Eternal Security
If you are truly saved you can never lose your salvation. This is an incredible reality that I believe because I believe the bible clearly teaches it. In this short blog I will not be able to be comprehensive about this rather I will simply share some reasons why I believe eternal security by simply looking at one verse, 2 Cor 5:21, with a couple supplemental verses. Before I get into this I want to plead with you not to turn Grace into law. One of the first stages of things about the Gospel like this is turning it into a mallet to smash people who don’t “get it”. There are many people who I know who disagree with me on this point who really love Jesus. With that said I do believe that this is incredible important when it comes to walking obedient to Jesus day by day.
2 Cor. 5:21 says that “He made Him to be sin, who knew no sin, so that in Him we might become the righteousness of God”. The first thing I want to point out about this text is that Jesus never sinned. I am quite confident that this is a statement that we all can fully agree on. This passage clearly states that Jesus knew no sin but was made sin for us. If a person is in Christ they have been given faith to believe that Jesus took away all their sin. For the Christian, Jesus has taken away all of our sin. I take that to mean that before God I stand blameless because Jesus took my sin.
The second observation is that Jesus gives me the credit for His sinless life. The text says that if we are in Christ we have the righteousness of God. God declares that Jesus doesn’t simply take away all my sin but He gives a full account of righteousness! Wow that is some great news! I needed my sins washed away and I needed righteousness given to me. When somebody becomes a Christian they are saying that this is what the believe about Jesus. A person must have faith that Jesus takes away sin and Jesus gives us His perfect life to become Christian. This means that Jesus and His work is the only saving work not me and my work. Do not be so silly to think that you and your work is more important than Jesus and His work. Jesus work is strong and mighty to save and not feeble and lacking power needing to be completed by your work. Arrogance sets to the side Jesus as savior in favor of self as savior.
On to some objections. The first objection to eternal security typically is to tell a story about a person who used to be saved and who now is not following God. This story usually includes an overview of what seemed to be very fruitful living or ministry from that person that is believed to be proof that the person was a Christian. If you hear someone passionately making that argument ask yourself if that same argument could be made about the man in Matthew 7:21-23. In fact this story is answered by John in 1 John 2:19 “They wen out from us, but they were not of us; for is they had been with us, they would have continued with us. But they went out, that it might become plain that they all are not of us”. The sad fact is that most of the people who have that story of loving Jesus then falling off the map, never truly had faith in Jesus as sin forgiver and righteousness giver. Instead they had faith in a decision that they had made to follow Him followed by the similar mistake of trusting in their own works rather than Jesus work. When this person starts to struggle and fail they begin to think that Christ is not real or powerful when in reality its themselves that are the fraud and powerless. What they need is to be transformed by the truth that Jesus work is powerful enough to take all our sin and give perfect righteousness.
Another common objection is that if you teach that Christ saves totally then people will go out and sin like crazy. I have to say I have heard this argument probably a thousand times but I have never meet a person who gave that argument who has ever heard a preacher teach the Gospel in that way. Who is the preacher who teaches that if you become a Christian then you can just sin all you want? Ever heard that preached? I know I sure haven’t. The bible anticipates the idea that people will say “Well then ill just sin all the more so that Grace may abound!” but what does God’s word say to that? “By no means!”Rom 6:1-2. To become a Christian means you become a new person. It means moving from death to life, and getting a heart transplant from God. It is God who saves and it is God who changes the person into a person who begins a lifelong war against sin. You show me a person who claims to know Christ and yet has no care in the world about fighting sin and Ill show you a person who is not a Christian.
The truth is that the power to walk in obedience to Jesus comes with the knowledge that you can never lose your salvation. Understanding that Jesus saves totally is how we grow as a Cristian. In fact let me just pray for you to grow as a Christian using the words of Peter in 2 Pet 1:3 “His divine power has granted to us all things that pertain to life and godliness, through the knowledge of Him”. Growing in the knowledge of Him and what He has done will empower you not to sin but to godliness.
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