Sanctification and Security #

Chapter 5

The need for security is one of the most pressing and imperative of human needs. Feelings of insecurity have been found to lie back of the most serious misconduct on the part of children and young people. Nothing is more fatal to happiness than uncertainty and the lack of some degree of security for the future.

This principle holds with regard to the spiritual life. To be plagued by doubts, questionings, and fears is to be defeated before the battle starts. Confidence and reasonable hopes are essential ingredients for a happy Christian life. If salvation cannot supply the need for security, it falls short by so much of meeting the whole range of human needs.

One of the sharpest issues in modern-day evangelical circles centers about this admitted need. It arises from the position taken by a large and influential group of pastors, evangelists, radio preachers, churches, and institutions to the effect that a single act of saving faith in an initial acceptance of Christ insures the final and eternal salvation of the believer.

Calvinism and Security #

In some cases, this position is based on the Calyinistic doctrine of particular election. This is the claim that God has from all eternity chosen some men and angels to eternal hte, and has left all others to eternal damnation. No one has ever stated it more succinctly than John Calvin himself.

Predestination we call the eternal decree of God by which He hath determined in Himself what He would have to become of every individual of mankind. For they are not all created with a similar destiny; but eternal life is foreordained for some, and eternal damnation tor others. … We assert that, by an eternal and immutable counsel, God hath once for all determined whoin He would admit to salvation and whom He would condemn to destruction. We affirm that this counsel, as far as concerns the elect, is founded on His gratuitous mercy, totally irrespective of human merit; but that to those whom He devotes to condemnation, the gate of life is closed by a just and irreprehensible, but incomprehensible judgment.¹

Lewis Sperry Chafer quotes Cunningham’s Historical Theology with approval: ”If it be true God has, from eternity, absolutely and unconditionally chosen some men certain persons, to eternal life, these men assuredly will all infallibly be saved."²

The formal truth of this proposition must be admitted. If salvation is by the unconditional predestination of the elect to eternal life, then unquestionably all so predestinated will be finally saved. But the consequent “These men assuredly will all infallibly be saved” obviously hangs entirely upon the material truth of its antecedent, “If God has unconditionally chosen some to eternal life.”

We have not space here to debate the dogma of unconditional predestination. It has been refuted by able theologians and stands in opposition to a score or more of definite biblical promises of salvation to any and all who meet God’s terms.³ We want only to point out that this doctrine of predestination, instead of establishing certainty of final salvation in the individual believer’s mind, actually destroys it.

It is true that, under this view, if one is predestined to be saved, he will be saved, no matter what he may do or fail to do. It is also true that if salvation is by the eternal, immutable, and incomprehensible decree of God without conditions applying to the individual, no one has the right to conclude infallibly that he is in that elect group, however religious he may feel.

This turns out to be a curious sort of security. In effect one says, “If I am elected to eternal life, 1 am eternally secure. But I cannot, in the nature of the case, be sure that I am so elected. I can but hope, humbled by the remembrance of multitudes who, though they were with us, yet went out from us, for they were not of us: for if they had been of us, they would no doubt have continued with us: but they went out, that they might be made manifest that they were not all of us” (I John 2:19—a favorite Calvinistic text).

The Neo-Calvinistic Concept of Security #

In the majority of cases, however, the doctrine of eternal security is not grounded on the Calvinistic dogma of unconditional predestination. While all who teach eternal security are frequently called “Calvinists,” actually the greater portion of them are no more than 20 percent Calvinistic. That is, they hold no more than one out of the famous “five points” of the Calvinistic-Arminian debate.⁴ These 80 percent Arminians should not be called Calvinists at all, strictly speaking—but the usage has become so widespread it doubtless will continue. “Neo-Calvinism” would be a more accurate classification.

What is widely hailed as the best and most complete presentation of this modern form of the doctrine of eternal security is presented in a book writteri by a layman, Mr. J. H. Strombeck, entitled Shall Never Perish.⁵ Since this seems to be regarded as authoritative, it will be largely the basis of our presentation of the position, and criticisms of it. In the main, the book is a serious effort to establish the doctrine of eternal security on biblical evidence.

It should be stated at the outset that it is not the concept of the security of God’s obedient children which is disturbing. We quite agree that all Christ’s sheep are safe, that no one can pluck them out of the Father’s hand, that no creature can separate the believer from the love of God which is in Christ Jesus, our Lord. That is all blessedly true.

As has been said, it is not the doctrine of the perseverance of the saints that disturbs us, but the doctrine of the perseverance of sinners. It is the underlying assumption, which becomes explicit all too often, that a single act of saving faith initially ends all probation, and insures the final salvation of the individual regardless of any future faith or lack of it, and without respect to sinfulness or righteousness of life. Mr. Strombeck strongly disavows antinomianism— that is, the idea that the Christian is free from all obligation to the moral law—yet even he sometimes directly affirms it, and it is the natural outcome of every page he writes.

To take this book page by page, as a thorough consideration would demand and as the book well deserves, would be impossible in the space available here. We can but express some of the major points and make brief comments thereon.

The title chapter of the book, “Shall Never Perish,” is an exposition of John 10:27-29, “My sheep hear my voice, and I know them, and they follow me: and I give unto them eternal life; and they shall never perish, and no one shall snatch them out of my hand. My Father, who hath given them unto me, is greater than all; and no one is able to snatch them out of the Father’s hand” (ASV). Strombeck comments:

For the believer in the Lord Jesus Christ, no passage in the Bible has more assurance in it than has this one. In it is found an unconditional statement by our Lord that those who are His are His for all eternity, because they are in His hand, under His care, and are in the Father’s hand, under His care. The strength of the Father is that which guarantees this condition of safety.⁶

We quite agree that this passage makes the unconditional assertion, “No one of Christ’s sheep shall be lost.” There are no ifs, ands, or buts about it. But it must also be pointed out that it makes just as unconditional an assertion that all Christ’s sheep hear His voice and follow Him, and no person who does not hear His voice and follow Him is one of His sheep. This does not add an “if” where God has not put one. It merely points out what Jesus stated as plainly as words can put it: He who does not follow is not of Christ’s flock.

Reduced to its simplest logic, this passage states:

All who are secure are Christ’s sheep;

None who do not follow are His sheep;

Therefore, none who do not follow are secure.

Mr. Strombeck strongly believes (Chapters 2, 5—7) that the doctrines of grace are incomplete without the conclusion expressed in the doctrine of eternal security. Since salvation is by grace, its continuance cannot be by meritorious works. With this we quite agree. We would only point out that salvation is by grace through faith no less when its retention is regarded as conditional than when its reception is regarded as conditional. If the faith which retains salvation constitutes “meritorious works,” then so does the faith which receives salvation. But faith is never a meritorious act.⁷ Grace is no less grace because faith retains it than it is grace because faith receives it. A gift is no less a gift when it should be prized highly and guarded jealously than when it may be treated as inviolate whether prized or not.

Salvation and the Manner of Life #

In Chapter 3 of Strombeck’s book, we are assured that whether one is saved or lost is not determined by his manner of life, but by what God says. We certainly agree that what God says is the important thing. Furthermore, God has spoken in no uncertain terms on this point. But He has not said that it makes no difference to salvation how one lives. For instance:

Matt. 7:16-21: Ye shall know them by their fruits. Do men gather grapes of thorns, or figs of thistles? Even so every good tree bringeth forth good fruit; but a corrupt tree bringeth forth evil fruit. A good tree cannot bring forth evil fruit, neither can a corrupt tree bring forth good fruit. Every tree that bringeth not forth good fruit is hewn down, and cast into the fire. Wherefore by their fruits ye shall know them. Not every one that saith unto me. Lord, Lord, shall enter into the kingdom of heaven; but he that doeth the will of my Father which is in heaven.

Does this read as if one’s manner of life makes no difference in salvation?

Consider the following passages of scripture:

Rom. 6:1, 15: What shall we say then? Shall we continue in sin, that grace may abound? What then? shall we sin, because we are not under the law, but under grace? God forbid. Does this read as if one’s manner of life makes no difference in salvation?

I Cor. 3:16-17: Know ye not that ye are the temple of God, and that the Spirit of God dwelleth in you? If any man defile the temple of God, him shall God destroy; for the temple of God is holy, which temple ye are. Does this sound as if one’s manner of life makes no difference in salvation?

Gal. 2:17-18: *But if, while we seek to be justified by Christ, we ourselves also are found sinners, is therefore Christ the minister of sin? God forbid. For if I build again the things which I destroyed, I make myself a transgressor. Does this sound as if one’s manner of life makes no difference in salvation?

Rom. 8:14: For as many as are led by the Spirit of God, they are the sons of God. Does this sound as if one’s manner of life makes no difference in salvation?

Jas. 2:17: Even so faith, if it hath not works, is dead, being alone. I John 3:10: In this the children of God are manifest, and the children of the devil: whosoever doeth not righteousness is not of God, neither he that loveth not his brother. Does this sound as if one’s manner of life makes no difference in salvation?

God has spoken. God has declared in His eternal Word that, while one’s manner of life does not purchase salvation, it does prove it. He who lives in sin is a sinner, whatever he may call himself, and whatever he may have been in the past.

In Chapter 4, Strombeck gives us a splendid collation of verses regarding eternal life and final salvation. Each one means exactly what it says. But these scriptures are unfairly interpreted by the neo-Calvinists to mean more than they say in order to support their theory that a single act of faith guarantees final salvation.

Eternal Security and Antinomianism #

It is in Part II of the book that the nose of the antinomian camel begins to appear in the eternal security tent. This is a section on “Eternal Security and Some Doctrines of the Grace of God.” Here we read that all individual verses which might seem to discredit the doctrine of eternal security must be interpreted in harmony with what the author happily calls “grace truth.”⁸ Thus, it really isn’t what God says that is to be taken at face value, but how these words may be interpreted in harmony with a preconceived concept of “grace.”

Since salvation is by grace and not by works, Strombeck says, “Therefore demerit [that is, sin] does not hinder the operation of grace, nor can it set aside that which grace has accomplished. In fact, demerit [or sin] is the occasion for grace to accomplish its work.”⁹ How much this is like the theory Paul disclaims with such vigor in Romans 6:1-2: Shall we continue in sin, that grace may abound? God forbid.

On page 28, printed in italics, Strombeck makes his meaning unmistakably clear: “If every possible vestige of human merit is excluded [by the fact that salvation is by grace through faith], then man’s acts, apart from accepting the Savior, are not related to salvation and thus no act of man or demerit of man can cause him to be taken out of the condition of being saved.”

That Strombeck means what he seems to say is further evidenced by a statement on page 131 wherein the author lists examples of these “acts of demerit” which cannot affect the believer’s salvation, and includes everything from, “hasty unkind words” to “theft, falsification [lying], idolatry, drunkenness, revellings, fornication, adultery, murder.” None of these sins can affect the believer’s condition of being saved, we are told. “As far as the penalty of God’s holy law and the demands of His righteousness are concerned, the sin question is settled once and for all the very moment an individual believes that Christ paid the penalty in his place.”¹⁰

It is hard to maintain moderation when dealing with extreme views such as this. Let it be said, this is not grace; this is disgrace.

Strombeck is not alone in this antinomianism. It plagues the theory of eternal security wherever it appears. For example, Evangelist John R. Rice writes:

So, though a Christian may lose sweet fellowship with the Father by his sins, yet he is still God’s child, partaker of the divine nature. God punishes His children when they sin, but they are His children still.¹¹

One of the most fearless statements of the antinomianism which is latent in this view of “grace” is found in the book by August Van Ryn, The Epistles of John. In the comment on I John 5:16, “There is a sin unto death,” he says:

The Apostle probably is referring to sin in a believer’s life so serious that God cannot permit such an one to continue to live on earth. It has been said that a believer is fit to go to heaven, yet may not be fit to live on earth. . . . This may mean for such to be taken away by death, because they so dishonor the name of Christ that they can no longer be permitted to remain on earth. They are redeemed by the blood of Christ and thus fit to go to heaven, but their lives are so displeasing to God that they cannot be allowed to remain on earth.¹²

This carries the position of eternal security to its logical outcome, and as such it is almost self-refuting. How utterly contrary this is to the Word of God! The evidence of Scripture has been considered in part, at least, in Chapter 3 of this study, and will be further shown in the section following.

Coming back to Strombeck’s statement that “men’s acts, apart from accepting the Savior, are not related to salvation,” one wonders why, if “accepting the Savior” is related to salvation, rejecting the Saviour is not also vitally related. Indeed, Heb. 6:4-6 definitely asserts that it does affect salvation: 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, and have tasted the good word of God, and the powers of the world to come, if 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. If this does not say that final apostasy is possible, then language means nothing at all.

To say that no sin can affect a believer’s final salvation is to fly right in the face of God’s Word. Isa. 59:1-2 reads: Behold, the Lord’s hand is not shortened, that it cannot save; neither his ear heavy, that it cannot hear; but your iniquities have separated between you and your God, and your sins have hid his face from you, that he will not hear.

No person, no power, no thing can separate a soul from God. But sin is not a person, power, or thing. It is a choice, an act of the will, an attitude of the soul. Sin can and will always separate the sinning soul from the presence of God.

Let us consider three other passages in this connection:

Ezek. 33:12: Therefore, thou son of man, say unto the children of thy people. The righteousness of the righteous shall not deliver him in the day of his transgression … neither shall the righteous be able to live for his righteousness in the day that he sinneth.

Rev. 21:8: But the fearful, and unbelieving, and the abominable, and murderers, and whoremongers, and sorcerers, and idolaters, and all liars, shall have their part in the lake which burneth with fire and brimstone: which is the second death.

Rev. 22:19: And if any man shall take away from the words of the book of this prophecy, God shall take away his part out of the book of life, and out of the holy city, and from the things which are written in this book.

Does any of this sound as if “men’s acts, apart from accepting the Savior, are not related to salvation”? Where is there anywhere in the Bible warrant for the notion that “a believer is fit to go to heaven” who “may not be fit to live on earth”? Of what value are the dogmas of men—even men who are personally devout—if they make license for sin in Christian life, and deny the Word of God? He that saith, I know him, and keepeth not his commandments, is a liar, and the truth is not in him (I John 2:4).

The doctrines of grace are precious to the believer’s heart, but they cannot be made a cloak for sin* Salvation is by grace only, never by works. But salvation is no less of grace by reason of being a present-tense relationship with God, maintained, as it was obtained, by a living and vital faith.

The obedience of faith is in no sense a meritorious work. If it be by grace through faith, then it is not of works. Let us remember that the grace of God that bringeth salvation hath appeared to all men, teaching us that, denying ungodliness and worldly lusts, we should live soberly, righteously, and godly, in this present world (Titus 2:11-12). It does not teach us that nothing a believer ever can do will affect his final salvation.

What Saith the Lord? #

But enough for the logical approach to this problem. Our author complains that those who oppose the doctrine of eternal security never quote scripture, but simply make unfounded statements. Having in mind the eternal security claim, let us see what “saith the Lord.”

We shall arrange our collations of scripture in two major groups: those passages which teach that final salvation rests on continued faith as well as initial faith; and those which make direct assertion of the possibility of the final apostasy of regenerated persons. Out of a total of more than 80 passages, some selection is obviously necessary, and only a few from each group will be noted here. To these must be added the verses quoted earlier in this chapter and in Chapter 3 which indicate that no child of God lives in sin.

1. The Nature of Saving Faith #

Final salvation is by grace through a faith which is not a single act but a constant attitude resulting in an obedient walk. Dr. Daniel Steele, in the excerpt from Milestone Papers quoted at the close of Chapter 2, has carefully examined all New Testament references to faith in relation to final or eternal salvation. In each case, the present tense is used, indicating the continuing character of faith. It cannot be argued that if one is once a believer he is therefore always a believer. I once believed in Santa Claus, but no more. Faith, to be effective, must be continuous.

But apart from the meaning of the tenses, the voice of Scripture is clear. We are chided by Strombeck for putting an “if” where there is none.¹³ What can we say for those who take the “if” away from the places where God has put it? Think how we would have to read the following passages, for example, should the current doctrine of eternal security be true.

John 8:31 says: Then said Jesus to those Jews which believed on him, If ye continue in my word, then are ye my disciples indeed. This would have to be changed to read, “Whether or not ye continue in My word, ye are My disciples indeed.”

John 8:51 reads, Verily, verily, I say unto you, If a man keep my saying, he shall never see death. We must correct our Lord’s misstatement if we are to harmonize with the teaching of eternal security, and read, “Even he that does not continue in My word, if he was ever saved, shall never see death.”

Paul, in Col. 1:22-23, made a very grave error, according to our eternal security friends, when he spoke of Christ’s purpose to present you holy and unblameable and unreproveable in his sight: if ye continue in the faith grounded and settled, and be not moved away from the hope of the gospel.

The Epistle to the Hebrews, in chapter 3, verse 6, would be in error in saying Christ is a son over his own house; whose house are we, if we hold fast the confidence and the rejoicing of the hope firm unto the end. He should rather have said, “Whose house are we, even if we do not hold fast our hope.”

Peter, and even John, fail to rightly represent the believer’s eternal and unconditional security. Peter says, Wherefore the rather, brethren, give diligence to make your calling and election sure: for if ye do these things, ye shall never fall (II Pet. 1:10). John exhorts, Let that therefore abide in you, which ye have heard from the beginning. If that which ye have heard from the beginning shall remain in you, ye also shall continue in the Son, and in the Father (I John 2:24). Peter should have said, “Wherefore the rather, brethren, recognize that your calling and election is already sure: whatever ye do, ye shall never fall.” John ought to have written, “There are no ifs or questions about it; ye shall continue in the Son and in the Father.”

The teaching of God’s Word is unmistakable. These are all conditional propositions. In a conditional proposition, the portion containing the condition is known as the antecedent; the portion expressing the conclusion is known as the consequent. The most elementary textbook in logic will state that the consequent of a conditional statement can be affirmed only when the antecedent is first affirmed.

Our eternal security friends teach that a single, historical act of faith forever establishes the believer’s standing with God. Even subsequent unbelief, which is a form of sin, cannot imperil final salvation, Strombeck explicitly avers.¹⁴

This is definitely contradicted in the Bible. For instance, Paul writes to the Corinthians: Moreover, brethren, I declare unto you the gospel which I preached unto you, which also ye have received, and wherein ye stand; by which also ye are saved, if ye keep in memory what I preached unto you, unless ye have believed in vain (I Cor. 15:1-2). Here is another conditional statement: By which ye are saved, if ye keep in memory what I preached unto you. This is a direct assertion that their first faith might be in vain, not by reason of any unfaithfulness on the part of God, but by reason of their own negligence in keeping the gospel.

Again in II Cor. 1:24, Paul says, Not for that we have dominion over your faith, but are helpers of your joy: for by faith ye stand. “By faith ye stand"—there is no standing apart from that continuing faith.

In I Tim. 6:12, Paul admonishes, “Fight the good fight of faith, lay hold on eternal life, whereunto thou art also called, and hast professed a good profession before many witnesses.” Either young Timothy was not yet born again— which is incredible—or the fact of a new birth does not alone and of itself seal final salvation, as the eternal security advocates claim.

In Heb. 3:12-14, the apostle speaks to his brethren in Christ in terms that are utterly meaningless if this doctrine be true: Take heed, brethren, lest there be in any of you an evil heart of unbelief, in departing from the living God. But exhort one another daily, while it is called To day; lest any of you be hardened through the deceitfulness of sin. For we are made partakers of Christ, if we hold fast the beginning of our confidence stedfast unto the end. This certainly does not sound as if one single initial act of faith forever secures salvation. There is a continuance in faith which is just as necessary as the first believing.

Peter shares the same opinion, for in I Pet. 1:5 he says, Who are kept by the power of Cod through faith unto salvation ready to be revealed in the last time. We are kept, not independent of our faith, but through faith. And we are kept through faith unto a final salvation which is not an inalienable possession now but which is “ready to be revealed in the last time.”

It is hard to know where to draw the line in this citation of scripture evidence that the believer’s salvation is a present-tense walk with God. It is hard to omit Rom. 2:6-7, Who will render to every man according to his deeds: to them who by patient continuance in well doing seek for glory and honour and immortality, eternal life. It is difficult to skip Heb. 5:9, And being made perfect, he became the author of eternal salvation unto all them that obey him. One can hardly ignore Rev. 3:5, He that overcometh, the same shall be clothed in white raiment; and I will not blot out his name out of the book of life, but I will confess his name before my Father, and before his angels.

For, if the doctrine of eternal security be true, then all these verses, and a dozen others which might be added, are entirely without meaning, if not utterly false. But we say, “Let God be true,” and if necessary, “every man a liar.” No doctrine can be acceptable which renders false or meaningless so much of the Word of God.

2. The Possibility of Final Apostasy #

In addition to those references which indicate a continuing as well as a historical faith as the condition for final salvation, there are a great number¹⁵ which definitely assert the possibility of the final apostasy of those who at some past time have savingly believed. A sampling includes the following:

Matt. 18:34-35: And his lord was wroth, and delivered him to the tormentors, till he should pay all that was due unto him. So likewise shall my heavenly Father do also unto you, if ye from your hearts forgive not every one his brother their trespasses. The context makes it crystal-clear that those who were forgiven will again answer for their sins if they, in their turn, refuse to forgive those who sin against them.

Luke 8:13: They on the rock are they, which, when they hear, receive the word with joy; and these have no root, which for a while believe, and in time of temptation fall away. This is a parable—but a parable teaches truth. Here the truth is that there are some believers, who receive the Word with joy, who later fall away and perish.

Luke 12:42-46: And the Lord said, Who then is that faithful and wise steward, whom his lord shall make ruler over his household, to give them their portion of meat in due season? Blessed is that servant, whom his lord when he Cometh shall find so doing. Of a truth I say unto you, that he will make him ruler over all that he hath. But and if that servant say in his heart. My lord delayeth his coming; and shall begin to beat the menservants and maidens, and to eat and drink, and to be drunken; the lord of that servant will come in a day when he looketh not for him, and at an hour when he is not aware, and will cut him in sunder, and will appoint him his portion with the unbelievers. It will not do to say that Jesus here was talking about servants and not sons or friends,¹⁶ unless one is willing to grant that a servant and not a son or friend may be ruler over all that He has. It is obviously the same servant—in one case faithful and wise, in the other untrue and faithless.

Rom. 11:20-22: Well; because of unbelief they were broken off, and thou standest by faith. Be not highminded, but fear: for if God spared not the natural branches, take heed lest he also spare not thee. Behold therefore the goodness and severity of Cod: on them which fell, severity; but toward thee, goodness, if thou continue in his goodness: otherwise thou also shalt be cut off. Continuance in God’s goodness is necessary to final salvation.

I Cor. 8:10-11: For if any man see thee which hast knowledge sit at meat in the idol’s temple, shall not the conscience of him which is weak be emboldened to eat those things which are offered to idols; and through thy knowledge shall the weak brother perish, for whom Christ died? A testimony to the importance of influence, these verses are also a witness to the fact that brethren for whom Christ died may perish if the influence of stronger Christians is not what it ought to be.

Gal. 5:1, 4: Stand fast therefore in the liberty wherewith Christ hath made us free, and be not entangled again with the yoke of bondage. Christ is become of no effect unto you, whosoever of you are justified by the law; ye are fallen from grace. These words were spoken to young Christians being tempted to give up their faith in Christ to return to the law. They are plainly told that so to do is to fall from grace.

I Thess. 3:5: For this cause, when I could no longer forbear, I sent to know your faith, lest by some means the tempter have tempted you, and our labour be in vain. If the Thessalonians were eternally secure, how could the apostle have concern lest his labor should be in vain?

I Tim. 4:1: Now the Spirit speaketh expressly, that in the latter times some shall depart from the faith, giving heed to seducing spirits, and doctrines of devils. One cannot depart from what one has never possessed. The last days are times of apostasy.

Heb. 10:26-29: For if we sin wilfully after that we have received the knowledge of the truth, there remaineth no more sacrifice for sins, but a certain fearful looking for of judgment and fiery indignation, which shall devour the adversaries. He that despised Moses’ law died without mercy under two or three witnesses; of how much sorer punishment, suppose ye, shall he be thought worthy, who hath trodden under foot the Son of God, and hath counted the blood of the covenant, wherewith he was sanctified, an unholy thing, and hath done despite unto the Spirit of grace? This is a strong declaration of the possibility of final apostasy, even on the part of those who were sanctified by the Blood of the covenant. It leaves no open question.

Jas. 5:19-20: Brethren, if any of you do err from the truth, and one convert him; let him know that he which converteth the sinner from the error of his way shall save a soul from death, and shall hide a multitude of sins. This is clearly spoken of those commonly known as backsliders—who were brethren, but have erred from the truth. If such are converted, a soul is saved from death, and a multitude of sins hidden beneath the precious Blood.

II Pet. 2:20-21; For if after they have escaped the pollutions of the world through the knowledge of the Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ, they are again entangled therein, and overcome, the latter end is worse with them than the beginning. For it had been better for them not to have known the way of righteousness, than, after they have known it, to turn from the holy commandment delivered unto them. It is useless to explain this away as human reformation. The whole letter is a ringing warning to the Church to beware of the influence of false prophets, destroying the faith and damning the souls of those who have believed. These words could never be spoken unless the possibility of final apostasy were real indeed.

II John 8-9: Look to yourselves, that we lose not those things which we have wrought, but that we receive a full reward. Whosoever transgresseth, and abideth not in the doctrine of Christ, hath not God. He that abideth in the doctrine of Christ, he hath both the Father and the Son. Abiding in the doctrine and avoiding transgression—these are perpetual conditions for the possession of God and hope of eternal life.

Thus saith the Lord.

Security; True and False #

The security we enjoy in Christ does not mean the absence of danger. A false security, denying the existence of danger, is the worst possible state of mind. Real security can exist only when there is an awareness of possible peril, and of the availability of resources to meet it. It is he who “thinketh he standeth” who is in real danger of falling (I Cor. 10:12).

There is a strange paradox here. Both sanctification and security have two sides—a divine side and a human side. Our neo-Calvinistic friends deny the divine side to sanctification, considering it for all practical purposes to be but human consecration. On the other hand, they deny the human side of security, and make it all to depend upon the divine. The remedy for both errors is to recognize the true nature of divine grace; a divine enabling freely made available to all who will; a partnership with God for both the salvation of the soul and the redemption of a lost race.

There is real security for every believer in Christ. It is not in some fantastic misreading of the doctrines of grace, but in a living relationship with God. Some of our eternal security brethren have a strange notion as to what we teach. They talk about “the Arminian doctrine of insecurity” (Chafer) and the believer’s “loss of assurance” (Strombeck). In an article on “Security of the Believer,” Douglas C. Hartley writes:

The Christian who holds that he can be lost loses much, and being of “a doubtful mind” (Luke 12:29) cannot serve God as he ought. Truly, many such exceed in service some who embrace security, but having to be concerned about themselves, their service cannot rise to full capacity. Neither can they experience fully the joy of salvation; freedom from fear of death while lost; knowledge that Christ fully satisfies; nor, because of concern for themselves, can they share fully God’s own concern for the unsaved.

How, too, can they recommend to others One whom they cannot fully trust? Their own faith is lacking because they will not—cannot—trust themselves completely to the love of God as expressed in the finished work of Christ, nor to the promises and privileges of either. They must rely on their own weak strength, instead of the power of the Almighty, to “walk as children of light” (Eph. 5:8). Being slaves to fear because, to them, Christ’s sacrifice has not freed them fully from the law, they have not “been called unto liberty” (Gal. 5:13). They will not believe that “the truth shall make you free” (John 8:32).¹⁷

This is a complete misrepresentation of the Arminian-Wesleyan position. As a matter of fact, in the history of Protestantism the doctrine of Christian assurance is directly the contribution of the Wesleyan revival. The writer has yet to meet his first Arminian Christian brother who was plagued with this imaginary sense of being in peril of the loss of his soul.

The born-again child of God no more fears being lost than he fears that he may commit suicide physically. He does not have to be told that he cannot possibly commit suicide in order to be delivered from fear of death at his own hand. The only possible basis for lack of Christian assurance is condemnation for sin. For such condemnation, God has provided an instant and complete remedy, as noted in Chapter 3. For one who becomes despondent through fear of backsliding, there are a hundred who are led into the morass of antinomian carelessness by the doctrine of unconditional security.

The security of the Christian soul lies in the present-tense character of the grace of God: grace that saves; grace that sanctifies; and grace that keeps.

This is security without presumption.

It is safety for the soul without license to sin.

It reaches its apex in the entire sanctification of the believer’s heart, destroying the inner propensity to sin, and perfecting the love of God within. Therefore being justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ: by whom also we have access by faith into this grace wherein we stand, and rejoice in hope of the glory of God (Rom. 5:1-2). Follow peace with all men, and holiness, without which no man shall see the Lord: looking diligently lest any man fail of (margin, “fall from”) the grace of God, lest any root of bitterness springing up trouble you, and thereby many be defiled (Heb. 12:14-15).

In the presence of the Holy Spirit in the believer’s heart, there is internal security. His is the blessed work of guiding into all truth, securing the soul against overwhelming temptation, and providing grace which makes us “more than conquerors through him that loved us” (Rom. 8:37).

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