The subject of “eternal security”
was commenced in part one. Part two will delve into that further. The most basic
definition for “security” is “freedom from danger — safety”
“Safety” is “the condition of
being safe from undergoing or causing hurt, injury, or loss” (ibid).
From The Book of Job, it
is learned that he was not safe from hurt or injury, but he could not
lose his uprightness; “That man was perfect and upright, and one that feared
God, and eschewed evil” (Job 1:1). That was his nature. He would have not been
born fearing God, but that gift was given to him for his well-being and safety.
The fear of God could not be taken away from Him.
Indeed, we are to “love and fear
God”
For the Israelites — His chosen
people — “What does the Lord your God require of you, but to fear the Lord your
God, to walk in all His ways, and to love him, and to serve the Lord your God
with all your heart and with all your soul” (Deut 10:12). If that sounds
familiar, “The Greatest Commandment” of Jesus is very similar (Mark 22:26-40).
We are to both love and fear God
because He is sovereign, having full responsibility for His subjects. The fear
is that He is not obligated to so but will anyhow.
Jesus added the fear part; “Fear
not them which kill the body but are not able to kill the soul: but rather fear
Him which is able to destroy both soul and body in Hell” (Mat 10:28). “Them” are
Satan and the demons, and the “Him” is God.
The lesson learned from Job was
not to fear Satan who could only hurt the body but could not the soul. Why was
that? Satan knew the parameters of God. Because Job feared God more than Satan,
his soul could never be harmed; albeit his body was always in jeopardy of perishing,
but his soul was safe so long as he maintained faith in God.
Job was another “Adam.” Whereas
the first man was tested and failed, this other man (Job) was tested and
passed. Satan could attack him but not God in him which is the “soul” of the
righteous man. Like Adam, Job could have failed but he wore his faith, as you
shall see.
How much are we to love God? Job
was willing to sacrifice himself. He would need not do that for the perfect
sacrifice would be performed by no other than God Himself at the future
crucifixion.
Job could have given in to his
flesh. The best of his flesh were attacked first: his family and after that his
estate and wealth. Soon the flesh of Job was attacked with boils. Only his soul
remained but God had indeed put a “hedge about him” (Job 1:10). God kept the
soul of Job safe but his flesh all about him slowly perished, and as it turned
out, Job endured to the end.
Everybody remembers the temptations
of Job but few think of the outcome when Job gave thanks after many trials and
tribulations:
Let Your hand be upon the man of Your
right hand, upon the Son of man whom You made strong for Yourself. So will not
we go back from You: quicken us, and we will call upon Your Name. Turn us
again, O Lord God of hosts, cause Your face to shine; and we shall be saved. (Job 80:17-19)
Job’s secret for his safety: He
kept His eyes on Jesus (“The Son of Man”) because pre-carnal Jesus had quickened
him. Yes, Jesus is the “quickening Spirit” of God (1 Cor 15:45). That raises
the question; What does quicken entail? In the Hebrew, “quicken” means “to
sustain life.” To have life to sustain, life must first exist.
Job had the Spirit of God in him
and God put a hedge about him. Despite that, Satan’s did all he could to breach
the hedge that God placed around Job. Foremost, Job suffered tribulations and
even questioned his own faith. In the end, although Job was attacked in many
ways, he remained upright.
God would allow his person to be
attacked, but not his soul. The flesh is not important to God but only as a means
for testing for uprightness.
Job was upright, believing in the
coming Messiah, as we found out. At some time, God quickened him by giving him
life, and as the word means, God kept Job safe; not his person but his soul.
Our own flesh has value to us. We
arrogantly think that God will keep our beastly flesh safe and secure, but that’s
not what He was talking about! Isaiah knew what was important as he wrote:
I will greatly rejoice in the
Lord, my soul shall be joyful in my God; for He has clothed me with the
garments of salvation, He has covered me with the robe of righteousness, as a
bridegroom decks himself with ornaments, and as a bride adorns herself with her
jewels. (Isa 61:10)
The “clothing” was not to cover his
flesh but was invisible, glorious apparel that kept him safe. It seems that
like Adam, God covered the Image of God in Isaiah with a royal garment. God did
not cover the flesh of Isaiah but put onto his soul “garments of salvation.” For
Job, the “Garment of God” was a “hedge” to make an entwinement, ostensibly to
protect him from the fiery darts of the Wicked One from penetrating his soul.
Christians also have a “hedge” or “garment”
about them, but not to protect their flesh but their souls — “The Whole Armor
of God,” to wit:
Put on the whole armour of God,
that you may be able to stand against the wiles of the devil, for we wrestle
not against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers,
against the rulers of the darkness of this world, against spiritual wickedness
in high places. Wherefore take unto you the whole armour of God, that you may
be able to withstand in the evil day, and having done all, to stand. (Ephes 6:11-13)
God provides the armor, but what must
you do? Wear it. Like King David who rejected the armor of unrighteous Saul, he
put on the armor of God, represented by his selection of only five stones. In other words, the armor of God was invisible
but effective and David could have gone out bare. God did, however, put a hedge
about David to keep him safe from the wicked Goliath.
Christians can wear armor as well; “Taking
the shield of faith, wherewith you shall be able to quench all the fiery darts
of the wicked” (Ephes 6:16).
In the ages to come He might show the
exceeding riches of His grace in His kindness toward us through Christ Jesus, for
by grace are you saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the
gift of God, not of works, lest any man should boast. (Ephes 2:7-9)
The reward is sometime in the future…
“in the ages to come.” Faith is through Jesus and not of ourselves. Faith is
the gift of God. The faith that we are to put on; that’s like a piece of armor
of God that we should wear in gratitude for security. God, through the hands of
Jesus, does provide the hedge, garment, or faith; but Christians must wear them,
and to be truthful, even sleep in it for when we are asleep, we are the most
vulnerable, as it is writtem: “Be sober, be vigilant; because your adversary
the Devil, as a roaring lion, walks about, seeking whom he may devour” (1 Pet
5:8).
Ask yourselves, Why the armor? If
we are already saved, then we would not be vulnerable. The righteous are the
most vulnerable of all as the story of Job revealed. What was the Devil doing
with Job? Looking for a gap in the “weave” of the hedge (as the translation
means).
Insobriety and non-vigilance provide
the gap for the fiery darts of the wicked one, meaning that faith must be worn
at all times, and more than just a little faith! Insobriety is not just
inebriation but being unaware that there are beings around you, even as a
Christian, that are trying to get to your soul through your flesh. You are not
an impenetrable fortress but are under siege all the time, with just the enemy
waiting on your weakness.
Our flesh is not really
protection at all but an attraction for sin. The only souls worth
attacking are the souls of the righteous.
Faith is a gift; it is not to be used
one time and put away but worn all the time. The Bible reveals that faith is a
variable; [1] all the way from no faith, a little faith,
the faith of a mustard seed, faith enough to move mountains, the faith of
Abraham, to the faith of God who indeed knows Himself.
Just as with Job, Satan looks for
a time when we least expect. Are you always safe? Are you already saved? If so
then Satan cannot get to you at all, so why put on the armor of God?
You must consider the Word of God;
it was not just filler material to gloss over. The Word is the “Sword of the
Spirit” (Ephes 6:17). Why a sword if you are not in jeopardy? Because you are
kept safe by The Word so that you can endure to the end. “He that shall endure
unto the end, the same shall be saved” (Mark 13:13). Endure what? The
temptations of the flesh, laxity, persecution, prideful attitudes such as you
can make it on your own, and such.
When is the “end”? Is it at the
end of time? Indeed, it is at the end of your time. I agree with the proposition
that time is a construct of man, or for man. Solomon pointed that
our very clearly in his ruminations in the Book of Ecclesiastes.
Our end here on earth for
Christians comes in two ways: (1) those who have died in Christ, and (2) for
those who are living in Christ when He returns. (1 Thes 4:16-17).
Those who have already died will
be quickened by the Spirit of God in the Person of Jesus. That requickening
is regeneration just as God, The Word, quickened Adam at the generation in Genesis.
Speaking of Jesus, Peter wrote:
(Jesus) whom having not seen, you
love; in whom, though now you see Him not, yet believing, you rejoice with joy
unspeakable and full of glory, receiving the end of your faith, even the
salvation of your souls of which salvation the prophets have enquired and
searched diligently, who prophesied of the grace that should come unto you. (1 Pet 1:8-10)
Faith must proceed from rebirth
(John 3:7) until your end whether it be death or the rapture of those still quickened
by Christ. Faith is a variable in time, not some peak moment. That “peak experience”
is reserved for the quickening when the souls of those in Christ are saved.
Note that their souls are saved,
but they put on new incorruptible flesh. (1 Cor 15:52). Do you get it: the
flesh that you love and adore so much will perish, but your souls never die
whether you are a Christian are not. All souls are immortal, a few always
living; the rest always dying, but since eternity has no time, dying is forever.
There will be part three. Next
the preservation of the saints will be examined.
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