While there are many volumes of sermons, books,  pamphlets, and daily sermons filling the airwaves,  plus those in almost every pulpit across the world (3 or more times a week)   attempting to prove the doctrine of  eternal security; is it any wonder that so few people question it?   It is like Islam, Judaism, and other religions; what they believe is drilled into them from birth, and so it is for those growing up in the denominations that teach this doctrine or those who are discipled from this teaching early on in their Christian walk.

  This may beg the question why is there no voice that opposes this doctrine (except on the internet or in books)?  If the doctrine of eternally security was so correct, and infallible, why would anyone oppose the doctrine of conditional security Heb.5:9 (or eternal faithfulness as some call it) to be taught?  If your doctrine is so correct and infallible, then you should have nothing to fear!  Could it be that to teach the doctrine of conditional security would mean that we might actually have to  “watch and pray that we do not fall into temptation” Mat 26:41?  Could it be that people might have to actually “take up their cross daily, and deny themselves” (of which most people are unwilling to do) and follow the Lord?  Or “examine themselves to see if they are in the faith”?

  The definition of eternal security is: “Once I am saved I can never lose my salvation no matter what”!  Now this very statement implies that once I receive Christ into my heart I am saved and can no longer be unsaved”.   So let’s follow this logic down the path of the majority of human beings living on the earth today.  If once I’m saved I can’t be lost, than I am free to sin as I please, because the blood of Christ cleanses me from all sin” “past, present, and future” (this last statement cannot be found anywhere in the bible).  And there are those who live this way and think because they one time prayed (which isn’t in the bible) a prayer they are Christians and continue to live for the “world, the flesh, and the devil”.  There are also those, who don’t necessarily follow that line in the since that though they believe ET is true and that their sin won’t send them to hell, they try to do good anyway because they know it’s the right thing to do, even though they think they don’t always have to.

 Now there are those who believe that once you’re saved you can’t be lost, but then if you are lost, than you were never saved in the first place.  Now I admit that this in one since is a better doctrine, and it in itself will really help those to stay in line, because they want to be sure that they stay saved to prove that they were.   I think that this is a much higher form of this doctrine, and will encourage people to walk with God more so than the latter form of it, however it does not reconcile with many passages in the word of God, so it cannot be proved, by scripture and reason.

 My argument against this particular doctrine has to do with assurance.  In a since it’s similar to a Calvinistic form of teaching.   For we must ask the Calvinist: “how do you know that you are elected”?  Same here how do you know you were ever saved?   If as a Calvinist or semisecurist, you don’t remain saved maybe you aren’t elected, or you never were saved.  Therefore you will always going around doubting whether you ever were “elected” or “saved” in the first place.  If you really believe one of these two doctrines you will constantly doubt if you ever really had peace with God or have you just deceived yourself?   And how can you ever know that you are saved, because how do you know that you will never turn your back on God somewhere in the future?  Therefore, if someone gets saved now, and turns from God later, then they weren’t saved now.  So how then can you ever know for sure you’re saved now since you don’t know if you are going to turn from God later?

 But for the full ET’er and the Antinomian Calvinist, it doesn’t matter.  You prayed a prayer than you’re saved (or elected) and now John 10:29 “no one can snatch you out of the Fathers hand”.  So your “doctrine”, “not Christ” gives you full assurance, therefore you never doubt your salvation, that is unless you begin to listen to the truth and doubt your doctrine.

 By the way I don’t believe you can “lose your salvation”, it is a free choice, you must choose to reject your faith, by choosing to sin against God; by willfully defying His commandments, and turning your back on Him and then refusing to repent.  You can go to hell if you want to.  God never takes away your free will.

 Now the doctrine of “Eternal faithfulness” or “conditional salvation” is a doctrine that teaches a present salvation and a present walk with God.  And in order to maintain it we are required to obey for Heb. 5:9 says “He is the author of eternal salvation for all those who ‘obey’ Him”.  What about those who don’t?

 Now we know that God dwells in the eternal present.  He has no past, present or future.  He is!  Therefore I believe that as real believers we can only serve God in the present.  Our past, and our future cannot save us, we can only be saved by our present condition.   If I’ve made a commitment to the Lord yesterday, and believed God that He has forgiven me, by truly repenting of my sin, then the moment I believed God He forgave me.  Nothing can convince me that I am not saved at that moment if I truly believe from my heart.  This is what the Bible clearly teaches.   However, I must continue to believe that today, and live accordingly today!  For if today I turn my back on God and commit some gross sin, because I didn’t take up my cross, I didn’t watch and pray, I didn’t renew my mind, I didn’t “rejoice always, in everything give thanks, and pray without ceasing”.  In other words if I neglected my salvation, and “willfully” sinned against our Holy God, who will judge us (“according to our works”), then at the moment that I willfully disobeyed God, I became at enmity against Him, and threw away my salvation.  I deliberately treated the blood of the lamb as garbage, and therefore there was no more “sacrifice for my sin” Heb 10:26 at that point.  And as long as I remain in that unrepentant state, I continue to grieve the Spirit of God away by my willful choice, and I am no longer one of his children, for as it says in 1 John 3:8 “For the one who does what is sinful is of the devil.”  Therefore I willfully choose to forfeit my salvation, it is my choice to be saved or lost, and God never forces either upon me.  “For he that has not the Spirit of God is none of His”. The only thing God allows us to claim for our own is our free will.  He never takes it away.

 Now let us take some of the arguments that are use to prove the point of “Eternally security”.   The first scripture is in Rom 8:35 “ Who can separate us from the love of Christ…”    This scripture as a proof text is easily argued against with the fact that your own will is not mentioned in the list of things that can separate you from God’s love.  Therefore you can separate yourself from God.  Some will then argue, exactly, since it’s not mentioned then you can’t say that you can.  I would strongly argue that you can, for if you read the passage in context you will see that the line of thinking is “anything outside of ourselves”, and if the apostle doesn’t to hesitate to mention a long list of things that can’t what is 2 little words such as: “nor self”.  The apostle mentions many outward pulls known to man, and the devil has used them all to get man to choose to sin against God and fall but none of them will work for those who “keep their minds stayed on thee”.   Don’t you think that it is incredibly suspicious that Paul doesn’t mention self?  Don’t you think that since he was mentioning so many things satan uses to get people to fall from Grace in the list, that he didn’t mention self or willfull sin,  if falling from Grace was impossible?  How in the world but an extreme twisting of scripture can someone believe that since self or sin was left out, than it was actually included?

  It can also be argued that he is not necessarily talking about salvation here.   For doesn’t God loves everyone, even those who are sinners and on the road to hell?

Another passage used is: John 10:28 “…No one will snatch them out of my hand”.  Once again we have another reference that does not include self.  God has no robots, and will not force anyone to stay in His hand, however for those who are in His hand, no one,  or no thing, can force him to jump out, or let go of it.  Once again it’s a matter of ones own will to do so

 And one more: Eph: 4:30 “And grieve not the Holy Spirit of God, whereby ye are sealed unto the day of redemption”.

 Let me say that though we make vows, covenants, contracts, set passwords, guards, locks, and yes seals in every day life; each one can be broken.  Seals can be broken.  Just like covenants it happens all the time.

 So how can we break the seal?  The answer is in the first part of the verse, or why would he say it, and that is by grieving the Holy Spirit of God?  If you want to remain sealed remain faithful.  For if you grieve the Holy Spirit He will leave, when actually it is you that chose to leave Him because of your willful sinful behavior.  If you need a short list of how to “grieve the Holy Spirit”  read Eph 5 and especially v. 5 where it says those who live do this do not have “any inheritance in the kingdom of Christ and of God.” And as it says in Rom. 8 “he who has not the Spirit of Christ is none of His.”

 I know there are a few more verses that seem to support this doctrine but these 3 are the strongest they have as opposed to more than 200 that directly oppose it, and as you can see when interpreted properly and in accordance with the rest of scripture it is obvious that they do not mean what the ETr’s wish them to.

 The other teaching that goes along with this, for those who believe the better form of this doctrine is: “if you lose it you never had it” (which I wrote about earlier).  The scripture used to back this up is. “Though they went out from us, because they were not of us and etc…”  1John 2:19.  In this particular verse, Paul is talking about specific people, and nowhere does he say that this should be applied to all people who once knew the Lord and then turned their backs upon Him and perished at last.  The other passage used is when Jesus said: “Many will come to me in that day and say Lord, Lord, etc… and He will say: Mat. 7:23 “depart from me I never knew you”.   This can only mean one of two things either it should be rendered as , “it is as if I never knew you”.  Or these were people who never got saved.  For the first interpretation we can take the scriptures and apply them here such as in Ezekiel where it says,  Ezekiel 33:13  “… none of the righteous things that person has done will be remembered;…” .  We can also use the passage in Psalm 103:12 “as far as the east is from the west, so far has he removed our transgressions from us”. If He can remove and forget our sins, He can also forget our righteous acts when we decide to become unrighteous.  And for the other it speaks for itself, “they never repented of their sins”.  Neither disproves that a saved person cannot be lost unless you believe that Adam and the Devil were never saved.

 Only those who practice righteousness are righteous, and those who continue to sin are not born of God 1 John 3:9.  He who walks after the flesh is at enmity with God and cannot please him. Rom 8:7, and at the moment one walks in the flesh i.e. commits a deliberate willful conscience sinful act in knowing defiance towards God, he is walking in the flesh and has not the Spirit of God.  And we know that in Rom. 8:9 it says: “But ye are not in the flesh, but in the Spirit, if so be that the Spirit of God dwell in you. Now if any man have not the Spirit of Christ, he is NONE OF HIS.”  Rom. 8:6 “For to be carnally minded is death; but to be spiritually minded is life and peace.”  Spiritually dead, not physically!  There are only 2 types of death, spiritual death which means eternal condemnation if you physically die in that state, and physical death which if you die while spiritually alive you live eternally.

“Therefore, brothers, be all the more diligent to make your calling and election sure, for if you practice these qualities you will never fall.”