God's Unbreakable Promise Of Eternal Life

Titus 3:5, “In hope of eternal life, which God, that cannot lie, promised before the world began;”

Someone recently asked me why they haven't been able to find any teachings of eternal security in the early centuries. I am leery of anything of historical record, because there are so any lies, misinformation and intentional deception that abound in the historical records. Many false teachers of Lordship Salvation today (e.g., Ray Comfort, John MacArthur, John Piper, Paul Washer and Chip Ingram) like to quote preachers of the past from the 19th and 19th centuries, using them as secondary authorities to bolster up their strawman argument of Calvinism. One of the biggest deniers of the great Bible doctrine of Eternal Security today is Evangelist Ray Comfort. Ray sinfully says believers are not "safe" in Jesus. Mr. Comfort states:

“No one has Biblical grounds to continue in sin, assuming that they are safe just because Jesus died on the cross. See 1 John 3:4-6.” —'THE EVIDENCE BIBLE,' by Ray Comfort, pg. 1513; 2003, Bridge-Logos Publishers, Orlando, Florida

Kindly, Ray Comfort is a theological fool and a liar. The sole basis of the believer's salvation is the finished redemptive work of Christ. In the Old Testament, during the first Passover, the death angel in Egypt was only looking for the lamb's blood applied to the doorposts of the home, not checking to see who was worthy inside the building. ...

Exodus 12:13, “And the blood shall be to you for a token upon the houses where ye are: and when I see the blood, I will pass over you, and the plague shall not be upon you to destroy you, when I smite the land of Egypt.”

What a beautiful Bible verse! God raised up a deliverer named Moses to bring forth the Israelites out of bondage in Egypt. That is why the second book of the Old Testament is called: “EXODUS.” The Jews exited Egypt. Amen! The most special holiday in Israel was called the "PASSOVER," because the Lord PASSED OVER the home, not killing the firstborn during the 10th plague upon Egypt. All of these false teachers today, who deny eternal security, fail to understand the Word of God, bringing damnation upon themselves (2nd Peter 3:16-17).

Understanding LAW and GRACE

Brother Lester Roloff (1914-1982, one of my favorite preachers) used to say that "the Old Testament will put spiritual iron into our blood." Nearly all false teachers today only preach from the New Testament, failing to understanding the Holy Bible, adhering to a lopsided junk theology. God divided His inspired Word into two divisions: LAW and GRACE. The law shows humanity our sinnership—that we are all guilty sinners in God's sight (Romans 3:19-20). The law then brings us to Christ to be saved by God's GRACE. So the two divisions are really: LAW and CHRIST. If a Bible student understands this simple great truth, everything else will fall into place. False teachers today (e.g., John MacArthur, Ray Comfort and John Piper) are stuck on the law, caught between works and grace. Here are some heretical quotes proving my point. 

“The evidence … the raw-bone, biblical evidence that there was one time in your life that you repented unto salvation, is that you continue repenting until today and continue growing in repentance.” ~Paul Washer

 “Christianity is not a once-and-for-all flu shot.” ~Paul Washer

“A person who can show no mark in the sanctifying work of God in their life has no assurance that they have been justified.” ~Paul Washer

That is junk theology folks! When Paul says Christianity is “not a once-and-for-all flu shot,” he literally means that you cannot know beyond any shadow of a doubt that you are saved. Don't believe me? Read what Paul says for yourself and you judge:

“We talk about the Germans of the 20th centuries that brought on their higher criticism. It is not near as dangerous as conservative Baptists with their gospel reductionism. How dare we, all these stupid evangelists walking around telling men after they've made some little prayer that they need to write their name in the back of their Bible, and put the date and if the Devil ever comes to them, they need to show him that. That is Roman superstition, it is not the gospel of Jesus Christ. You see we've turned the gospel into a flu-shot.” [emphasis added]—Paul Washer

Paul Washer preaches a counterfeit gospel of fear and uncertainty, conditioning salvation upon human reformation (a changed life). This is the fallacy of Calvinism! A changed life is NOT the proof that one is born-again; but rather, the presence of the indwelling Holy Spirit (1st John 3:24; Romans 8:9). Here is one of the best Bible passages proving the eternal security of the believer—Acts 13:39, “And by him all that believe are justified from all things, from which ye could not be justified by the law of Moses.” If you are a Christian believer, you have already been justified from ALL THINGS!!!

Dear friend, you CAN be saved in an instant, by simply coming to God as a needy sinner, believing the 'GOOD NEWS' (Gospel) of Jesus Christ crucified, buried and risen (1st Corinthians 15:1-4). You CAN and SHOULD write down your name and the date you got saved. I was born-again (I think I was 13 years of age). No one told me to write down the date, so I didn't. I remember where I sat in a pew, in a fundamental Baptist church on a Sunday morning, where I was gloriously saved. Any preacher who says you cannot KNOW you are saved is a fraud and a liar. The Bible says in Acts 2:41 that 3,000 souls were saved in one day. God does not promise “probationary life,” nor “temporal life,” but only “eternal life.” John 10:28, “And I give unto them eternal life; and they shall never perish, neither shall any man pluck them out of my hand.”

Every Believer Is SEALED With The Holy Spirit Of Promise

What saith the Scripture? In Ephesians 1:12-14 we read, “That we should be to the praise of his glory, who first trusted in Christ. In whom ye also trusted, after that ye heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation: in whom also after that ye believed, ye were sealed with that holy Spirit of promise, Which is the earnest of our inheritance until the redemption of the purchased possession, unto the praise of his glory.” This Bible verse is conclusive evidence that once a person is saved, they are forever saved. The moment we are saved, God SEALS US with His Holy Spirit, the Spirit which God promised to send when He ascended into Heaven, to every believer (John 14:16; 15:26). When Jesus died and raised up, and then ascended into Heaven, He sent the Holy Spirit (i.e., the Comforter). That is why the blessed Holy Ghost is called “the Spirit of Promise.” 

The Holy Spirit is the earnest of our inheritance, that is, the downpayment (proof) from God that we are His. 1st John 3:24, “And he that keepeth his commandments dwelleth in him [Jesus], and he [the believer] in him. And hereby we know that he abideth in us, by the Spirit which he hath given us.” Notice that we only “dwell” in Christ if we keep His commandments; but He dwells in us regardless, because we are saved. The whole concept of losing God's promise of salvation is rooted in a works-based corrupt plan of salvation. Many Bible students get confused while reading the Epistle of 1st John. A common mistake is to assume that being “of the Devil” means someone is not saved. 1st John 3:8b, “He that committeth sin is of the devil.” Yet, please consider that Jesus called the apostle Peter “Satan” in Matthew 16:23b, “Get thee behind me, Satan.” So even a saint can act like a devil!

The Believer Falls IN GRACE Never FROM GRACE

Galatians 3:24-26, “Wherefore the law was our schoolmaster to bring us unto Christ, that we might be justified by faith. But after that faith is come, we are no longer under a schoolmaster. For ye are all the children of God by faith in Christ Jesus.” Notice that once the law has brought us to Christ to be SAVED BY FAITH ALONE, we are no longer under the curse of the law, we are now under GRACE forever. So, literally, every time a believer sins, we always fall IN GRACE and never FROM GRACE. That is why we read in Romans 5:20, “Moreover the law entered, that the offence might abound. But where sin abounded, grace did much more abound:” The more sin that a saint commits, the more God's grace WILL ABOUND, so that we can never be lost again. 

Granted that doesn't give a believer the okay from God to live in gross immorality. Romans 3:31, “Do we then make void the law through faith? God forbid: yea, we establish the law.”The apostle Paul says just because we are no longer under the law, God still expects us (as believers) to fulfill the law. If we don't, then grace will much more abound. God is not an absent Father. Proverbs 3:12, “For whom the LORD loveth he correcteth; even as a father the son in whom he delighteth.” The Lord scourges and chastises His children when we disobey (Hebrews 12:6-8), but there is no risk nor possibility of ever jeopardizing our POSITION in Christ as God's adopted child. The way we choose to live affects our CONDITION in Christ, but never our POSITION in Christ. Obeying the Lord as a Christian is solely a matter of DISCIPLESHIP, and never SONSHIP. 

DISCIPLESHIP versus SALVATION

Here is a helpful article by another of my favorite preachers, Pastor A. Ray Stanford (1916-2012). The article is called: "Eternal Security"

“Eternal security is not a separate doctrine from salvation.” —Dr. A. Ray Stanford, 1916-2012; “Eternal Security,” chapter two from Dr. Stanford's awesome book titled, “HANDBOOK OF PERSONAL EVANGELISM”