Is Believing In Eternal Security Essential To Salvation?

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, neither shall any man pluck them out of my hand. My Father, which gave them me, is greater than all; and no man is able to pluck them out of my Father's hand.”

God does not give anyone temporary life, He only gives eternal life. Eternal life and eternal security are not two separate doctrines; they are one and the same thing.

I was reading one of Dr. John R. Rice's (1895-1980) books today and read something that didn't set right with me. Here is what the famous evangelist writes:

Is believing in eternal security essential to salvation?

No, the doctrine of eternal security is not essential to salvation. You understand, when I go to the doctor with a desperate illness, it is essential that I go to the right doctor for healing. It is not essential that I know all about the diagnosis of my case, or that I know all the details of the remedy. It is enough that I turn the matter over in loving faith to the doctor. That is the way it is about Jesus Christ. None of us really know all the depths of wickedness of our hearts. We do not know fully the disease which cures us. But we can know we are sinners and we can know we must go to the doctor. 

One does not even have to know fully the plan of salvation in order to be saved. You don't have to know the medicine if you go to the right doctor. He will decide the medicine. And even when we take it, by faith, we may not fully understand it. 

This is made clear by several Scriptures. First, the Scripture says, “For whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved” (Rom. 10:13). The publican in the temple who said, “God be merciful to me a sinner” (Luke 18:13), may not have known just how God had planned to pay for our salvation. But he called upon the Lord and went home justified. 

The dying thief in Luke 23:39-43 said, “Lord remember me when thou comest into thy kingdom.” That was a very ignorant prayer, and yet Jesus saved him. The thing for a poor sinner to do is to come to Jesus and if he comes, Jesus does not cast him out, as is plainly promised in John 6:37.

One may be saved without knowing all about the plan of salvation. One can be saved without being even sure of salvation. I went for three years after I had trusted Christ without full assurance of salvation. But I had been saved and when the matter was cleared up by the Scriptures, then it became certain that I had been saved all along. You see, one does not have to be a graduate in theology to be saved. One who comes to Christ is saved. One who calls upon the Lord for salvation is saved. One who believes on Christ as Saviour is saved. These are all different ways of saying the same thing, They all describe how simple is saving faith.

Those who do not understand the matter of security of a believer are missing a great joy, I think, but that has nothing to do with whether or not they are saved. One who trusts Christ is saved and saved forever, whether he knows it or not not. —Evangelist John R. Rice, “Dr. Rice, Here Is My Question...,” p. 272-273

I agree with nearly everything that Dr. Rice wrote, with the exception that someone can deny the eternal security of a believer and still be saved. From Dr. Rice's viewpoint I would agree, if you simply mean that someone lacks the peace of knowing they are saved.

Not Knowing One is Saved Versus Requiring Faithful Living to Maintain a State of Salvation

However, there are many deceived religious people (e.g., Roman Catholics, Seventh-Day Adventists, Jehovah's Witnesses, Church of God, et cetera) who sincerely think you can lose God's gift of salvation if you go into deep sin or abandon your Christian faith. In such cases it is absolutely paramount that someone believe in eternal security to be saved. So, it depends on the reason why someone doubts eternal security as to whether or not it is essential to salvation. Take a look at the damnable false teaching of Seventh-Day Adventists...

“The Assurance of Salvation”: Myth and Reality 

Adventist Today

by Pastor Steven Siciliano | April 8, 2022

Let me state three key premises at the start: 

1. An individual’s ultimate salvation depends on maintaining faith and faithfulness to the end (by which I mean either the individual’s passing or the second advent). 
2. None of us can predict the future or know for certain whether we will remain faithful to the end. Therefore, 
3. logically speaking, it is impossible to have assurance of salvation. That concept is either a myth or, at best, a misapplication.

So where did this phrase and its accompanying sentiment come from? Why are so many individuals wedded to it? What reality may the term be pointing to, perhaps ambiguously? And where can we begin sorting it all out? READ MORE

NOTE - Steven Siciliano is pastor of the Jackson Heights and Hartsdale churches in the Greater New York Conference of Seventh-day Adventists.

Apostates had a profession of faith in Jesus Christ at one time, but not the possession of faith (i.e., they were never born again). Their mouths spoke something other than what their hearts believed. Apostasy is not loss of salvation, but evidence of past pretension. They were never saved at all. They may have joined a professed “Christian” organization; such as, the Roman Catholic church, but they were never born again.

You don't get saved by living the Christian life. Satan's greatest weapon is to con people into living the Christian life without ever being born again. This is what the false prophets in Matthew 7:21-23 were guilty of doing. They boasted of having done “many wonderful works” in Jesus' name, but they had never completely rested in Christ's sacrifice on the cross for their sins. The true Gospel always points you to CHRIST; a false gospel always points to YOU. If salvation is truly by grace, then you don't need to start or stop anything to be saved. Eternal life is a free gift from God (Romans 6:23). One is saved by God's grace through faith in the finished work of His Son on the cross as payment in full as our pardon for sin.

Dr. Rice Mistitled His Question

It is plain to see from Brother Rice's answer that he is not talking about Eternal Security at all; but rather, someone who sincerely lacks a full understanding of the theological workings of God's plan of redemption, or someone who has doubts about their salvation. In sharp contrast, Eternal Security is the doctrine that once you are saved, you are always saved. This Bible truth is commonly expressed as: “Once Saved, Always Saved” (OSAS).

In my humble opinion, Dr. Rice should have titled his question: “Is Knowing That You're Saved Essential To Salvation?” or “Is Fully Understanding Salvation Essential To The New Birth?” You really do need to believe in Eternal Security to be saved, because if you think salvation depends upon your human efforts, performance or faithfulness in the least degree, you are not fully trusting Christ and are not saved. If you are trusting in Jesus plus water baptism (just in case), you are not saved. You just need to believe that Jesus did it all for you.

If you are trusting in Jesus plus trimming your toe nails once every ten years, you are not saved. I am being facetious of course, but you get the point. Salvation is promised by God only to the sinner who wholly rests in the finished redemptive work of Christ (i.e., the Gospel).

I agree with Dr. Rice from the standpoint that a person can be saved who still doubts their Eternal Security, just so long as they don't trust in their own performance, good works or faithfulness to stay saved. You don't have to believe in Eternal Security in the sense that you don't need to know for sure that you are saved; but this is not Eternal Security, it is Assurance.