
John 5:24: [Jesus speaking:] “Verily, verily, I say unto you, He that heareth my word, and believeth on him that sent me, hath everlasting life, and shall not come into condemnation; but is passed from death unto life.” If you hear the gospel and you believe, you have (present tense) everlasting life, and will not be condemned.
Ephesians 2:8-9: “For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God: Not of works, lest any man should boast.” We were saved by God’s grace, and it was not and is not anything intrinsically significant of who we are or what we have done. Verse 10 states that we were created to do good works, but that does not preclude in anyway our salvation according to the previous verses.
John 10:27-29: “My sheep hear my voice, and I know them, and they follow me: And I give unto them eternal life; and they shall never perish, neither shall any man pluck them out of my hand. My Father, which gave them me, is greater than all; and no man is able to pluck them out of my Father’s hand.” Nothing can pull us away from the love of God.
John 3:16, 18: “For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life... He that believeth on him is not condemned: but he that believeth not is condemned already, because he hath not believed in the name of the only begotten Son of God.” If we believe, we have everlasting life and are not condemned.
Hebrews 10:38-39: “Now the just shall live by faith: but if any man draw back, my soul shall have no pleasure in him. But we are not of them who draw back unto perdition; but of them that believe to the saving of the soul.” Note first that we are not those who draw back, but believe to the saving of the soul. Also note that this pair of verses follows the passage that most people point to in order to prove that people can lose their salvation.
1 Corinthians 3:13-15: “Every man’s work shall be made manifest: for the day shall declare it, because it shall be revealed by fire; and the fire shall try every man’s work of what sort it is. If any man’s work abide which he hath built thereupon, he shall receive a reward. If any man’s work shall be burned, he shall suffer loss: but he himself shall be saved; yet so as by fire.” Even if we do nothing for God in our lives, but believe on Jesus Christ, we are still saved, but will suffer loss of reward.
Romans 4:4-8: “Now to him that worketh is the reward not reckoned of grace, but of debt. But to him that worketh not, but believeth on him that justifieth the ungodly, his faith is counted for righteousness. Even as David also describeth the blessedness of the man, unto whom God imputeth righteousness without works, Saying, Blessed are they whose iniquities are forgiven, and whose sins are covered. Blessed is the man to whom the Lord will not impute sin.” I would like to emphasize that in verse 4, that works before God bring about debt, while in verse 5, faith, not works, is counted for righteousness.
Romans 11:6: “And if by grace, then is it no more of works: otherwise grace is no more grace. But if it be of works, then is it no more grace: otherwise work is no more work.” I think this is a great verse, because salvation is by grace, and not by works. God’s grace has saved us; it is not by our merit at any time.
Acts 16:30-31: “And brought them out, and said, Sirs, what must I do to be saved? And they said, Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, and thou shalt be saved, and thy house.” There is no mention to this jailer, whom Paul and Silas saw only this time, about maintaining his salvation. If he believes, he is saved, and salvation is brought about the same way for the rest of his family. Paul and Silas did not say to believe on Jesus, and also turn from sin, do this, or do that.
Believers Who Lived Sinful Lives
Lot: You cannot find a lower example in all of the Bible of someone who is called “just” and “righteous” by the apostle Peter. First, Lot chose to settle in the area of Sodom because of his flocks (Genesis 13:5-13). The quality of the land and his animals were more important to him than his spiritual life.
Next, when the sodomites surround his house and want to rape his guests, he offers his daughters instead (Genesis 19:8)! Can you think of anything more evil than what he said? The angels also had to yank him out of the city because he did not want to leave (Genesis 19:16).
The last thing we see of Lot is him laying in a cave, drunk, having children with his own daughters (Genesis 19:30-38). The descendants of Lot become some of the wicked enemies of Israel, Moab and Ammon.
Now Peter writes the following about Lot: “And delivered just Lot, vexed with the filthy conversation of the wicked: (For that righteous man dwelling among them, in seeing and hearing, vexed his righteous soul from day to day with their unlawful deeds;)” (2 Peter 2:7-8). Lot is just and righteous? Tell me another one. The Scriptures testify that he was righteous, though this righteousness was of God by faith, and absolutely not experiential righteousness.
But you may say, “Well, he must have gotten saved or re-saved after all of this.” But Peter says he was righteous in those days, because dwelling among those men “vexed his righteous soul from day to day with their unlawful deeds.”
Samson: This was a man who had an interest in foreign and lewd women (Judges 14:2; Judges 16:1, 4ff). This judge, however, apparently did all of his works of saving Israel in faith, as he is listed in the faith hall of fame in Hebrews 11:32-33.
Gideon: A man, of whom we last hear, made an ephod that caused both he with his family and all of Israel to worship it (Judges 8:27). He also is listed in the Hebrews 11 faith hall of fame.
Harder Passages
This study would not be complete if we did not address some of the difficult passages in the Bible. Given the very lucid statements above, these harder passages must be interpreted with the obvious in mind. We must adhere to one of the rules of Bible interpretation to let the clear passages of Scripture interpret the more difficult passages.
2 Timothy 2:11-13: “It is a faithful saying: For if we be dead with him, we shall also live with him: If we suffer, we shall also reign with him: if we deny him, he also will deny us: If we believe not, yet he abideth faithful: he cannot deny himself.” We will handle this a piece at a time.
Part one: “For if we be dead with him, we shall also live with him.” Are we dead with him? Consider Colossians 3:3: “For ye are dead, and your life is hid with Christ in God.”
Part two: “If we suffer, we shall also reign with him.” If we suffer for the sake of Jesus, we will be rewarded. Matthew 5:11-12 states, “Blessed are ye, when men shall revile you, and persecute you, and shall say all manner of evil against you falsely, for my sake. Rejoice, and be exceeding glad: for great is your reward in heaven: for so persecuted they the prophets which were before you.”
Part three: “If we deny him, he also will deny us.” Why would we deny him? This is the antithesis of part two. If we deny him, we do so in order to escape persecution. This is similar to 1 Corinthians 3:15, discussed above. We will not reign with him; in essence, it is a denying of reward, namely, of reigning with him.
Part four: “If we believe not, yet he abideth faithful: he cannot deny himself.” Even if we stop believing, i.e., not walking by faith, he remains faithful. This is a clear statement of eternal security.
Matthew 7:21-23: “Not every one that saith unto me, Lord, Lord, shall enter into the kingdom of heaven; but he that doeth the will of my Father which is in heaven. Many will say to me in that day, Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in thy name? and in thy name have cast out devils? and in thy name done many wonderful works? And then will I profess unto them, I never knew you: depart from me, ye that work iniquity.” These allegedly saved people do not point to the cross when confronted with Christ, they point to “wonderful works.” These people thought that salvation was by works. Also note that Jesus said, “I never knew you.” If one could lose one’s salvation, he would have said, “I used to know you, but I do not know you anymore.”
James 2:14-26: “What doth it profit, my brethren, though a man say he hath faith, and have not works? can faith save him? If a brother or sister be naked, and destitute of daily food, And one of you say unto them, Depart in peace, be ye warmed and filled; notwithstanding ye give them not those things which are needful to the body; what doth it profit? Even so faith, if it hath not works, is dead, being alone. Yea, a man may say, Thou hast faith, and I have works: shew me thy faith without thy works, and I will shew thee my faith by my works. Thou believest that there is one God; thou doest well: the devils also believe, and tremble. But wilt thou know, O vain man, that faith without works is dead? Was not Abraham our father justified by works, when he had offered Isaac his son upon the altar? Seest thou how faith wrought with his works, and by works was faith made perfect? And the scripture was fulfilled which saith, Abraham believed God, and it was imputed unto him for righteousness: and he was called the Friend of God. Ye see then how that by works a man is justified, and not by faith only. Likewise also was not Rahab the harlot justified by works, when she had received the messengers, and had sent them out another way? For as the body without the spirit is dead, so faith without works is dead also.”
This is the famous “faith without works is dead” passage, and it is a great passage to challenge us about the necessity of works in our faith. First, the question “Can faith save him” has absolutely nothing to do being saved in the sense of being saved by Jesus Christ; it has to do with helping other people, such as that brother or sister that needs food and is not helped by the one claiming faith in verses 15 and 16. Your faith alone will not save such people; you need to actually help them.
Next, the demons “believing” God in verse 19 is not the same as believing on Jesus Christ. Notice, it is the demons that believe that there is one God. Many religions and cults believe that there is one God, and their followers are not saved.
James 2:21-24 talks specifically how and when Abraham was justified by works: “when he had offered Isaac his son upon the altar.” This event happened in Genesis 22. We knew he was saved by at least Genesis 13:4 because he “called on the name of the Lord.” Whoever calls on the name of the Lord is saved (Joel 2:32). Furthermore, Abraham “believed in the LORD; and he counted it to him for righteousness” in Genesis 15:6. These things happened decades before the events at Moriah, where Abraham was over 100 years old.
Consider Romans 4:2: “For if Abraham were justified by works, he hath whereof to glory; but not before God.” In James 2, Abraham was not justified before God by his works, but before his fellow man. How? People cannot see faith; they can only see works, the manifestation of faith. We can see how Abraham believed God by what he did. Genesis 13:4 and 15:6 are a few Scriptures that show that Abraham actually had faith; but to us as readers, we see his faith clearly by what he did, and not as much by these verses.
The same goes for Rahab the harlot in 2:25. She had previously heard of the fame of God in Joshua 2:9-13. Her faith had practical value in protecting the spies, for she saved herself and her whole household by what she did.
Finally, which will bring a lot of light to “dead faith,” is the final verse: “For as the body without the spirit is dead, so faith without works is dead also.” Let us think about the entire analogy here. Is a body without spirit still a body? Yes. Likewise, faith without works is still faith. It just has absolutely no practical value whatsoever in this life.
Romans 8:13: “For if ye live after the flesh, ye shall die: but if ye through the Spirit do mortify the deeds of the body, ye shall live.” This verse deals with judgment in this life; it says nothing about hell. If you look just at this, you are ignoring the entire context of the verse, because a few verses later, we read in verse 16, “The Spirit itself beareth witness with our spirit, that we are the children of God.”
The phrase “walking after the flesh” and “walking after the Spirit” deserve attention. If you are saved, then you are “walking after the Spirit” (Romans 8:1). The entire context of this chapter is eternal security, so this one verse must be thought of that way also. Note that walking after the Spirit in this chapter is different than walking in the Spirit, which is a different phrase (“after” versus “in”) used in Galatians 5:16 and 5:25 as a command.
John 15:1-6: “I am the true vine, and my Father is the husbandman. Every branch in me that beareth not fruit he taketh away: and every branch that beareth fruit, he purgeth it, that it may bring forth more fruit. Now ye are clean through the word which I have spoken unto you. Abide in me, and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit of itself, except it abide in the vine; no more can ye, except ye abide in me. I am the vine, ye are the branches: He that abideth in me, and I in him, the same bringeth forth much fruit: for without me ye can do nothing. If a man abide not in me, he is cast forth as a branch, and is withered; and men gather them, and cast them into the fire, and they are burned.”
It is worthy to note that in John 15:2, the “taketh away,” in the context of viticulture, means to take away from the ground. A branch on the ground cannot bear fruit, but if the husbandman, in this case God, lifts up the branch off of the ground, it will likely bear fruit. God does everything possible for every believer to bear fruit in this life. But, as we know from verse 6, if the branch still does not bear fruit, it is useless, and is burned. This is judgment in this life, not in eternity (remember 1 Corinthians 3:15, above). This is the same situation as is seen in the passage beginning in Hebrews 10:26, which we consider next.
Hebrews 10:26-39: “For if we sin wilfully after that we have received the knowledge of the truth, there remaineth no more sacrifice for sins, But a certain fearful looking for of judgment and fiery indignation, which shall devour the adversaries. He that despised Moses’ law died without mercy under two or three witnesses: Of how much sorer punishment, suppose ye, shall he be thought worthy, who hath trodden under foot the Son of God, and hath counted the blood of the covenant, wherewith he was sanctified, an unholy thing, and hath done despite unto the Spirit of grace? For we know him that hath said, Vengeance belongeth unto me, I will recompense, saith the Lord. And again, The Lord shall judge his people. It is a fearful thing to fall into the hands of the living God. But call to remembrance the former days, in which, after ye were illuminated, ye endured a great fight of afflictions; Partly, whilst ye were made a gazingstock both by reproaches and afflictions; and partly, whilst ye became companions of them that were so used. For ye had compassion of me in my bonds, and took joyfully the spoiling of your goods, knowing in yourselves that ye have in heaven a better and an enduring substance. Cast not away therefore your confidence, which hath great recompence of reward. For ye have need of patience, that, after ye have done the will of God, ye might receive the promise. For yet a little while, and he that shall come will come, and will not tarry. Now the just shall live by faith: but if any man draw back, my soul shall have no pleasure in him. But we are not of them who draw back unto perdition; but of them that believe to the saving of the soul.”
Note that this is definitely speaking of believers, because it says, “if we sin wilfully.” The “we” would be inclusive of the apostle Paul. This willful sin is not a sin where we caved to temptation; this is premeditated sin, and throwing it in the face of Christ despite the knowledge of him saving us (v. 29). As I have previously alluded, this judgment the believer undergoes is judgment in this life (e.g. Ananias and Sapphira, who had the audacity to lie about money, Acts 5:1-10). Note that, as previous discussed, that verses 38-39 uphold that they are not the ones that go to perdition, (compare 2 Thessalonians 2:3, where son of perdition refers to the antichrist), but “believe to the saving of the soul.”
Hebrews 6:1-6: “Therefore leaving the principles of the doctrine of Christ, let us go on unto perfection; not laying again the foundation of repentance from dead works, and of faith toward God, Of the doctrine of baptisms, and of laying on of hands, and of resurrection of the dead, and of eternal judgment. And this will we do, if God permit. For it is impossible for those who were once enlightened, and have tasted of the heavenly gift, and were made partakers of the Holy Ghost, And have tasted the good word of God, and the powers of the world to come, If they shall fall away, to renew them again unto repentance; seeing they crucify to themselves the Son of God afresh, and put him to an open shame.”
Who are these people who were enlightened, yet fall away? Does it say that they were saved, or believed on Jesus Christ? We do not see that in this passage, so this must refer to somebody else. I suggest that this type of person is talked about throughout the Bible, and this is equivalent to blasphemy against the Holy Ghost in Matthew 12:31-32 and Mark 3:29. These people, who have clearly heard the message of the Gospel so that there is no mistake in understanding it, saw the workings of the Holy Spirit to prove the message of the Gospel, yet were so hard of heart that they rejected the obvious.
The Pharisees are the case in point here, as they saw healings to prove Jesus as the Messiah, but they attributed these miracles to the devil. It was plain as day that Jesus showed himself as the Messiah, but they rejected him. Another case would include the Pharaoh of the Exodus, since he hardened his own heart, and therefore, God also hardened his heart. There is a time where God gives people over to a reprobate mind (Romans 1:18-32), where they will never come to the truth found in Jesus Christ. This will happen in the days of the antichrist (2 Thessalonians 2:11). The Jews in general as a nation were also hardened in this fashion to this day (Romans 9-11).
In 1 John 3:8, committing sin, in this context, clearly refers to the same because whoever does the same “is of the devil” (1 John 3:8). The Pharisees were of their “father the devil” (John 8:41), which follows the argument of the previous paragraph. Surely it is not just sinning, because John himself clearly said earlier that “If we say that we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us” (1 John 1:8). I would venture to say that the tares in Matthew 13:25, 38 are the same. This is a very scary thing, that there are those who are unsaved, and they have gone to the point where they were so hardened against the truth after hearing it so clearly that they cannot get saved.
Psalm 51:11: “Cast me not away from thy presence; and take not thy holy spirit from me.” One might say, “Aha! You can lose the Holy Spirit!” at this one. Not so, because the indwelling of the Spirit did not come until John 20:22. There were two other significant ways the Spirit came upon people before John 20:22. Filling of the Spirit, as in Acts 2, existed in Old Testament times for specific purposes, such as Bezaleel in Exodus 31:2 and the seventy elders in Numbers 11:25. But kings were also anointed with the Holy Spirit. In 1 Samuel 16:13-14, when David was anointed king, the Spirit of the Lord came upon David, and left Saul, who was rejected as king. This was what David was worried about in Psalm 51:11... he was afraid that because he had intentionally committed sin (an example of willful sin discussed above, which in David’s case brought about the death of his sons and wars in his life), he would not be king anymore, therefore possibly being like Saul losing the anointing of the Holy Spirit.
Another passage would include 1 Timothy 1:19-20: “...Holding faith, and a good conscience; which some having put away concerning faith have made shipwreck: Of whom is Hymenaeus and Alexander; whom I have delivered unto Satan, that they may learn not to blaspheme.” These two men “made shipwreck” of their faith, and were “delivered unto Satan.” Considering a passage with similar wording, 1 Corinthians 5:5, people that are delivered unto Satan are people put out of the church (Satan is out in the world). This verse reads, “To deliver such an one unto Satan for the destruction of the flesh, that the spirit may be saved in the day of the Lord Jesus.” This is the case of putting heretics out of the church; the public naming of names in the New Testament is often people who are doing evil and leading people astray. Examples include 2 Timothy 1:15 and 3 John 1:9. Heretics are clearly unbelievers. In 1 Corinthians 5:5, they were to put a man out of the church who was involved with serious wickedness (see verse 1); sin that was so wicked that normal pagan Gentiles would not even do something that vile.
Philippians 2:12: “Wherefore, my beloved, as ye have always obeyed, not as in my presence only, but now much more in my absence, work out your own salvation with fear and trembling.” One might ask, why might the apostle Paul command this, if there was nothing to fear about losing your salvation? But remember, one cannot “work out” what they do not have, i.e. salvation. Paul commands us to do so with fear and trembling, because God judges those who spurn the Lord Jesus Christ with a life of sin (see discussion above on the willful sin of Hebrews 10:26).
Revelation 3:5: “He that overcometh, the same shall be clothed in white raiment; and I will not blot out his name out of the book of life, but I will confess his name before my Father, and before his angels.” One might argue, if we do not overcome, then we will lose salvation (i.e. the blotting out). This verse comes after the admonition to Sardis, a city with a dead church. There are a series of these “he that overcometh” verses that follow the letters to the seven churches. These accompany the admonitions to the churches as comforts and encouragements, because the selfless love of Jesus Christ motivates us to do the good works. This verse actually confirms eternal security, because overcoming is tantamount to having faith: “For whatsoever is born of God overcometh the world: and this is the victory that overcometh the world, even our faith” (1 John 5:4). If you have faith, you have overcome the world.
There are, I am sure, plenty of verses that may suggest the same as one or more of the above, but I will stop the discussion here, until I find a passage that differs entirely from the contexts that are listed above. The concise passages about the permanence of salvation cannot be denied; we cannot let these harder passages interpret what we clearly know from those concise statements.
Conclusion
This discussion has introduced some of the evidence for unconditional eternal security. If you are otherwise minded, think about this: is the salvation that you could not earn in the first place something that you can somehow maintain and hold onto yourself? I believe that this essay has spoken clearly, quoting a great number of verses that are clear that the saved (note the ‘d’ on the end) have everlasting life right now. You will not find verses in the Bible that clearly say, “Well, he was saved, but he sinned so grossly, stopped believing, etc., and now he is going to hell.” It would take a verse that clear for me to believe otherwise, since I have written clearly from the Bible why I believe unconditional eternal security.