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I won't get into the debate which caused the split among churches. I will say that since this issue has split Christ's church more than any other! The heat, and even hatred, because of this contentious issue yet divides us and disunites us. One group believes that they alone have the “truth” and that the other side is heretical. That's pride! Pride for either side.
.First, the definition of each. “Eternal security” is the Calvinistic teaching (Point 5: Preservation of the Saints) that once persons are truly saved they can never lose their salvation. Charles Stanley has said "Even if a believer for all practical purposes becomes an unbeliever, his salvation is not in jeopardy… believers who lose or abandon their faith will retain their salvation.”
.Calvinism is the deterministic belief that we have no say in our eternal destination. Five points were presented by John Calvin at the “Synod of Dort” during the “Quinquarticular Controversy” (1609-1618 debates between John Calvin and Jacobus Arminius). The 5 points are presented by the acronym “TULIP” to aid in remembering. T-total depravity, U-Unconditional election, L-Limited atonement, I-Irresistible grace and P-Preservation of the Saints (Eternal Security). Calvinism basically takes the position that “free will” has no place in obtaining salvation. God has already elected those to be finally lost and those who will be saved and since you're predestined, your own actions have nothing to do with salvation. Your eternity is strictly based on the grace of God who somehow chose you to be his eternal companion.
.On the other hand “free will” is still dependent on God's generous grace, and means that man can at least have a hand in choosing some of his own actions. Deut. (All verses KJV) 30:19 "I have set before you life and death, the blessing and the curse, therefore choose life" . The “choose” part is the exercising of free will.
.5-point Calvinism will not be included in this discussion. Most evangelicals do not accept point 1-4. For those who do, I suggest a careful study of scripture because Calvinism can readily be discounted. Hard core Calvinism can and will lead to a cessation of the “Great Commission” because it would be futile to endeavor to save souls who are predestined to hell anyway.
.We will discuss what Baptists call the “free grace doctrine” or “once saved always saved”. It differs from “preservation of the saints” because the latter does take into account “sanctification”, hence some degree of “works” are involved to retain your salvation in Calvinism. In “free grace” what you do after you're saved has no bearing on your eternal destination. Adherents do teach that if you are a true Christian you will avoid sin, but if you get entangled in a life of sin, you were never even saved. I won't use philosophical arguments in my case, but scripture alone.
.Most Baptists accept that salvation is your choice and are strong in “making a decision for Christ”. Hence, most Baptists (excluding of course Particular Baptists) believe in “free will”. The difference is that eternal security Baptists believe in free will up to the point of salvation, then God steps in and your own choices are of no consequence. Those Baptists who believe in “conditional security” would say that “free will” both allows you to accept Christ for salvation and also be a requirement in retaining salvation. (i.e. you have the free will to apostatize at any time your faith is abandoned).
.Next we need to look at what it takes to become a Christian (saved). Acts 16:31 “They replied, 'Believe in the Lord Jesus, and you will be saved'....”. Since we know that the demons believe in Jesus we must accept the concept that the “belief” must be because Jesus is the sacrifice which redeems us from damnation and hence true belief is not only of the mind, but of love for Christ. To “believe” is to accept Christ and have confidence in Him.
.If you meet the criteria in believing, you believe Jesus did what he has done and will do what he says. You trust Jesus. That's faith and is aptly described by Hebrews 11:1 “Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen.” (Those who are proponents of eternal security use this verse even though they believe that Paul was only speaking to the Jews in Hebrews). You can't see heaven, but Jesus promises you a room there. Your hope in getting to heaven through the vicarious sacrifice of Christ alone is your “faith”. Is faith a one time event or does it have continuity?
.A person, according to scripture, has “no faith”, “little faith”, “abounding faith”, “great faith” and “abandoned faith”, along with many other degrees of faith! Faith is a variable going from zero to God's infinite faith. While we can't get to heaven by works, it does take faith and faith is a work in itself. It implies “free will”, but even our will (faith) is a gift from God!
.Here's a verse which links belief and faith” Hebrews 11:6 “But without faith it is impossible to please him: for he that cometh to God must believe that he is, and that he is a rewarder of them that diligently seek him.” It would be fair to say that this verse totally discredits 5-point Calvinism: “You must diligently seek him”. You must “believe” to “have faith”. The flip-side is if you don't believe you are without faith. So what makes you a Christian? You must have trusting belief which is faith!
.Galatians 3:26 “For ye are all the children of God by faith in Christ Jesus.”
Ephesians 2:8 “For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God:'.
If you believe and have faith in Jesus (the only way to salvation) you are a child of God. I think any rational person would accept that a precursor to salvation is faith. The question remains “Is faith a single-point event or is it enduring?' The scripture tells us that we must have an enduring faith: “Revelation 14:12 “This calls for patient endurance on the part of the people of God who keep his commands and remain faithful to Jesus.” Some say that our faith is protected by God. Others say that our faith can be abandoned. I believe it can be abandoned.
.1 Timothy 4:1 “The Spirit clearly says that in later times some will abandon the faith and follow deceiving spirits and things taught by demons. “ The last days are anytime after Christ's Resurrection because he said “surely I come quickly”. Abandonment of the faith IS the definition of apostasy.
.Keep in mind that we must have genuine faith: 2 Timothy 1:5 “When I call to remembrance the unfeigned faith that is in thee...” Lip-service doesn't cut-the-mustard. It must be “unfeigned faith” to be saving faith! And yes, it's possible, according to scripture, to abandon that faith. Not only does scripture tell us that some will abandon the faith, but we see it anecdotally in everyday life! Those who believe in security will say “They weren't really Christians to start with!” That trivializes God's word and what it says it takes to be saved. The problem lies in the fact that “belief” and “faith” are for the long haul, not for only the instant of repentance only.
.Enduring faith means that you must believe in and place your hope in Christ to the end of your life. Paul, who was an Olympiad fan, compares it to an athletic event: 2 Timothy 4:7 “I have fought a good fight, I have finished my course, I have kept the faith:” Paul knew that there is a war going on for your soul. It's a battle between good and evil (Jesus and Satan) and he was left standing because he “kept the faith” which by default means that he could have surrendered to the enemy!
.The following verse is used by those who believe in eternal security as scriptural proof of their position (and have many others as well to be fair):
.1 Peter 1:4 ”To an inheritance incorruptible, and undefiled, and that fadeth not away, reserved in heaven for you, 5Who are kept by the power of God through faith unto salvation ready to be revealed in the last time. “
.Yes, God does keep for you a place in heaven through his power. No one can snatch you away from him. You are sealed by God. However, that seal is “through faith”. Here again is that tricky word “faith”, and again it goes back to “Is faith required to be an enduring faith”. I say yes. They say no.
.What happens when your faith ends? You're saved! You get your reward... eternal life!
.1 Peter 1:9 “Receiving the end of your faith, even the salvation of your souls.”
.However, if the end of your faith is before your death, you have abandoned the faith! (I Timothy 4:1).
.I am a firm proponent of “conditional security”. I've had others preach “eternal security” and the more they preached the more firm I became because I studied deeper and deeper into the word. I prayed for God to lead me and to put aside my pride because we can be firm in our beliefs due to pride, causing us to be blinded to truth. However, that works the same way for people of either view. One thing that really hurts the case of believers in eternal security is their misrepresentations and fun-making:
.- “Those people believe one can 'lose their salvation'”. False! Proponents of free will believe that you can relinquish the grace that God has given you. They return to the ruler of the world in rebellion to Jesus, not because God takes away their salvation, but because of a bad choice.
- “Those people believe in salvation by works and if you sin you lose your salvation.” Wrong again! We people believe that although works is assurance of your salvation, that good works have no bearing on your actual salvation. Your lack of faith is what causes you to select hell over heaven. Yo lose faith by not living in the word of God. He ceases to be important to you and you become apathetic to his authority. You have relinquished your hope.
- “Those people believe you can get saved time after time.” Some people do believe that. Most of us believe we're backsliden, but can get regenerated. Our faith is still there, but we just partake of the pleasures of sin. We are still responding to guilt as the tool of the Spirit. Armineans believe that once in apostasy always in apostasy because Jesus doesn't get crucified twice for your sins. It would shame him: Hebrews 6:4 “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, 5And have tasted the good word of God, and the powers of the world to come, 6If 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.” As for verses like the above those believing in eternal security would say that Paul was speaking to only the Jews. That has absolutely no bearing on the argument because God is not a respecter of persons. If it's true for the Jews, it's true for the gentile. Christian Jews were no more exempt from the mercy of God than the gentile! Likewise, if this type of argument is used we can all exempt ourselves from Romans, Corinthians, Thessalonians, etc, (i.e., nothing pertains to us because it was meant for others). Furthermore, while securitists denounce verses such as this from Hebrews they readily apply all other verses to everyone: inconsistent is the word you're looking for!
- “Those people believe if you get drunk you're going to hell.” This is just silly talk and is totally dishonest. When we are to refute others view, we must be honest in our refutation! Those propagating security have turned me off in their snide comments and misrepresentation. When persuasion fails it seems that even Christians resort to ridicule!
- “Those folks don't have any assurance of their salvation”. Wrong! Yes, we do, We're assured because we love Jesus so much that we want to do his will! We're just as assured as the next person. However, we're more cautious of “false assurance”: thinking that we are Christians, but not living for the Lord!
Now for the other side! What do we “free willers” think and say that is wrong?
.- “They believe you can do anything and still go to heaven!” While extremists such as Charles Stanley do take this position, most Baptists will say “Well, they weren't saved to start with.” That may very well be true, so let's give them the benefit of the doubt.
- “He lives like the devil all week because he believes in eternal security.” While, I believe that people are more prone to sin if they're no consequences, we also find that some free-willers also live like the devil during the week. We are all prone to sin regardless of our position on eternal security. In fairness, securitists believe that the consequence of sin in the life of a Christian is a lesser reward in heaven. That makes sense. That may be a possibility as well, but I believe that sinners with no faith get no rewards in heaven because they won't be there!
- “They are damning people to hell with their eternal security”. This issue is not a critical one to salvation! There are many people on both sides of the issue who use scripture for their position and folks on both sides will make it to heaven although one side is obviously in error. The danger in this theology, though, is that people may be tempted and succumb because as one man told me “This sin (that he was doing) was covered by the blood two-thousand years ago”. While, Jesus saves us from all sins our acceptance of him as savior is for all “past sins”. We need to continually ask for pardon of those current sins although he has already died for all sins. Romans 3:25 “Whom God hath set forth to be a propitiation through faith in his blood, to declare his righteousness for the remission of sins that are PAST, through the forbearance of God;”
Let's be fair in our disagreements. Let's be loving! Let's quit misrepresenting each other. This doctrinal issue cannot ever be decided until we see Jesus. Then, we all will be humbled and see that Jesus cries in our stupidity and pride. I pray often that this issue not let me be driven from communion with my Christian brothers of the other persuasion. They make a big issue of it. I try not to be that way, but still they may perceive it to be. If my mind's in submission, I hope my heart will follow. I don't want to jeopardize my rewards in Christ because of a selfish viewpoint: my understanding and knowledge is greater than theirs. While I hope that your views are similar to mine, if they're not, you're still a child of God as long as you accept Jesus as Savior!
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