There is a false teaching that is spreading all over Christian churches today that has created great destruction in people’s walk with God, and that is the false teaching that one can lost their salvation. Preachers all across America are telling their churches that if you sin after you get saved then you have to confess in order to continue to be saved. This belief yields itself to a lack of certainty in the Christian life. As I read my Bible, I see that God wants me to have certainty in my beliefs and in my future. 1st John 5:13 says, “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.” That passage tells me that God wants me to be certain about my eternity. In this post, I would like to highlight three different passages in the Bible that show me that I am eternal secure in my salvation
Ephesians 4:30, “…sealed unto the day of redemption.”
This may be my favorite Bible verse on the matter of eternal security. This passage tells us that we are sealed unto the day of redemption. The “day of redemption” being referred to in this verse is the day that the transaction of our salvation is completed, and that is the day we arrive in Heaven to be with the Lord. So we are sealed until the day we are in Heaven with Jesus. But what does “sealed” mean. This is where the truth gets amazing! To be sealed means to be marked for ownership or to be held securely. When you accepted Jesus Christ as your Saviour, you put yourself under the ownership of God, and the fact that we are sealed means that nothing will change that until the day of our redemption. There was a practical illustration of this in Bible days, that Paul may have been alluding to: When lumber was being sent from one place to another the person who owned the wood to sell would put his mark (or seal) on it, this mark would indicate that it was his. The only time the seal could be taken off of the shipment of wood would be when it arrived to the person to whom it was being sold to. Do you see the simple truth here? When I got saved, I was sealed. That seal can only come off once I reach Heaven, because that is my final destination. You would get upset if you had a loved one who tried to mail a package to you but instead of it getting to you, instead it went to the mean neighbor across the street. The same is true here, you have a specific destination that God had you starting toward once you got saved. It can’t be Hell, it certainly is Heaven. Do not forget that you are sealed.
John 10:29, “…no man is able to pluck them out of my Father’s hand.”
We often use this group of verses as proof of the deity of Christ, and of course, this is a go-to passage for that. It is spelled out plain and simple. But this is also a passage about eternal security. First, let’s identify the “them” in this passage. Several verses previous to this, Jesus is referring to his “sheep”, when he says, “My sheep hear my voice…” The “them” in this verse is the sheep. Who are the sheep? Those that believe on Jesus, in other words, those that are saved. That makes me a sheep! Pretty cool. This also makes sense because of what we saw from Ephesians 4:30, we belong to God once we are saved. All of that being said, this verse tells me that since I am saved, I have been placed in the hand of God and no man is able to pluck me out of the Father’s hand. There is not a single person in this world that can make you “unsaved”. Let me ask you something: Are you a person? I’m sure the answer is “yes”. If you are a person, than you are a part of this “no man” category that this verse refers to. You cannot do anything to be taken out of the hand of God once you are saved.
I like to explain it this way. What if I were to go out today and commit a heinous crime, let’s say that I killed someone (remember, this is just an illustration, I have never actually killed anyone). After I commit the crime I call my dad and tell him what I did. Now, would my dad be happy with me? No way! He would be incredibly disappointed in me. But would I still be his son? Of course I would. Ultimately, nothing could change the fact that I am my father’s son. I have his DNA inside of me, his blood runs through my veins. It doesn’t matter what happens in life, I will forever be the son of my father. When you got saved, you became a child of God, Jesus’ blood covers you and accounts for you. You are securely held in the Father’s hand, and no one, not even you, can change that. You cannot be plucked.
1st John 1:9, “If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.”
This truth is very simple. When you got saved, you were cleansed from all unrighteousness. Does the verse say, “All past unrighteousnesses”? No! It says “all”. I once heard a preachers say, “all means all and that is all that all means”! Very true statement. When I asked Jesus to save me, he cleansed me from all unrighteousness past, present, and future. After all, future unrighteousnesses are a part of “all”, aren’t they? You may ask, “How can that be?” But let me rebuttal with a question of my own, “How can it not be?” How long ago did Jesus die on that old rugged cross? It almost 2000 years ago. I do not know a single person on this planet who has lived for 2000 years, that means this, every sin that you ever committed was committed in the future for Jesus. Your past sins were committed in the cross’s future. Remember, God transcends both time and space, therefore, he is able to cleanse us of our sins, even before they are committed. When I came to Jesus and confessed my sin to Him and believed that he would save me from them, not only did he save me from my past, but also from my future. The Bible calls those of us that are saved “justified”. Justified means to be “declared righteous”. When I got saved, I was declared righteous before God, that is what makes it possible for me to go to Heaven. But how can I be declared righteous? It isn’t because of anything I did, it is because Jesus cleansed me from my unrighteousnesses. I can only be righteous by not being unrighteous, and that is what Jesus did for me when he saved me, took away my unrighteousnesses.
Ultimately, you need to understand the essence of salvation. Salvation has nothing to do with you but it has everything to do with Jesus. Salvation is not dependent on your goodness or the thing that you do, it is dependent on the finished work of Jesus Christ on the cross. If I can be saved by the grace of God, but then lose my salvation because of bad works, then ultimately Jesus’ death was in vain (Galatians 2:21). You are not saved by grace and then kept by works, that doesn’t make any sense (Romans 3:28, Galatians 3:1-5) Salvation is either all about Jesus and his saving grace or it isn’t really salvation at all. And that is enough for me to believe that what God promises he will do, that he will do. The Gospel is simple, “believe on the Lord Jesus Christ and thou shalt be saved”, let’s not add man’s doctrine because we think God’s plan is to simple. I am saved by grace, through faith, and not by works. In just the same way, I am kept saved, I am eternally secure because of the grace of God.
If you have any topics for me to write about in "My Three Favorite" series, let me know in the comments!
Curtis King is the pastor of Calvary Baptist Church in Hartwell, GA
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