Discipleship Lesson 10: Eternal Security

John 10:28 “And I give unto them eternal life; and they shall never perish, neither shall any man pluck them out of my hand.”

1. The Importance Of Eternal Security
2. The teaching of eternal security is part of the gospel. If someone believes that one can lose their salvation, they are not saved themselves.

• The record of God: 1 John 5:10-11 “¹⁰ 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. ¹¹And this is the record, that God hath given to us eternal life, and this life is in his Son.”
• The gospel presentation of the apostle Paul: Paul preaches the gospel in the book of Romans, and includes the teaching of eternal security (8:15-39).

1. The teaching of eternal security provides assurance of salvation. If someone does not believe that once one is saved, they will always be saved, then they can never be assured of their own salvation.

Someone who is saved can have assurance of their salvation based upon the biblical teaching of eternal security. A believer can say with the Biblical characters: “I am persuaded…” (Romans 8:38); “being confident of this very thing…” (Philippians 1:6); “I know that my redeemer liveth…” (Job 19:25); “I know whom I have believed…” (2 Timothy 1:12).

1 John 5:13 “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. The Biblical Case For Eternal Security

There are 5 reasons to believe that once a person is saved, they shall always be saved:

1. The Product of God – Salvation cannot be lost because it is eternal.
2. The Promise of God – Salvation cannot be lost because it depends upon God’s promise.
3. The Pardon of God – Salvation cannot be lost because it is of grace, not of works.
4. The Power of God – Salvation cannot be lost because it is maintained by God’s power.
5. The Precedent of God – Salvation cannot be lost because no one has ever lost their salvation.

(1) PRODUCT – Salvation cannot be lost because it is eternal

The salvation one receives is “eternal salvation” (Hebrews 5:9). The believer is made spiritually alive (Ephesians 2:1), and presently has eternal life (John 5:24; 6:47), receiving the gift of eternal life (Romans 6:23). If someone has eternal life now, then they must live forever. They will “never thirst” (John 4:13-14), “never hunger” (John 6:35), and “never die”:

John 11:25-26 “²⁵ Jesus said unto her, I am the resurrection, and the life: he that believeth in me, though he were dead, yet shall he live: ²⁶ And whosoever liveth and believeth in me shall never die. Believest thou this?”

The believer is born of God (1 John 5:1, 4; John 3:3-7), becoming God’s child (John 1:12, Galatians 3:26). Just as a child will always belong to their parents (John 8:35), so also God’s children will never be separated from his love (Hebrews 12:5-8; Isaiah 49:15). We may be chastened, but never condemned (1 Corinthians 11:32). We have an eternal inheritance in heaven (Ephesians 1:5, 11:18-19)

Ecclesiastes 3:14 “I know that, whatsoever God doeth, it shall be for ever: nothing can be put to it, nor any thing taken from it: and God doeth it, that men should fear before him.”

(2) PROMISE – Salvation cannot be lost because it depends upon God’s promise

God promises that a believer cannot lose their salvation (e.g., John 3:16), and this promise was made before the world began, and cannot be altered by the activities of man.

1 John 2:25 “And this is the promise that he hath promised us, even eternal life.”

Titus 1:2 “In hope of eternal life, which God, that cannot lie, promised before the world began.”

God’s promise is immutable (Hebrews 6:17-19); it cannot be broken. God states that whosoever believes in Christ will never go to hell (his word), and he promises that whosoever believes in Christ will never go to hell (his oath/promise). God cannot do anything contrary to his nature, so these two things—God’s word and God’s oath—are a guarantee of the eternal security of the believer.

Because the promise of eternal salvation belongs to all believers (Acts 2:39), if a saved person goes to hell, then God would be the greatest liar—but God is not able to lie (Numbers 23:19; see also Romans 3:4).

2 Timothy 2:13 “If we believe not, yet he abideth faithful: he cannot deny himself.”

(3) PARDON – Salvation cannot be lost because it is of grace, not of works

Salvation is by grace (Ephesians 2:5); it is an unearned benefit. Salvation had to be by grace (Romans 4:16; Galatians 3:21-22); only God’s grace makes salvation possible (Titus 2:11), not man’s works (Ephesians 2:8-9; 2 Timothy 1:9). When someone believes, they enter “into the grace of Christ” (Galatians 1:6) and “stand” in grace (Romans 5:2; 1 Peter 5:12), so someone’s salvation is both effected and maintained completely by grace. This means that just as a gift cannot be taken back, neither can the “gift by grace” be lost (Romans 5:15; see Romans 11:29). We cannot lose that which we did not earn.

Romans 5:20 “Moreover the law entered, that the offence might abound. But where sin abounded, grace did much more abound.”

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 it is no more grace: otherwise work is no more work.”

Furthermore, once saved, all sins past present and future are forgiven (Romans 4:7-8; Colossians 2:13; Mark 3:28; see also Psalm 103:12; Isaiah 1:18; 38:17; Micah 7:19). The sins of the believer are imputed to Christ (2 Corinthians 5:19), so they no longer bear the eternal blame for any of their sin. Because when Jesus died, he died for the sins of the whole world (1 John 2:2; John 1:29; 1 Peter 2:24; 2 Corinthians 5:21), it is not possible that any future sins of the believer will cause them to lose their salvation.

Hebrews 10:17 “And their sins and iniquities will I remember no more.”

Romans 11:27 “For this is my covenant unto them, when I shall take away their sins”

Jesus is the mediator (1 Timothy 2:6), intercessor (Romans 8:33-34), and advocate (1 John 2:1-2) of the saved. The mediatorial, intercessory, and legal work of Jesus is such that, our salvation is based on his help, plea, and case––if we go to hell after believing in Jesus, then he would be a bad savior (John 6:39). However,  Because the Lord is mighty to save (Isaiah 63:1; Zephaniah 3:17), we cannot lose our salvation.

Hebrews 7:25 “Wherefore he is able also to save them to the uttermost that come unto God by him, seeing he ever liveth to make intercession for them.”

(4) POWER – Salvation cannot be lost because it is maintained by God’s power

God saves the believer and guarantees that they will always be saved (2 Timothy 1:12). The role of maintaining the salvation of the believer is not placed upon the believer, but upon God himself (1 Corinthians 1:8-9). He is the “author” and “finisher” of our faith (Hebrews 12:2), the one “which hath begun a good work in you” and “will perform it until the day of Jesus Christ” (Philippians 1:6). Therefore, a believer could never go to hell, because the continuation of their salvation is not through anything they do, but rather through what God does. We are “kept by the power of God” (2 Peter 1:5) and “preserved in Jesus Christ” (Jude 1).

John 10:28-30 “²⁸ And I give unto them eternal life; and they shall never perish, neither shall any man pluck them out of my hand. ²⁹ My Father, which gave them me, is greater than all; and no man is able to pluck them out of my Father’s hand. ³⁰ I and my Father are one.”

Romans 8:38-39 “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 creature, shall be able to separate us from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord.”

At the moment of salvation, a believer becomes indwelt and sealed with the Holy Spirit (2 Corinthians 1:21-22). Once he indwells the believer, he will “abide with you for ever” (John 14:16). The Holy Spirit does not depart from the believer (Ephesians 4:30; 1 Thessalonians 5:19). This “seal” of the Spirit is an assurance that the believer will receive a glorified body at the resurrection.

Ephesians 1:12-14 “¹² That we should be to the praise of his glory, who first trusted in Christ. ¹³ 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, ¹⁴ Which is the earnest of our inheritance until the redemption of the purchased possession, unto the praise of his glory.”

(5) PRECEDENT – Salvation cannot be lost because Christians have never lost salvation

1. Generic Types Of People

• The golden chain of redemption: Romans 8:29-30: “²⁹ For whom he did foreknow, he also did predestinate to be conformed to the image of his Son, that he might be the firstborn among many brethren.³⁰ Moreover whom he did predestinate, them he also called: and whom he called, them he also justified: and whom he justified, them he also glorified.”

John 6:39 “And this is the Father’s will which hath sent me, that of all which he hath given me I should lose nothing, but should raise it up again at the last day” (see also vv.37-40).

• The man with no works: Romans 4:5: “But to him that worketh not, but believeth on him that justifieth the ungodly, his faith is counted for ”

2 Peter 1:8-9: “⁸ For if these things be in you, and abound, they make you that ye shall neither be barren nor unfruitful in the knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ. ⁹ But he that lacketh these things is blind, and cannot see afar off, and hath forgotten that he was purged from his old sins.”

• The man with no reward: 1 Corinthians 3:14-15: “¹⁴ If any man’s work abide which he hath built thereupon, he shall receive a reward.¹⁵ If any man’s work shall be burned, he shall suffer loss: but he himself shall be saved; yet so as by fire.” (See also Matthew 5:19).

1. Specific Types Of People

The GREAT SINNERS

• Noah: a drunk (Genesis 9:20-21), called righteous by God (Genesis 7:1; cf. Ezekiel 14:14; see also Hebrews 11:7). See also the sins of Lot (Genesis 19; cf. 2 Peter 2:6-8).
• Moses: a murderer (Exodus 2:12), disobedient to God’s direct command (Numbers 20:12), but glorified with Jesus on the Mount of Transfiguration (Matthew 17:3). See also the sins of Aaron (Exodus 32:1-6).
• Samson: a fornicator (Judges 16:1) who broke his Nazarite vow in every way (Judges 14:8-9; 15:15; 16:17), but is in the Hall of Faith as a saved man (Hebrews 11:32).
• David: an adulterer and murderer (2 Samuel 11) who had more sins “than the hairs of mine head” (Psalm 40:12), but who will dwell “in the house of the Lord forever” (Psalm 23:6) and used as an example of a saved man by Paul (Romans 4:6-8). See also the sins of Abraham (Genesis 12:13; 20:2; 16:1-5) and Solomon (1 Kings 11:1-10).

The SINNERS TO THE END                                                                                        

• King Saul: committed many sins and even died by suicide (1 Samuel 31:4), but yet still went to heaven (1 Samuel 28:19; also, cf. 1 Samuel 10:11-12 with Luke 13:28).

The DOUBTFUL SINNERS

• John the Baptist: doubted the Messiahship of Jesus at the end of his life (Matthew 11:1-6), but Jesus declares him a prophet, the greatest man born of women (Matthew 11:11).
• Peter: denied Jesus three times (Matthew 26:34), but is in heaven (Matthew 19:28)
• Thomas: doubted the bodily resurrection of Jesus (John 20:24-29; see also Matthew 28:17), but likewise will be in heaven with the other apostles (Matthew 19:28).