The Believer’s Eternal Security in Christ

A believer in Christ and His finished work of redemption, one who has accepted His love & grace and is living therein as the righteousness of God in Him has his/her eternity secured in Christ. While this is a topic of debate in various Christian circles, it is evident through scriptures that the believer is indeed secure in Christ. Below are a few scriptures that assures us of this.

1. John 3:16, “For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life.” Here, in this very popular verse, we read that the only reason why anyone will perish is if they do not believe in God’s only begotten Son.

2. John 6:37-39, “All that the Father giveth me shall come to me; and him that cometh to me I will in no wise cast out… And this is the Father's will which hath sent me, that of all which he hath given me I should lose nothing, but should raise it up again at the last day.” Jesus who came to die for us said Himself that He shall in no wise cast anyone who comes to him out. One mistake we make as believers is that we think we care about our eternal salvation more than God does. That’s insane. He became flesh. Made Himself of no reputation. Took sin upon Himself. God – Holy God – took sin upon Himself for our sakes. He definitely desires fellowship and eternity with Him more than we do.

3. John 10:27-28, “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.” Unless Jesus was lying here OR He somehow loses His grip on the believer OR the Father becomes less greater than all OR the Father loses His grip on the him/her, the believer in Christ is spending eternity with Him. In fact, we are already living eternal life right now, because verse 10 of this chapter tells us that our Shepherd gives to us abundant life (He didn’t say He will give it. He has given it already).

4. John 5:24, “Verily, verily, I say unto you, He that heareth my word, and believeth on him that sent me, hath everlasting life, and shall not come into condemnation; but is passed from death unto life.” “Verily, verily” means “assuredly, assuredly; truly, truly; certainly, certainly; for sure, for sure”. Jesus is doubly sure. The believer will not pass from death unto life. We HAVE already passed from death unto life. Done deal. No need to pray about that. It’s done.

5. Philippians 1:6, “Being confident of this very thing, that he which hath begun a good work in you will perform it until the day of Jesus Christ.” Now, Paul, who wrote this verse, was not talking about material things like many think he was. He was talking about the work of grace in the believers in Philippi. Every believer should be confident of same too.

6. Romans 8:33-34, “Who shall lay any thing to the charge of God's elect? It is God that justifieth. Who is he that condemneth? It is Christ that died, yea rather, that is risen again, who is even at the right hand of God, who also maketh intercession for us.” To explain these verses, the Apostle Paul is saying that there may be a need to charge the believer (God’s elect) with something; that is to accuse him/her of something they did wrong. But the only one who is able to do that is God Himself; and rather than Him doing that (pointing out our wrong), He chooses to justify us. It also says, we may be condemnable, but the only one who can condemn us (God’s elect) is Christ. But rather than condemn us, He died for us. He rose for us. He’s now at God’s right Hand interceding for us. That is amazing.

7. Romans 8:38-39, “For I am persuaded, that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor powers, nor things present, nor things to come, nor height, nor depth, nor any other creature, shall be able to separate us from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord.” Nothing can separate the believer from God’s love…NOTHING… ever!

8. Ephesians 1:13, “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.” The believer is sealed with the Holy Spirit. There shall no power of hell, neither scheme of man, be able to break that seal.

9. 2 Timothy 1:12b, “For I know whom I have believed, and am persuaded that he is able to keep that which I have committed unto him against that day.” I know whom I have believed. And I am persuaded that He is able to keep me till that day. He does the keeping; we do not. So, why should we be worried? We do not have a careless God. We only need to constantly yield to Him, and He will see us through till the end.

10. Hebrews 7:25, “Wherefore he is able also to save them to the uttermost that come unto God by him, seeing he ever liveth to make intercession for them.” Oh, I love this verse! God saves to the uttermost (completely, perfectly, in the greatest way possible, of highest degree). He does not save halfway. He does not start and ask you to complete it. He saved us perfectly. Completely. Utterly.

11. 1 Peter 1:3-5, “Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, which according to his abundant mercy hath begotten us again unto a lively hope by the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, To an inheritance incorruptible, and undefiled, and that fadeth not away, reserved in heaven for you, Who are kept by the power of God through faith unto salvation ready to be revealed in the last time.” Our inheritance in Christ is incorruptible, undefiled, does not wear out, cannot be destroyed, reserved for us in Heaven and will not be given to anybody else. He keeps us by His power. So, unless He grows weak for any reason or His power fails at any time, we are spending eternity with Him.

12. 1 John 5:13, “These things have I written unto you that believe on the name of the Son of God; that ye may know that ye have eternal life, and that ye may believe on the name of the Son of God.” We know we have eternal life. Eternal life cannot go into a place of eternal death. We cannot take the Spirit of the Living Christ inside of us into hell. It is not possible. That can happen only if one does not have His Spirit in them; but the believer does.

13. Jude 1:24, “Now unto him that is able to keep you from falling, and to present you faultless before the presence of his glory with exceeding joy.” Except God loses His ability to keep us from falling, He will definitely present us faultless in His glory with exceeding joy.

The above are just a few verses of scripture that prove the believer’s eternal security in Christ; gotten from six witnesses – Jesus, Paul, The Hebrew Writer, Peter, John and Jude.

Someone once said Christianity is for people who need a crutch. I heard this person said so with ill intentions. But I agree. Believers need a Crutch, and our Crutch never fails. We can brag on Him all life long. It’s not pride to know that your Father has preserved you till His coming. It’s actually humbling. We know we cannot miss out on heaven, not because we are self-capable but because Christ is more than capable. One of my best portions of the Bible is Philippians 2:13. I call it my anchor verse, because it helps me realize that I’m not all stable by myself, Christ is for me and I can brag on that. Unfortunately, the verse that precedes that has been used to hold lots of believers in bondage. Philippians 2:12b, “Work out your own salvation with fear and trembling.” I think one should first of all notice that it did not say work FOR your salvation; and that this is a verse on spiritual growth not on being saved. Even then, verse 13 tells us, “For it is God which worketh in you both to will and to do of his good pleasure.” God does the work in us. All we need do is yield. So, what does one have to be proud of? After all, our salvation is completely a gift from God (Ephesians 2:8-9).

Asides from pride, people have accused those who preach eternal security of supporting sin. Even Paul was accused of that (Galatians 2:16-18). It is unthinkable! Sin is strengthened by the law (1 Corinthians 15:56); and grace replaces the law. If the strength of sin is the law, it follows that the strength of righteousness is grace. The Bible does not put it like that, but it indeed is. Sin is completely contrary – completely contrary – to the message of Grace in Christ. There is nothing about Grace that supports sin (read Romans 6). In fact, the more you realize that you are completely God’s and that you cannot be snatched by the devil, the easier it is for you actualize your salvation in godly deeds. Because at this point, you focus on righteousness, rather than on sin. You become God-conscious, rather than sin-conscious. You are what you focus on. You cannot keep on focusing on sin and not sin. You cannot keep on looking down and not fall down. So, as a believer, I choose to look up. I choose to keep my focus on Jesus, the Author & Finisher of my faith. Anytime I think I can do it by myself, I mess up really bad. I have indeed observed that the more I keep my focus on Him, the more I am like Him. Isn’t that what 2nd Corinthians 3:18 says? – That we are changed into His image as we behold His glory. I choose to behold Him. I choose to live free in Him. I choose the life – eternal life – that He has given to me, and I choose to ever live in the consciousness of that.

Does this mean believers do not sin? No, it doesn’t mean that. But does our wrongdoing make me less of God’s child? No. Does it mean I automatically disbelieve Christ and lose His Spirit inside of me? That’s a crazy thought! I’ve heard some people say that each time a believer sins, the Holy Spirit leaves him for a while until He repents of His sin. I’ve also heard that each time a believer sins, his name is taken out of the Book of Life and then restored after he repents. These theories are unfounded and unbiblical. Grace does not permit sin. In fact, sin is very harmful to the believer (check out my next post for Dangerous Effects of Sin to a Believer). Believers should not sin, but we do sometimes, and anytime we sin, we know that “we have an advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous: And he is the propitiation for our sins…” (1 John 2:1-2).

I choose to focus on my Advocate. How about you? Will you realign your focus today?

Nourish Your Spirit