gracEmails on the security of the believer
our secure salvation
In the Christian tribe of my upbringing, salvation was presented as a possibility rather than a reality, something uncertain from moment to moment and always up for grabs. Even godly believers with fruitful lives often approached their deaths in genuine fear that God would discover that they did not measure up and throw them into hell. The most confident among us taught that true believers were secure but that remaining a true believer depended finally on our own effort and strength of will. That still left us insecure since our marks so far in either category inspired very little confidence regarding the future.
eternal security"A missionary in Africa asks for biblical insight regarding the security of the believer, sometimes referred to as "once saved, always saved." And a missionary in China inquires about the passages which warn Christians against falling away from Christ. How do we put all this together?
assurance and warningA gracEmail reader asks how to resolve the tension between two lines of biblical teaching. "Some passages offer words of assurance," he writes, "while others utter words of warning. How do we put these together?"
depart from me -- who?A retired sister writes from Advent Christian Village in Florida, "How do you reconcile John 6:37 with Matthew 7:21? The one verse seems to say 'once saved, always saved.' The other seems to say, 'not necessarily so.'"
hopelessness is devil's deceitSomeone writes: "I am advanced in years and always thought I was saved because I asked Jesus into my heart at age 12. I lived a life of disobedience but have recently ... turned to God with all my might. I want to be saved but I am going through great torment and ... even when I plead with God for mercy. I feel totally abandoned. Can you please help me?"
backsliding and salvationA gracEmail subscriber writes: "Many years ago I accepted the Lord through baptism in a Church of Christ. Later, I became a member of a Baptist church. It has been a while since I have attended church, but that doesn't mean I love the Lord any less. My question is, if someone accepted the Lord and later became a backslider, is their soul in jeopardy?"
God never gives upA gracEmail subscriber writes, "Does God ever just give up on one of his children? Is it possible that we can continue to do something so evil that God finally decides that there is no hope for us and that we are not worth salvation?"
secure in ChristCorrie ten Boom, the Dutch saint whose Christian family hid Jews from the Nazis, ... understood true security. "Look around and be distressed," I once heard her say. "Look within and be depressed. Look at Jesus and be at rest." Romans chapter 8 provides a window into the security of everyone who trusts in Jesus Christ for right standing with God. This reassuring chapter opens with "no condemnation," ends with "no separation" and in the middle sets out a multitude of reasons why the believer can live in confidence of unending life with God.
the simple promisesA gracEmail subscriber ... believes that Acts 2:38 and Mark 16:16 make water baptism a condition of salvation, and he insists that we cannot take other passages at face value which promise salvation to the believer. Salvation may depend on more conditions than those named in a given verse, he insists, but it can never depend on fewer.
security in ChristA gracEmail subscriber asks whether one who is truly saved can finally be lost.
believer's security more than a doctrineA Baptist brother and gracEmail subscriber asks about the permanent well being of God's true people. "Doesn't the Bible teach a doctrine of eternal security?"
uncertainty of salvationA gracEmail subscriber in Australia asks, with reference to Paul's remarks in 1 Corinthians 9:24-27, "How can Paul, understanding so well the lavish grace of God, speak in such almost legalistic terms as to suggest that some lack of self-discipline would disqualify him from eternal life? Would not living under grace rather than Law) give him confidence that even such a lack of discipline would be forgiven by his God?"
but what if I am wrong?A brother in Tennessee says that he is much in accord with comments here about God saving us gratuitously because of what Jesus did as our representative, instead of depending on our ability to figure out all the religious answers and cobble together an acceptable record of obedience on our own. "But wouldn't it be a real tragedy," he asks, "if I go to hell because I misread what the Bible is saying?"