Eternal Security. Introduction

Transcription

1 Eternal Security Introduction The subject of eternal security is extremely important and essential for the believer in the Lord Jesus Christ to understand if he is to glorify God and grow to spiritual maturity. By way of definition, the term eternal security refers to the fact that the believer s eternal salvation is guaranteed and can never be lost due to sin or forfeited due to sin on the part of the believer since the believer s eternal salvation is non-meritorious and is based solely upon God and what He accomplished through the death, resurrection and session of the Lord Jesus Christ. This study deals with the different approaches or rationales pertaining to the subject of eternal security and is designed to give the believer assurance that his relationship with the Triune God is secure and can never be lost. So what is assurance? It is freedom from doubt. Assurance is a sense of certainty that something is true that it will occur or that all is okay. Webster s New Universal Unabridged Dictionary lists the following definitions for assurance: (1) a positive declaration intended to give confidence. (2) Pledge, guaranty, surety. (3) Full confidence; freedom from doubt, certainty. (4) Freedom from timidity; selfconfidence; self-possession; firmness; courage. Therefore, paraphrasing this definition, the purpose of this study is designed to give the believer confidence that his relationship with God is secure and can never be lost due to any failure on his part. The believer s salvation is based upon the Rock, namely, the Lord Jesus Christ and not upon himself. The Person of Christ and His finished work on the cross are the basis for the believer s salvation and the same holds true for the believer after salvation. The Scriptures describe the believer s salvation and subsequent spiritual life as being built upon the Rock, the Lord Jesus Christ Himself. Deuteronomy 32:4, The Rock. His work is perfect, for all His ways are just; a God of faithfulness and without injustice, Righteous and upright is He. The believer s salvation is secure because it is not built upon the work of man but the work of God that was accomplished through the Person and Work of Christ Jesus. Therefore, the believer s salvation is built upon an eternal foundation. Proverbs 10:25, When the whirlwind passes, the wicked is no more, but the righteous {has} an eternal foundation William E. Wenstrom, Jr. Bible Ministries 1

2 Trinity Rationale All three members of the Trinity work together in concert to keep the believer eternally secure after he has exercised faith in Christ for salvation. Romans 8:33-34, Who will bring a charge against God's elect? God is the one who justifies; who is the one who condemns? Christ Jesus is He who died, yes, rather who was raised, who is at the right hand of God, who also intercedes for us. There are two reasons stated in Romans 8:34 that relate the eternal security of the believer to the work of God the Son: (1) Christ as our Redeemer and Substitute (2) Christ as our Intercessor at the right hand of the Father. Christ s death on the cross as a substitute for the entire human race destroyed the barrier, which separated man from God because it satisfied the perfect holiness of God, which said that sin must be judged. Christ was judged in our place as our Substitute. Romans 5:6-8, For while we were still helpless, at the right time Christ died for the ungodly. For one will hardly die for a righteous man; though perhaps for the good man someone would dare even to die. But God demonstrates His own love toward us, in that while we were yet sinners, Christ died as our Substitute. God is now free to justify any member of the human race who exercises faith in His Son for salvation. God is free to impute His perfect righteousness to any member of the human race who exercises faith alone in Christ alone (Rom. 4). Once the believer receives the righteousness of God at salvation, God the Father is free to declare the believer justified, thus making the believer eternally secure (Rom. 3:22-28; 5:1, 8). The book of Hebrews teaches that Christ s death on the cross is the only sacrifice acceptable to the perfect righteousness of the Father, which stands for all of eternity (Heb. 9:11-14, 26-28; 10:12-14). The second reason stated in Romans 8:34 that relates the eternal security of the believer to God the Son is that of His intercessory ministry at the right hand of the Father during the church age. Paul s 2 nd argument in Romans 8:34 concerns the resurrection, ascension and present session of the Lord Jesus Christ at the right hand of the Father. The Lord Jesus Christ sits at the right hand of the Father as sovereign ruler of the cosmos. He also intercedes for the believer as the believer s defense attorney when Satan accuses him before the Father (Rev. 12:10 cf. Heb. 7:25) William E. Wenstrom, Jr. Bible Ministries 2

3 Our eternal security is also protected by God the Father whose perfect righteousness was satisfied by the spiritual death on the cross of the perfect humanity of Christ. God is responsible for bringing our salvation to pass and not us. Nothing can frustrate God the Father s eternal and sovereign purpose, not even our sins no matter how gross. Since the Father s righteousness was satisfied by the death of His Son on the cross, the Father is now free to impute His righteousness and consequently justify us when we believed in His Son Jesus Christ for salvation (Eph. 1:3-6). The Father keeps us eternally secure for the sake of His Son and what He did for us at the Cross. God the Father loves the believer with an eternal, immutable, sacrificial, unconditional love because of our relationship with His Son and nothing can separate the believer from that divine love (Rm. 8:39; Jo. 17:11). The fact that the Father disciplines us proves that we are still sons when we sin. The Father does not disown us when we sin but rather disciplines us in order to get us to acknowledge our sin and thus recover our fellowship with Him (Heb. 12:5-11). Sin does not change our eternal relationship with God, but rather sin adversely affects our fellowship with God in time. Fellowship is based upon the believer s eternal relationship with God. However, fellowship is dynamic and can be lost due to sin whereas the believer s eternal relationship is static and can never be lost due to sin. For example, I am a member of the Wenstrom family. When I was a child and disobeyed my parents, I lost fellowship with them and was disciplined by them but I was not disowned and remained a Wenstrom even though I disobeyed my parents and so it is in the family of God. Sin affects our intimacy with God or cuts off our fellowship with Him in time. It adversely affects our ability to serve Him and if left unchecked will result in loss of rewards at the Bema Seat Evaluation of the church age believer (cf. 1 Cor. 3:11-15). No one is stronger than God the Father. No one can defeat His sovereign purpose to save us and protect us for all of eternity (1 Pet. 1:3-5; Jude 24). At the moment of salvation, the omnipotence of God the Holy Spirit places a person who exercises faith alone in Christ alone for salvation in an eternal union with Jesus Christ, which identifies the believer with Christ in His death and resurrection positionally. Positional refers to what God has down for us and how He views us. He has crucified us with Christ and we have died and been buried with Christ through the baptism of the Spirit (Rom. 6) and we have been raised and seated with Christ (Eph. 2:1-6) William E. Wenstrom, Jr. Bible Ministries 3

4 Therefore, the baptism of the Spirit provides the believer with eternal security. It makes the believer a permanent member of the Body of Christ. If a believer could lose his salvation then this would maim the body of Christ (1 Cor. 12:12-13). Furthermore, the believer is also eternally secure because of the work of God the Holy Spirit in regeneration, which makes him a new spiritual species, meaning that the believer now has a new nature or Christ nature. This new Christ nature can never sin and provides the believer with an alternative to living according to the old Adamic sin nature (2 Cor. 5:17; Titus 3:5-7). Also, God the Holy Spirit permanently indwells our body at the moment of salvation (Rom. 8:11; 1 Cor. 3:16; 6:1-10). This too provides the believer with eternal security. The sealing ministry of God the Holy Spirit also provides the believer with the eternal security (1 Cor. 1:21-22a; Eph. 1:13; 2 Co. 1:22; Eph. 4:30). Sealed is the verb sphagizo, which means, "to mark with a seal as a means of identification." God the Holy Spirit puts His mark on us at the moment of salvation. This mark not only denotes ownership but also carries with it the protection of the owner. God not only owns us at the moment of salvation, but He is our protection. The sealing ministry of God the Holy Spirit is important because it guarantees our salvation! 2 Corinthians 1:22, Who also sealed us and gave us the Spirit in our hearts as a pledge." Pledge is the noun arrhabon, guarantee. This Greek term is actually a Semitic loan word. The Hebrew form is `eravon. Arrhabon was a technical word in the realm of business and commercial trade. It was used to indicate a guaranteed amount, which a buyer pays on a contract to deem it unalterable. Arrhabon denotes a deposit or pledge, which guarantees fulfillment. The word is used figuratively by Paul in Ephesians 1:14 and 2 Corinthians 1:22 of God the Holy Spirit who has been given to the believer at salvation by the Father as a guarantee of their full future possession of eternal salvation. The permanent indwelling presence of the Spirit guarantees the believer that he will receive a resurrection body in the future. The indwelling of the Spirit guarantees that we have eternal security and will receive the future blessing of a resurrection body William E. Wenstrom, Jr. Bible Ministries 4

5 The Love of God Rationale The subject of eternal security can also be approached from that of the love of God. We have eternal security as believers since God is love. To say that you can lose your salvation is an attack on the love of God. It is in effect saying that God does not love. The believer s salvation is as strong as the love of God. The Bible teaches that God is love (1 Jn. 4:16), which is a part of His divine essence, which is composed of the following attributes: (1) Sovereignty (2) Righteousness (3) Justice (4) Love (5) Eternal life (6) Omnipotence (7) Omniscience (8) Omnipresence (9) Immutability (10) Veracity. The Scriptures describe three elements concerning the character and nature of God. God is spirit meaning that He is invisible. John 4:23-27, But an hour is coming and now is when the true worshippers, will worship the Father spiritually, yes, by means of truth. In fact, the Father intensely desires such worshippers of Him. God, as to His nature, is spirit and those worshipping Him must worship spiritually, yes, by means of truth. God is light, which is a figure for the holiness of God and the holiness of God is simply the harmony of all His attributes and God s love is one of those attributes. 1 John 1:5, Now, this is the proclamation, which we have heard from Him and we are imparting at this particular time for the benefit of all of you that the God is light. In fact, there is absolutely no darkness in Him, none. God is love. 1 John 4:7-21, Beloved, let us love one another, for love is from God; and everyone who loves is born of God and knows God. The one who does not love does not know God, for God is love. By this the love of God was manifested in us, that God has sent His only begotten Son into the world so that we might live through Him. In this is love, not that we loved God, but that He loved us and sent His Son to be the propitiation for our sins. Beloved, if God so loved us, we also ought to love one another. No one has seen God at any time; if we love one another, God abides in us, and His love is perfected in us. By this we know that we abide in Him and He in us, because He has given us of His Spirit. We have seen and testify that the Father has sent the Son to be the Savior of the world. Whoever confesses that Jesus is the Son of God, God abides in him, and he in God. We have come to know and have believed the love, which God has for us. God is love, and the one who abides in love abides in God, and God abides in him. By this, love is perfected with us, so that we may have confidence in the day of judgment; because as He is, so also are we in this world. There is no fear in love; but perfect love casts out fear, because 2007 William E. Wenstrom, Jr. Bible Ministries 5

6 fear involves punishment, and the one who fears is not perfected in love. We love, because He first loved us. If someone says, I love God, and hates his brother, he is a liar; for the one who does not love his brother whom he has seen, cannot love God whom he has not seen. And this commandment we have from Him, that the one who loves God should love his brother also. God is love itself. Love is an attribute of God and thus originates with Him. The love of God is of the very essence of God. God s character and nature, His Person is love. 2 Corinthians 13:11, Finally, brethren, rejoice, be made complete, be comforted, be like-minded, live in peace; and the God of love and peace will be with you. The Lord Jesus Christ is the love of God incarnate since He is the God-Man who has explained the character and nature of God, and thus has explained the love of God since love is an attribute of God (cf. Jn. 1:18). John 1:18, No one has seen God at any time; the uniquely born God who is in the bosom of the Father, He has explained Him. The love of God was manifested perfectly to the entire human race through the Father s sacrifice of His Son at the cross of Calvary and the Son s willingness to be that sacrifice. Romans 5:6-11, For while we were still helpless, at the right time Christ died for the ungodly. For one will hardly die for a righteous man; though perhaps for the good man someone would dare even to die. But God demonstrates His own love toward us, in that while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us. Much more then, having now been justified by His blood, we shall be saved from the wrath of God through Him. For if while we were enemies we were reconciled to God through the death of His Son, much more, having been reconciled, we shall be saved by His life. And not only this, but we also exult in God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom we have now received the reconciliation. God manifested His attribute of love by raising us up while we were under real spiritual death and seating us with Christ at His right hand at the moment of salvation through the baptism of the Holy Spirit. Ephesians 2:1-10, And you were dead in your trespasses and sins, in which you formerly walked according to the course of this world, according to the prince of the power of the air, of the spirit that is now working in the sons of disobedience. Among them we too all formerly lived in the lusts of our flesh, indulging the desires of the flesh and of the mind, and were by nature children of wrath, even as the rest. But God, being rich in mercy, because of His great love with which He loved us, even when we were dead in our transgressions, made us alive together with Christ (by grace you have been saved), and raised 2007 William E. Wenstrom, Jr. Bible Ministries 6

7 us up with Him, and seated us with Him in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus, so that in the ages to come He might show the surpassing riches of His grace in kindness toward us in Christ Jesus. For by grace you have been saved through faith; and that not of yourselves, it is the gift of God; not as a result of works, so that no one may boast. For we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand so that we would walk in them. God s love is sacrificial. 1 John 3:16, We know love by this, that He laid down His life for us; and we ought to lay down our lives for the brethren. God s love is impersonal meaning that God does not need an attractive object to love since He simply loves from His own nature. Romans 5:8, But God demonstrates His own love toward us, in that while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us. Therefore, since God s love is impersonal, He doesn t stop loving us when we become unattractive to Him when we sin. God s love is immutable meaning that is never changes. Micah 7:18-20, Who is a God like You, who pardons iniquity and passes over the rebellious act of the remnant of His possession? He does not retain His anger forever, because He delights in unchanging love. He will again have compassion on us; He will tread our iniquities under foot. Yes, You will cast all their sins into the depths of the sea. You will give truth to Jacob and unchanging love to Abraham, which You swore to our forefathers from the days of old. Since God s love is immutable that means that God doesn t stop loving us when we commit sin after salvation. God s love is eternal meaning it has not beginning and no end. John 17:24, Father, I desire that they also, whom You have given Me, be with Me where I am, so that they may see My glory which You have given Me, for You loved Me before the foundation of the world. God s love is unconditional and faithful. Romans 8:38-39, For I am convinced that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor things present, nor things to come, nor powers, nor height, nor depth, nor any other created thing, will be able to separate us from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord. Therefore, since God s love is unconditional that means that God still loves us when we sin after salvation and doesn t disown us when we do. The Bible teaches that the entire human race is the object of God s impersonal love and all believers are the objects of His personal love William E. Wenstrom, Jr. Bible Ministries 7

8 Before salvation, the believer was the object of God s impersonal love meaning that he was obnoxious and unattractive to God since he was enslaved to the cosmic system of Satan and his old Adamic sin nature and under real spiritual death. At salvation, the believer became the object of God s personal love meaning that the believer is attractive to God since God imputed His righteousness to the believer at the moment he exercised faith alone in Christ alone and is now a child of God and a partaker of the divine nature. 1 John 3:1, See how great a love the Father has bestowed on us, that we would be called children of God; and such we are. For this reason the world does not know us, because it did not know Him. 2 Peter 1:2-4, Grace and peace be multiplied to you in the knowledge of God and of Jesus our Lord, seeing that His divine power has granted to us everything pertaining to life and godliness, through the true knowledge of Him who called us by His own glory and excellence. For by these He has granted to us His precious and magnificent promises, so that by them you may become partakers of the divine nature, having escaped the corruption that is in the world by lust. God loves the unbeliever from His own integrity because the unbeliever does not possess His perfect righteousness, which would make them worthy of God s personal love, thus God s love towards the unbeliever is impersonal. God s impersonal love was expressed towards the believer when He sent His Son into the world to die for the believer s sins and also at salvation when He raised and seated the believer with Christ even though the believer was living under real spiritual death and enslaved to the cosmic system of Satan. All church age believers are the objects of God s personal love and the beneficiaries of this personal love. The Greek adjective agapetos, beloved expresses this fact and which should be translated divinely loved ones. Ephesians 5:1-2, Therefore be imitators of God, as beloved children; and walk in love, just as Christ also loved you and gave Himself up for us, an offering and a sacrifice to God as a fragrant aroma. The imputation of divine righteousness at the moment of salvation transforms the believer into an object of God s personal love. Romans 4:3, For what does the Scripture say? ABRAHAM BELIEVED GOD, AND IT WAS CREDITED TO HIM AS RIGHTEOUSNESS. The divine-love of God the Father expressed itself through His work in eternity past on behalf of every church age believer: (1) Election (2) Predestination (3) Eternal inheritance William E. Wenstrom, Jr. Bible Ministries 8

9 Ephesians 1:1-14, Paul, an apostle of Christ Jesus by the will of God, to the saints who are at Ephesus and who are faithful in Christ Jesus: Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ. Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places in Christ, just as He chose us in Him before the foundation of the world, that we would be holy and blameless before Him. In love He predestined us to adoption as sons through Jesus Christ to Himself, according to the kind intention of His will to the praise of the glory of His grace, which He freely bestowed on us in the Beloved. In Him we have redemption through His blood, the forgiveness of our trespasses, according to the riches of His grace which He lavished on us. In all wisdom and insight He made known to us the mystery of His will, according to His kind intention, which He purposed in Him with a view to an administration suitable to the fullness of the times, that is, the summing up of all things in Christ, things in the heavens and things on the earth. In Him also we have obtained an inheritance, having been predestined according to His purpose who works all things after the counsel of His will, to the end that we who were the first to hope in Christ would be to the praise of His glory. In Him, you also, after listening to the message of truth, the gospel of your salvation -- having also believed, you were sealed in Him with the Holy Spirit of promise, who is given as a pledge of our inheritance, with a view to the redemption of God's own possession, to the praise of His glory. The divine-love of God the Son expressed itself through His work in time at the Cross: (1) Redemption (2) Propitiation (3) Reconciliation (4) Mediatorship. Redemption: The Lord Jesus Christ on the Cross purchased the entire human race out from the slave market of sin with His substitutionary spiritual death (Mark 10:45; 1 Cor. 1:30; Gal. 3:13; Eph. 1:7; Col. 1:13-14; Titus 2:14; 1 Pet. 1:18-19). Colossians 1:13-14, For He rescued us from the domain of darkness, and transferred us to the kingdom of His beloved Son, in whom we have redemption, the forgiveness of sins. Propitiation: The Lord Jesus Christ satisfied the righteousness of God with His substitutionary spiritual death on the Cross as the payment for our sins (Lev. 1; 16; Rom. 3:25; Heb. 2:17; 1 John 2:2; 4:10). 1 John 4:10, In this is love, not that we loved God, but that He loved us and sent His Son to be the propitiation for our sins. Reconciliation: God s peace treaty with the entire human race as a result of the substitutionary spiritual death of Christ the Cross which removed the Barrier which separated mankind from God (2 Cor. 5:18-21; Eph. 2:14-16; Col. 1:20-21) William E. Wenstrom, Jr. Bible Ministries 9

10 Colossians 1:22, yet He has now reconciled you in His fleshly body through death, in order to present you before Him holy and blameless and beyond reproach. Mediatorship of Christ: Our Lord as the God-Man is the Peacemaker or Mediator between God and man (Eph. 2:14-16; 1 Tim. 2:5). 1 Timothy 2:5, For there is one God, {and} one mediator also between God and men, {the} man Christ Jesus. At the present time, the Lord Jesus Christ is expressing His divine-love towards the believer through His Advocacy for the believer at the right hand of the Father where He defends the believer against the accusations of Satan. 1 John 2:1, Now, if anyone does enter into committing an act of sin, then we possess as an Advocate with the Father, Jesus who is the righteous Christ. The divine-love of God the Holy Spirit expresses itself through His seven salvation ministries on behalf of the believer: Efficacious Grace: Makes faith in Jesus Christ effective for salvation (2 Cor. 6:1-2; Eph. 2:8-9). 2 Corinthians 6:1-2, And working together with Him, we also urge you not to receive the grace of God in vain -- for He says, "AT THE ACCEPTABLE TIME I LISTENED TO YOU, AND ON THE DAY OF SALVATION I HELPED YOU." Behold, now is "THE ACCEPTABLE TIME," behold, now is "THE DAY OF SALVATION" Regeneration: Creates a human spirit for the purpose of the imputation of eternal life (John 3:1-16; Titus 3:5). Titus 3:5, He saved us, not on the basis of deeds which we have done in righteousness, but according to His mercy, by the washing of regeneration and renewing by the Holy Spirit. Baptism of the Spirit: Places every believer in union with Jesus Christ (John 7:37-39; 1 Cor. 12:13; Eph. 4:5; 1 Pet. 3:21). 1 Corinthians 12:13, For by one Spirit we were all baptized into one body, whether Jews or Greeks, whether slaves or free, and we were all made to drink of one Spirit. Indwelling: Creates a temple for the indwelling of Jesus Christ (Rom. 8:11; 1 Cor. 3:16; 6:19-20; 2 Cor. 6:16). 1 Corinthians 3:16, Do you not know that you are a temple of God and that the Spirit of God dwells in you? Filling: Influences the soul of the believer in executing the plan of God for the church age (Eph. 5:18). Ephesians 5:18, And do not permit yourselves to get into the habit of being drunk with wine because that is non-sensical behavior, but rather permit yourselves on a habitual basis to be influenced by means of the Spirit William E. Wenstrom, Jr. Bible Ministries 10

11 Sealing: Puts His stamp on the believer to guarantee his salvation (2 Cor. 1:22; Eph. 1:13; 4:30). Ephesians 4:30, Do not grieve the Holy Spirit of God, by whom you were sealed for the day of redemption. Distribution of Spiritual Gifts: Gives every believer a spiritual gift (1 Cor. 12:4-11; 1 Pet. 4:10). 1 Corinthians 12:11, But one and the same Spirit works all these things, distributing to each one individually just as He wills. God the Holy Spirit s post-salvation ministries on behalf of the believer: Empowers the believer to execute the plan of God (Jo. 14:16, 26; Ga. 5:16, 25; Eph. 5:18; Phlp. 2:13). Philippians 2:12, Therefore, my divinely loved ones, in the same manner that all of you have consistently obeyed, not only when in my presence, but now, much more in my absence, you yourselves continue executing your own spiritual life by means of respect (for God) and with trembling. Philippians 2:13, Since God (the Holy Spirit) is the one producing in all of you not only the determination but also the (resultant) production for the attainment of the grace purpose (of God the Father in eternity past). He reproduces Christ-like character (fruit of the Spirit) in the believer (Ga. 4:19; 5:5, 16-23). Galatians 5:22-23, But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control; against such things there is no law. Teaches the believer the doctrines of Christ (Jo. 14:26; 1 Co. 2:10-16; 1 Jo. 2:20, 27). John 14:26, But the Helper, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in My name, He will teach you all things, and bring to your remembrance all that I said to you. The fact that we are beneficiaries of God s divine-love before salvation and objects of His personal love after salvation is designed to not only bless us but also to assure that we are eternally secure and encourage us when we go through adversity in life and also serves to challenge us to advance to maturity and execute the plan of God. Romans 8:28-39, And we know that God causes all things to work together for good to those who love God, to those who are called according to His purpose. For those whom He foreknew, He also predestined to become conformed to the image of His Son, so that He would be the firstborn among many brethren; and these whom He predestined, He also called; and these whom He called, He also justified; and these whom He justified, He also glorified. What then shall we say to these things? If God is for us, who is 2007 William E. Wenstrom, Jr. Bible Ministries 11

12 against us? He who did not spare His own Son, but delivered Him over for us all, how will He not also with Him freely give us all things? Who will bring a charge against God's elect? God is the one who justifies; who is the one who condemns? Christ Jesus is He who died, yes, rather who was raised, who is at the right hand of God, who also intercedes for us. Who will separate us from the love of Christ? Will tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or peril, or sword? Just as it is written, FOR YOUR SAKE WE ARE BEING PUT TO DEATH ALL DAY LONG; WE WERE CONSIDERED AS SHEEP TO BE SLAUGHTERED. But in all these things we overwhelmingly conquer through Him who loved us. For I am convinced that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor things present, nor things to come, nor powers, nor height, nor depth, nor any other created thing, will be able to separate us from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord William E. Wenstrom, Jr. Bible Ministries 12

13 The Exegetical Rationale When approaching the subject of eternal security, we can look at it from an exegetical standpoint in the original languages. The use of the perfect tense in a number of New Testament passages would further point to the believer s security. The meaning of the perfect tense in Greek combined with the context and the analogy of Scripture forms another argument for the security of the believer. The perfect tense refers to action or an event which, completed in the past, has results existing in the present time (i.e., in relation to the time of the speaker). It looks at the present state of affairs. The following passages that use the perfect tense stress the saved state of the believer who has trusted in the Savior. The force of the perfect tense is simply that it describes an event that completed in the past (we are speaking of the perfect indicative here), has results existing in the present time (i.e., in relation to the time of the speaker). The perfect tense is used for indicating not the past action as such but the present state of affairs resulting from the past action. John 5:24, Truly, truly, I say to you, he who hears My word, and believes Him who sent Me, has eternal life, and does not come into judgment, but has passed out of death into life. The phrase has passed is the perfect tense of the verb metabaino, to pass over from one place to another. In John 5:24 it means to pass over from the state of spiritual death to the state of possessing eternal life. This is called gnomic perfect used to speak of a generic or proverbial occurrence. It expresses a general timeless fact. The perfect tense of the verb metabaino denotes that if any individual who believes in Jesus Christ for salvation will as a general timeless dogmatic statement of fact have passed out of the state of spiritual death and into eternal life. Romans 5:2, through whom also we have obtained our introduction by faith into this grace in which we stand; and we exult in hope of the glory of God. The phrase we stand is the perfect active indicative form of the verb histemi. This is an intensive perfect used to emphasize the results or present state produced by a past action. The intensive perfect of the verb histemi in Romans 5:2 expresses the fact that the believer is eternally secure as a result of his decision in the past to make the non-meritorious decision to believe in the Lord Jesus for salvation. The intensive perfect denotes that the believer s past act of believing in Christ for salvation has eternal ramifications or in other words results that go on forever.the believer has eternal security. 1 Corinthians 1:2, to the church of God which is at Corinth, to those who have been sanctified in Christ Jesus, saints by calling, with all who in every place call upon the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, their Lord and ours William E. Wenstrom, Jr. Bible Ministries 13

14 The phrase who have been sanctified is the perfect passive participle form of the verb hagiazo. The verb hagiazo means to make holy, to sanctify, to consecrate, to set apart. The NT uses the verb hagiazo to signify an act whereby people or things are set apart for the exclusive use of God and are His special possession. When used of persons, hagiazo means, to consecrate, dedicate, to sanctify. The church age believer is consecrated, dedicated, sanctified and set apart for the exclusive use of God. The Baptism of the Spirit is the act of God, which makes the church age believer set apart for God. This again is an intensive perfect emphasizing the present results of a past action. The believer s faith in Christ at the moment of hearing the Gospel has produced the present result of being forever set apart for the exclusive purpose of God. Ephesians 2:8, For by grace you have been saved through faith; and that not of yourselves, it is the gift of God. The phrase you have been saved is what we call in the Greek an intensive perfect periphrastic construction, which is used to express the believer s eternal security in emphatic terms. This intensive perfect periphrastic construction is composed of 2 words: (1) 2 nd person plural present active indicative form of the copulative verb eimi, which is este. (2) Nominative masculine plural perfect middle participle form of the verb sozo, which is sesosmenoi. The anarthrous periphrastic participle sozo is employed with the verb of being eimi to form a finite verbal idea. This participle is called periphrastic because it is a round-about way of saying what could be expressed by a single verb. The participle is almost always nominative case and usually follows the verb. This mode of expression, common to all languages, is extensively employed in Greek. It occurs in all the voices and tenses, though rare in the aorist. The perfect tense of the periphrastic participle is intensive emphasizing the present results of a past action. The intensive perfect denotes the fact that the believer has been saved in the past at the moment of salvation, which has results that go on forever into eternity. The intensive perfect periphrastic participle construction states in emphatic terms that the believer has been saved in the past at the moment he exercised faith alone in Christ alone and the results of this decision in the past continue into the present and go on forever into eternity. So Paul is saying that the Ephesians that they have eternal security. They have been saved in the past with results that go on forever into eternity William E. Wenstrom, Jr. Bible Ministries 14

15 Position in Christ Rationale The eternal security of the believer can be approached from the standpoint of the believer s position in Christ, which was accomplished through the Baptism of the Spirit. At the moment of salvation, the omnipotence of God the Holy Spirit places the church age believer in a eternal union with Christ, thus identifying the believer with Christ and making them a permanent member of the royal family of God, a new spiritual species and eternally secure (Rom. 6:3-5; 1 Cor. 12:13; Gal. 3:26-28; Eph. 4:5; Col. 2:11-13; 1 Pet. 3:21). At the moment of salvation, the believer has been permanently identified positionally with Christ in His death and resurrection. Spirit baptism joins the believer into union with Christ. This becomes the new spiritual position of the believer. There are many references in the Word of God to the Baptism of the Spirit and its resultant positional truth. Our union with Christ is a guarantee of glory (Col. 3:3-4). The baptism of the Spirit takes place exclusively during the dispensation of the church age and is accomplished at the moment of salvation when the omnipotence of the Spirit places the believer in an eternal union with Christ, thus identifying the believer positionally with Christ in His death, resurrection and session. This is called in theology, positional truth. Our position in Christ means that the Father looks at us now as He looks at His Son and that we share the same life as the Son. Our position in Christ means that God the Father considers the believer to have been crucified with Christ (Gal. 2:20) died (Rom. 6:8) and buried with Christ (Rom. 6:4) as well as raised and seated with Christ at His right hand (Eph. 2:6). The baptism of the Spirit results in making the believer a permanent member of the royal family of God, a new spiritual species and eternally secure (Rom. 6:3-5; 1 Cor. 12:13; Gal. 3:26-28; Eph. 4:5; Col. 2:11-13; 1 Pet. 3:21). Ephesians 2:4-7, But God, being rich in mercy, because of His great love with which He loved us, even when we were dead in our transgressions, made us alive together with Christ (by grace you have been saved) and raised us up with Him, and seated us with Him in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus so that in the ages to come He might show the surpassing riches of His grace in kindness toward us in Christ Jesus. Ephesians 2:6 not only teaches that God raised us up with Christ but He also seated us with Christ at His right hand, which is a position of power and authority and rulership and victory William E. Wenstrom, Jr. Bible Ministries 15

16 The believer is now positionally higher than angels because he has been seated with Christ meaning that the believer has a higher and superior rank than the angels because he is seated with Christ (Heb. 1 and 2). God wants all of us to concentrate upon our position in Christ rather than our circumstance and problems here on earth. Colossians 3:2, Set your mind on the things above, not on the things that are on earth William E. Wenstrom, Jr. Bible Ministries 16

17 New Spiritual Species Rationale The New Spiritual Species is the Christ nature and is created by God the Holy Spirit at the moment of salvation through regeneration and the Baptism of the Spirit (2 Cor. 5:17; Eph. 4:24; Gal. 3:27; 6:15; Rom. 13:14; 2 Pet. 1:4). The new nature means that the church age believer has been created in the image of the Lord Jesus Christ. The main reason why God has given us a new nature is in order to have a relationship with Him.to have fellowship with Him. This new nature gives us the ability to utilize divine power. It is also the basis for experiential sanctification, which is the process that the believer who is positive towards the Word of God, experiencing identification with Christ in His death and resurrection. The new nature enables the believer to become like Christ in thought, word and actions or in other words to experience the character of Christ in our lives. The believer still has the old sin nature but it cannot function or control his life apart from his own consent as a result of negative volition. The new spiritual species or new Christ Nature is created through the Baptism of the Spirit and Regeneration. God the Holy Spirit is responsible for the believer having a new nature. The fact that the believer has a new nature forever protects him facing eternal condemnation as a result of any sin (Rom. 8:1). The new spiritual species or new Christ-nature possesses eternal life. The new spiritual species is a result of becoming born-again or born of God (1 Jn. 5:11-12, 18). Every church age believer has been given a new nature in order that he can grow to Christ-likeness, which is the status of spiritual maturity. The church age believer must imitate the impeccable humanity of Christ in hypostatic union if he is to attain Christ-likeness, or otherwise known as spiritual maturity. God views us as a new creation and does not look at us from the perspective of the old sin nature because He considers the old nature as crucified at the cross of Calvary 2000 years ago. It is blasphemous to say that a believer can lose his salvation. It is like saying that the nature of God can sin. The new Christ nature gives the believer the capacity to obey the commands to walk in love and as a child of light. The new Christ nature gives the believer the capacity to obey the Father s will, to experience and enjoy fellowship with God, to love all men as Christ loved all men and to reflect the holiness of God. The new Christ nature functions when the believer is obedient to the Father s will, which is revealed by the Spirit through the communication of the Word of God. Just as the humanity of Christ in hypostatic union perpetually obeyed the voice of the Spirit and was guided and directed by the Spirit as well as performing His miracles by means of the omnipotence of the Spirit so the new Christ nature, that is 2007 William E. Wenstrom, Jr. Bible Ministries 17

18 created in the image of Christ, obeys the voice of the Spirit and is guided and directed by the Spirit. This new divine nature can never sin and is the very righteousness of God that provides the believer the means by which the Holy Spirit can reproduce righteousness of God experientially in the believer who is obedient to the Word of righteousness. 1 John 3:9, No one who is born of God practices sin, because His seed abides in him; and he cannot sin, because he is born of God. Born of God refers to the spiritual birth. His seed is a reference to the new Christ nature. The believer sins because he disobeys the voice of the Spirit, which is heard through the Word of God and as a result lives in the old Adamic sin nature. The new Christ nature also provides the believer the capacity to experience deliverance from the old sin nature and the cosmic system of Satan. 2 Peter 1:4, For by these He has granted to us His precious and magnificent promises, so that by them you may become partakers of the divine nature, having escaped the corruption that is in the world by lust. The believer is commanded to put on the new Christ nature in order to practice the righteousness of God, which manifests itself in loving one another as Christ loved. Ephesians 4:24, and put on the new self, which in the likeness of God has been created in righteousness and holiness of the truth William E. Wenstrom, Jr. Bible Ministries 18

19 A Fortiori Rationale Another approach to eternal security is that of the a fortiori rationale or logical rationale. Webster s Ninth New Collegiate Dictionary defines a fortiori: With greater reason or more convincing force-used in drawing a conclusion that is inferred to be even more certain than another. The a fortiori principle is indicating in the Greek New Testament by the phrase pollo mallon, much more. Pollo is a dative neuter singular adjective from polus, much. It is used here with the comparative adverb mallon as dative of degree of difference. Mallon means more, to a greater degree, and denotes an increase, greater quantity, a larger measure, a higher degree. Mallon strengthens the word with which it occurs. Together these two words form the a fortiori principle. A fortiori is a Latin phrase meaning with stronger reason. It is an idiom of greater degree. A fortiori has two parts: (1) The greater (2) The lesser. What requires a greater degree of effort is used as the basis for showing what requires less effort. It is a conclusion compared with some other conclusion or recognized fact, as inferred to be even more certain or inescapable than the two conclusions it combines. A fortiori uses an inferential conclusion as being more conclusive than another reasoned conclusion. A fortiori is a system of argumentation or debate, which takes an accepted fact and by a comparison produces an inescapable fact and confident conclusion. It is an argument that says if God can do the greater than He can do the lesser. The greater: God saved you and made you a son of God. The lesser: Now, that you are a son, He will keep you saved. Christ died while we were sinners unbelievers, how much more will be saved from the wrath of God, which is to come after we have been saved (Rom. 5:6-11; 15-21). Logically, God did the most for us when we were His enemies and will do much more for us now that we are His sons. A fortiori states that if God can do something that is extremely difficult, it only makes sense that He can do something much easier like keep us saved William E. Wenstrom, Jr. Bible Ministries 19

20 Anthropomorphic Rationale Another approach to the subject of eternal security is that of the anthropomorphic rationale. John 10:28-29, and I give eternal life to them, and they will never perish; and no one will snatch them out of My hand. My Father, who has given {them} to Me, is greater than all; and no one is able to snatch {them} out of the Father's hand. An anthropomorphism is ascribing to God a human characteristic that He does not possess. Here in John 10:28-29 we have the Lord Jesus Christ ascribing a human hand to God that He does not possess but He does this in order to appeal to His audience s human frame of reference so that He might communicate a spiritual truth, a dogmatic statement of Bible doctrine. The hand represents the omnipotence of God. No one is stronger than God and the Lord employs this anthropomorphism in order to communicate this spiritual truth to His audience. Therefore, when the Lord says that no one can snatch a believer out of His hand and His Father s hand, He is saying that no one is strong enough to separate the believer from His grasp or that of His Father, thus the believer is eternally securing William E. Wenstrom, Jr. Bible Ministries 20

21 Family of God Rationale Every believer at the moment of salvation becomes a member of the royal family of God through regeneration and the baptism of the Spirit. At the moment the believer exercised faith alone in Christ alone he became a child of God (Jn. 1:12-13). At the moment of salvation the believer became a son of God. We are all sons of God through faith in the Lord Jesus Christ at the moment of salvation. Never before in human history have believers been called sons of God. The title sons of God was only used in the Old Testament for the angels (Gen. 6:2, 4; Job 1:6; 2:1; 38:7) and never was applied to believers. At no time in history have believers been given the privilege of calling God, Father, yet church age believers have this distinct privilege to call God, Father because they are sons of God. Because the church age believer is a son of God, he cannot be removed from the royal family of God. Once in the family always in the family. Success or failure on the part of the church age believer to execute the plan of God does not determine whether we remain or not in the family of God. Galatians 3:26-28, For you are all sons of God through faith in Christ Jesus. For all of you who were baptized into Christ have clothed yourselves with Christ. There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither slave nor free man, there is neither male nor female; for you are all one in Christ Jesus. The word for sons is the noun huios. It is used to convey the Father-son relationship that the believer now has been entered into through faith alone in Christ alone. The Scriptures also state the believer at the moment of salvation has been adopted (Roman style) into the royal family of God (Gal. 4:4-7). This makes them an heir of God (Rom. 8:14-23). The act of adoption is the conclusion of any action by which any person, usually a son, is brought into a new family relationship where he now has new privileges and responsibilities as a member of the family, and at the same time loses all previous rights and is divested of the previous duties of his former family relationship. The church age believer has been removed from the cosmic system as a child of the devil and has been placed as an adult son into the royal family of God, of which the Lord Jesus Christ is the Head. At the moment of salvation the church age believer is adopted Roman style into the royal family of God through the Baptism of the Spirit thus making him an heir of God and spiritual aristocracy. The Greek word for adoption is the huiothesia, adoption, placing as a son. It is a cognate of the noun huios. It is not so much a word of relationship but of position. In regeneration a Christian receives the new nature as a child of God. In adoption he receives the position of a son of God at the moment of salvation through the Baptism of the Spirit. Every Christian obtains the place of a child and 2007 William E. Wenstrom, Jr. Bible Ministries 21

22 the right to be called a son the moment he believes in Jesus Christ for salvation (Gal. 3:25-26; 4:6; 1 Jn. 3:1-2). The New Testament Scriptures teach that the Church has been adopted into the royal family of God as adult sons thus conferring upon them all the privileges and responsibilities that go along with this new relationship with God. The apostle Paul used the Roman style adoption analogy in his epistles to communicate to members of the churches throughout the Roman Empire their new relationship with God the Father which was acquired at the moment of faith in Christ. As a Roman citizen the apostle would naturally know of the Roman custom but in the cosmopolitan city of Tarsus and again on his travels, he would become equally familiar with the corresponding customs of other nations. He employed the Roman style adoption analogy to teach the spiritual adoption of church age believers much in the same manner that our Lord did in His parables. Paul utilized the Roman style adoption illustration to teach church age believers that God the Father s grace policy places them into the relation of sons to Himself and communicates to them the experience of sonship by applying the Word of God and thus, influenced, empowered and guided by means of the Spirit of God. The adoption of the Church Age believer means: (1) Privileges as an adult son of God (2) Responsibility to grow to spiritual maturity. The adoption of the believer means that he has obtained an eternal inheritance as a result of becoming an heir of God and joint-heir with Christ (Rom. 8:14-17; Eph. 1:13-14). The Indwelling of the Spirit gives the guarantee of the believer s adoption (Gal. 4:6). The Filling of the Spirit enables the believer to experience his adoption. The full manifestation of the believer s sonship awaits the resurrection of the Church or the Rapture which is called the redemption of the body (Rom. 8:23; 1 Thess. 4:14-17; Eph. 1:14; 1 John 3:2). God does not disown family members for sin but rather He disciplines them (Hebrews 12:5-11; Rev. 3:19). Therefore, the believer is eternally secure because he has become a member of the royal family of God William E. Wenstrom, Jr. Bible Ministries 22