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Eternal Security of the Believer
Introduction
This commentary/study will focus upon the eternal security of the believer in Jesus Christ, the fact that once a person has been saved (justified before God) he or she can never more be lost (unjustified). But prior to the examination of this subject it would be well for the reader to understand how a person appropriates this justification and is therefore born again or saved.
The Bible specifically informs that the basis of mankind’s salvation is the grace of God as transacted by God the Son, Jesus Christ (second person of the triune Godhead) on the cross of Calvary a little over 2,000 years ago.
For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life. (John 3:16)
Being justified freely by His [God’s] grace through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus. (Romans 3:24)
In Him [Christ] we have redemption through His blood, the forgiveness of sins, according to the riches of His [God’s] grace. . . . That in the ages to come He might show the exceeding riches of His grace in His kindness toward us in Christ Jesus. For by grace you have been saved through faith, and that not of yourselves; it is the gift of God. (Ephesians 1:7; 2:7, 8)
It was upon Golgotha’s cross that Jesus Christ vicariously (as mankind’s substitute) took upon Himself and was made to be the sin of mankind in order to pay the penalty-price for that sin. On the cross Jesus Christ made this sin-payment by suffering separation from God (spiritual death) for a 3-hour period of time, as evidenced by the world being enveloped in darkness. He then allowed His human body to submit to physical death and to be buried. But on the third day He rose in a resurrected physical body from the grave, concrete proof that He was who He said He was (God in the flesh), that He indeed paid the penalty-price for mankind’s sin, and that He was victorious over sin and the grave.
But God demonstrates His own love toward us, in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us. (Romans 5:8)
For He [God] made Him [Jesus Christ] who knew no sin to be sin for us, that we might become the righteousness of God in Him [Christ]. (2 Corinthians 5:21)
Now from the sixth hour until the ninth hour there was darkness over all the land. And about the ninth hour Jesus cried out with a loud voice, saying, “Eli, Eli, lama sabachthani?” that is, “My God, My God, why have You forsaken Me?”. . . So when Jesus had received the sour wine, He said, “It is finished!” [“Payment has been made!”] And bowing His head, He gave up His spirit. (Matthew 27:45, 46; John 19:30)
For I delivered to you first of all that which I also received: that Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures, and that He was buried, and that He rose again the third day according to the Scriptures. (1 Corinthians 15:3, 4)
The only means by which any person may appropriate God’s salvation (justification) is by turning solely to Christ from any other confidence (good works, religion, ritual, etc.) in total and genuine faith (trust, confidence), believing the truth about Him and His sacrifice upon the cross. It is in fact accepting God at His Word and believing that Jesus Christ is both God and Messiah—the Savior of mankind. This “turning” only to Christ from any other confidence is “biblical repentance.” It is essentially a willful decision to trust in (rest upon) Christ alone for one’s eternal destiny. It is faith alone in Christ alone; nothing more and nothing less, simple but quite profound, free for the recipient but extremely expensive for the Purchaser/Provider.
But as many as received Him, to them He gave the right to become children of God, to those who believe in His name. . . . He who believes in Him is not condemned; but he who does not believe is condemned already, because he has not believed in the name of the only begotten Son of God. . . . He who believes in the Son has everlasting life; and he who does not believe the Son shall not see life, but the wrath of God abides on him. . . . Most assuredly, I say to you, he who believes in Me [Jesus Christ] has everlasting life. . . . But these are written that you may believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, and that believing you may have life in His name. (John 1:12; 3:18, 36; 6:47; 20:31)
And he brought them out and said, “Sirs, what must I do to be saved?” So they said, “Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, and you will be saved . . . .” (Acts 16:30, 31)
For by grace you have been saved through faith, and that not of yourselves; it is the gift of God, not of works, lest anyone should boast. (Ephesians 2:8, 9)
These things I have written to you who believe in the name of the Son of God, that you may know that you have eternal life . . . . (1 John 5:13)
And the Spirit and the bride say, “Come!” And let him who hears say, “Come!” And let him who thirsts come. Whoever desires, let him take the water of life freely. (Revelation 22:17)
And once this decision is made, the person has passed from darkness (spiritual death) to light (spiritual life), is no longer condemned, has “eternal life,” has been set free from the law of sin and death, and has been made a new creation in Christ—because he has been permanently sealed by God the Holy Spirit (third person of the triune Godhead) until the Day of Redemption.
Most assuredly, I say to you, he who hears My word and believes in Him who sent Me has everlasting life, and shall not come into judgment, but has passed from death into life. (John 5:24)
I have come as a light into the world, that whoever believes in Me should not abide in darkness. (John 12:46)
Most assuredly, I say to you, he who believes in Me [Jesus Christ] has everlasting life. (John 6:47)
These things I have written to you who believe in the name of the Son of God, that you may know that you have eternal life . . . . (1 John 5:13)
He who believes in Him is not condemned; but he who does not believe is condemned already, because he has not believed in the name of the only begotten Son of God. (John 3:18)
For the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus has made me free from the law of sin and death. (Romans 8:2)
Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; old things have passed away; behold, all things have become new. (2 Corinthians 5:17)
And do not grieve the Holy Spirit of God, by whom you were sealed for the day of redemption. (Ephesians 4:30)
This is how a person appropriates God’s justification and is therefore saved. He has in fact received the gift of eternal life from God, a transaction which is irrevocable by God or man.
Jesus answered and said to her, “If you knew the gift of God, and who it is who says to you, ‘Give Me a drink,’ you would have asked Him, and He would have given you living water. . . . but whoever drinks of the water that I shall give him will never thirst. But the water that I shall give him will become in him a fountain of water springing up into everlasting life.” (John 4:10, 14)
For by grace you have been saved through faith, and that not of yourselves; it is the gift of God. (Ephesians 2:8)
For the gifts and the calling of God are irrevocable. (Romans 11:29)
Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, and comes down from the Father of lights, with whom there is no variation or shadow of turning. (James 1:17)
Preface
If God has saved you, i.e., bestowed upon you eternal life, He will keep you saved. There are numerous religions, sects and philosophical movements on earth. The common thread that intertwines them is their emphasis on doing good (works) in order to achieve the goals of temporal peace of mind and eternal salvation. Even among various so-called “Christian” denominations, this “faith plus works” agenda is proffered. There may be the small distinction that it is “faith plus an accrual of various good works that brings salvation” or that “faith brings salvation but doing good works maintains it” among them, but it amounts to the same. In brief, a person holding to either of these theological concepts has no assurance that his soul is saved and that he will be forever with God until he takes that final breath and passes through the veil of physical death.
The truth is that Christianity is not religion; it is a relationship, or better yet, a union with the person of Jesus Christ. A person becomes a Christian upon entering into union with Christ and thereby becoming part of the Body of Christ (1 Corinthians 12:12-27; Romans 12:5; Ephesians 1:22, 23). A person appropriates this union by faith alone in Christ alone and nothing else. Yet it is unfortunate that mankind through pride and self-will always endeavors to obtain the approbation (approval) of God through religion, i.e., the performance of rituals and (human) good works.
This system of belief is quite sad, i.e., to have such little confidence in the power of Christ, to have such little knowledge of the work of the Holy Spirit, and to have such limited understanding of God’s Word. Such a belief will only block a person from securing justification before God (eternal life). And for a true believer to adopt the theological concept that he must persevere in doing good works until the end of temporal life in order to insure eternal life will only deny him the joy, peace, and power that God intends for him in this life.
One may argue that fear of losing one’s salvation is an incentive to do good works. The contrary is true. Not having the confidence in one’s Savior and His securing power only allows one to live in fear, doubt and ignorance—qualities never intended to characterize the Christian life, which patently lead to spiritual depression and self-defeat. In addition, if a person really believes that he may lose his salvation and may later restore it through whatever means (confession, penance, ritual, etc.), it can rationally be argued that this reason will only encourage a wayward life of sin. On the other hand, a truly knowledgeable and grateful Christian is dissuaded to sin. He knows that God’s Word clearly states that as a child of God he will be punished for sins not confessed in this life and be subject to loss of rewards at the judgment seat of Christ (1 Corinthians 3:10-15; 2 Corinthians 5:10; Hebrews 10:30, 31; 12:5-12; 28, 29).
There are passages of Scripture employed to support both concepts, i.e., (1) the eternal security of the believer by means of faith alone in Christ, and (2) salvation by faith in Christ plus obedience (good works) of the believer. This study will attempt to consider many of the most important of them. It is also worth noting that each camp (“faith alone” and “faith plus works”) demonstrates certain characteristics, and they should be taken into account as one engages in the study of God’s Word. These contrasting characteristics follow:
The Confusion
The confusion that exists between various theological camps regarding the eternal security or lack of it pertaining to believers in Jesus Christ may, as a minimum, be attributed to the six following issues:
Those of the Arminian persuasion adhere to a “faith in Christ plus works” approbation, which may only be fully known and achieved once a person has completed temporal life.
Those of the Calvinistic persuasion adhere to a “faith alone in Christ” apprehension, which may be known at the moment of the execution of faith (although it should be noted here that certain Calvinistic beliefs are also doctrinally incorrect).
These two positions, Arminian and Calvinistic, also differ in regards to the retention of salvation. Arminians believe that since one’s salvation is “faith plus works,” saved persons may fall into sin and lose their salvation. Calvinist believe truly saved individuals will persevere in good works until the end of temporal life; but those that do not so persevere were really not “truly saved” in the first place. The doctrine of “perseverance” is not doctrinally correct, as this study will point out.
There is of course a third position, the one supported by this author, which is composed of elements of both the above two primary positions. This position is that a person is permanently saved (justified before God and granted eternal life) by faith alone in Christ alone. Furthermore, the saved person may in fact fall into a carnal state and may live in it throughout his temporal life.
Should this be the case, he will face divine temporal discipline and loss of eternal rewards. Believers who walk in the Spirit by means of faith and in obedience to God may in fact experience temporal suffering due to their warfare with Satan and his demonic following but will receive eternal rewards at the Judgment Seat of Christ, specifically during His reign during the Millennial Kingdom.
This study will endeavor to clarify such issues so that the reader may see them in their conformity with each other and within the Word of God.
The Principle of Faith
The Bible establishes that God has recognized and honored one principle above all others from the beginning of time. It is the only principle that truly pleases Him. The principle is not one of sacrifices or works. It is the principle of faith! Following the Law, making sacrifices, and doing good, all in one’s own power, was never the answer. Believing (trusting in) God (His Word) is and always was the only true means of pleasing Him. True righteousness, in both salvation and sanctification, always starts, continues, and end with faith. The Bible indicates that there is a vast difference in divine good works (those implemented by God through man) and human good works (those implemented solely by man). Divine good works can only come from a changed heart, a product of faith alone in Christ alone, under the influence (filling) of the Holy Spirit.
The word faith, as used in the Bible and particularly in the New Testament, is tantamount (equivalent) to the word believe. In fact when it applies to the doctrine of salvation, there is no difference between the two words. The primary Greek words, all akin to each other, used in the New Testament and which are translated in various tenses of faith or believe, are pistis, pistos and pisteuo.
The primary meaning of both faith and believe within the Bible is a firm persuasion, conviction or confidence that is based upon information received as truth. It is an action that originates within a person’s will (the faculty of conscious and deliberate action), which is one aspect (soul) of the individual’s triune image of God (body, soul, and spirit as indicated in 1 Thessalonians 5:23). In other words, to place faith in or to believe in a person or thing, according to God’s Word, is a willful acceptance and trust (confidence) in the information (facts) that pertain to the person or thing.
Various forms of the words faith and believe are used approximately 485 times in the New Testament. In relation to the concept of salvation, i.e. granting of eternal life to an individual, there are approximately 150 applications of these words used exclusively as the means of personally appropriating (receiving or apprehending) the first aspect of salvation, which is justification before God.
It is unfortunate that religion, the antithesis (exact opposite) of Christianity, misses the truth of faith as evidenced throughout the Bible. Whereas the Church (Body of Christ) initially started out strong in the understanding that faith (in Christ alone) is the sole means of appropriating justification before God , over time and due to the pride within man, it degraded to a system of works as the means of achieving this end and in all aspects of the approbation (approval) of God. By the 16th Century the established (Roman Catholic) church, emphasized works as much or more than faith as a means of achieving salvation. Because of this, God brought forth German monk Martin Luther (1483-1546), who was awakened to the truth of faith by Habakkuk 2:4 and various other scriptures, to give rise to the Reformation.
The Reformation began on October 31, 1517, when Martin Luther nailed his 95 Theses to the church door in Wittenberg, Germany. This initiated a great revival of Christianity in world history, which reestablished four pillars of Bible doctrine—(1) Christ alone, (2) the Bible alone, (3) Faith alone and (4) Grace alone—all apart from “works.” Luther led the world in its break for freedom at the end of the Dark Ages. When summoned to appear before the Emperor at the Diet of Worms to answer for his writings: Luther gave this timeless reply, “I cannot submit my faith either to the Pope or to the Councils; because it is clear as day they have frequently erred and contradicted each other. Unless therefore, I am convinced by the testimony of Scripture . . . I cannot and will not retract . . . Here I stand, I can do no other. So help me God, Amen.”
Throughout the Old and New Testaments, faith was the sole basis for God ascribing (imputing, crediting) righteousness to man.
And he [Abram/Abraham] believed in the LORD, and He accounted it to him for righteousness. (Genesis 15:6)
What then shall we say that Abraham our father has found according to the flesh? For if Abraham was justified by works, he has something to boast about, but not before God. For what does the Scripture say? “Abraham believed God, and it was accounted to him for righteousness.” Now to him who works, the wages are not counted as grace but as debt. But to him who does not work but believes on Him who justifies the ungodly, his faith is accounted for righteousness, just as David also describes the blessedness of the man to whom God imputes righteousness apart from works: “Blessed are those whose lawless deeds are forgiven, And whose sins are covered; Blessed is the man to whom the LORD shall not impute sin.” (Romans 4:1-8)
Righteousness cannot be credited on the bases of works; otherwise, it would be an obligation instead of a “gift” from God. The Gift of God is Jesus Christ (John 3:16), whose vicarious spiritual death covered our sins—all sins past, present and future—upon the cross of Calvary (Matthew 26:28; Acts 20:28; Romans 5:9; Hebrews 9:14; 1 Peter 1:18,19; 1 John 1:7; Revelation 1:5; 7:14); as well as the salvation (justification) for which it is efficacious to man (John 4:10, 14; Ephesians 2:8). It comes only by means of faith placed in the Word of God.
Faith is so extolled by God that He penned an entire chapter on it in the New Testament, highlighting [underlining added] it some 24 times:
Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen. For by it the elders obtained a good testimony. By faith we understand that the worlds were framed by the word of God, so that the things which are seen were not made of things which are visible. By faith Abel offered to God a more excellent sacrifice than Cain, through which he obtained witness that he was righteous, God testifying of his gifts; and through it he being dead still speaks. By faith Enoch was taken away so that he did not see death, “and was not found, because God had taken him”; for before he was taken he had this testimony, that he pleased God. But without faith it is impossible to please Him, for he who comes to God must believe that He is, and that He is a rewarder of those who diligently seek Him. By faith Noah, being divinely warned of things not yet seen, moved with godly fear, prepared an ark for the saving of his household, by which he condemned the world and became heir of the righteousness which is according to faith. By faith Abraham obeyed when he was called to go out to the place which he would receive as an inheritance. And he went out, not knowing where he was going. By faith he dwelt in the land of promise as in a foreign country, dwelling in tents with Isaac and Jacob, the heirs with him of the same promise; for he waited for the city which has foundations, whose builder and maker is God. By faith Sarah herself also received strength to conceive seed, and she bore a child when she was past the age, because she judged Him faithful who had promised. Therefore from one man, and him as good as dead, were born as many as the stars of the sky in multitude--innumerable as the sand which is by the seashore. These all died in faith, not having received the promises, but having seen them afar off were assured of them, embraced them and confessed that they were strangers and pilgrims on the earth. For those who say such things declare plainly that they seek a homeland. And truly if they had called to mind that country from which they had come out, they would have had opportunity to return. But now they desire a better, that is, a heavenly country. Therefore God is not ashamed to be called their God, for He has prepared a city for them. By faith Abraham, when he was tested, offered up Isaac, and he who had received the promises offered up his only begotten son, of whom it was said, “In Isaac your seed shall be called,” concluding that God was able to raise him up, even from the dead, from which he also received him in a figurative sense. By faith Isaac blessed Jacob and Esau concerning things to come. By faith Jacob, when he was dying, blessed each of the sons of Joseph, and worshiped, leaning on the top of his staff. By faith Joseph, when he was dying, made mention of the departure of the children of Israel, and gave instructions concerning his bones. By faith Moses, when he was born, was hidden three months by his parents, because they saw he was a beautiful child; and they were not afraid of the king's command. By faith Moses, when he became of age, refused to be called the son of Pharaoh's daughter, choosing rather to suffer affliction with the people of God than to enjoy the passing pleasures of sin, esteeming the reproach of Christ greater riches than the treasures in Egypt; for he looked to the reward. By faith he forsook Egypt, not fearing the wrath of the king; for he endured as seeing Him who is invisible. By faith he kept the Passover and the sprinkling of blood, lest he who destroyed the firstborn should touch them. By faith they passed through the Red Sea as by dry land, whereas the Egyptians, attempting to do so, were drowned. By faith the walls of Jericho fell down after they were encircled for seven days. By faith the harlot Rahab did not perish with those who did not believe, when she had received the spies with peace. And what more shall I say? For the time would fail me to tell of Gideon and Barak and Samson and Jephthah, also of David and Samuel and the prophets: who through faith subdued kingdoms, worked righteousness, obtained promises, stopped the mouths of lions, quenched the violence of fire, escaped the edge of the sword, out of weakness were made strong, became valiant in battle, turned to flight the armies of the aliens. Women received their dead raised to life again. And others were tortured, not accepting deliverance, that they might obtain a better resurrection. Still others had trial of mockings and scourgings, yes, and of chains and imprisonment. They were stoned, were sawn in two, were tempted, and were slain with the sword. They wandered about in sheepskins and goatskins, being destitute, afflicted, tormented— of whom the world was not worthy. They wandered in deserts and mountains, in dens and caves of the earth. And all these, having obtained a good testimony through faith, did not receive the promise, God having provided something better for us, that they should not be made perfect apart from us. (Hebrews 11:1-40)
Faith in God’s Word is absolutely the only means in which man is able to please God. It is the only means in which man can appropriate eternal life through Jesus Christ. And it is the only means in which a child of God may be empowered by God (Colossians 2:6) to serve Him in the accomplishment of “divine good.” Man’s self-efforts, human good works, noble intentions, religious participations and actions—all are to no avail in achieving the approbation of God. This may only be achieved by faith in God’s Word.
Salvation (justification) and divine good works come strictly by faith, both involving the work of the Holy Spirit. His manifestation comes only as a result of faith, not due to one’s self-observance of the law.
Therefore He who supplies the Spirit to you and works miracles among you, does He do it by the works of the law, or by the hearing of faith? — Just as Abraham “believed God, and it was accounted to him for righteousness.” Therefore know that only those who are of faith are sons of Abraham. And the Scripture, foreseeing that God would justify the Gentiles by faith, preached the gospel to Abraham beforehand, saying, “In you all the nations shall be blessed.” So then those who are of faith are blessed with believing Abraham. For as many as are of the works of the law are under the curse; for it is written, “Cursed is everyone who does not continue in all things which are written in the book of the law, to do them.” But that no one is justified by the law in the sight of God is evident, for “the just shall live by faith.” (Galatians 3:5-11)
I have been crucified with Christ; it is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me; and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave Himself for me. (Galatians 2:20)
The Durative Aspects of Saving Faith
There are two aspects (continuity of action) of faith in the matter of salvation. Whereas sanctification is progressively achieved through a continuing faith, justification is a one-time event appropriated by a one-time exercise of faith. The student of Greek linguistics will eventually find that the durative quality of the term often utilized as the expression of faith, which is “believe,” may only be determined, not by the tense of the verb, but by the context and nature of the object to which it is applied. To this end the first footnote to chapter 5 of the book Absolutely Free by Zane C. Hodges is reproduced in part [with this author’s remarks in brackets] for the reader’s consideration:
MacArthur [John F. MacArthur, Jr., The Gospel According to Jesus—Grand Rapids: Academie Books, Zondervan Publishing House, 1988] reveals his lack of expertise and understanding when he writes: “The continuing nature of saving faith is underscored by the use of the present tense of the Greek verb “pisteuo” (“believe”) throughout the gospel of John [he cites numerous texts in John, Acts and Romans] . . . If believing were a one-time act, the Greek tense in these verses would be aorist” (p. 172).
This is a serious misuse of Greek grammar to affirm a wrong idea. What would MacArthur say if he were told that in Acts 16:31 (“Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, and you will be saved”) the Greek verb is “aorist,” as indeed it is? It is a completely inaccurate concept of the Greek tenses to suggest that the tense itself tells us whether the action is a one-time or a continuing event. One may observe, for example, that in John 6 the author uses several Greek tenses to describe one and the same “single” event—namely, the coming of our Lord from heaven to earth. Thus we read:
[Here Mr. Hodges illustrates the variety of tenses—“present” twice, “perfect” twice, and “aorist” thrice—used in seven verses—33, 38, 41, 42, 50, 51, 58—in John 6]
Obviously, in John 6 we are told nothing bout the continuity of the action by the fact that one tense or another is used. Indeed, three tenses are used to describe the very same “historical and unrepeated event” of the Incarnation—and the present tense is one of them!
Moreover, in John’s gospel, the present participle preceded by the definite article is often used to identify “the one who believes” (or, “he who believes”). The use of the present tense does “not” imply that the action involved cannot stop. On the contrary, the present participle is used of actions that “have” stopped! For example:
[Here Mr. Hodges illustrates this point with 5 different verses—Matthew 2:20; Mark 5:16; 6:14; John 9:8; Galatians 1:23]
. . . It follows from what has been said in this note, that it is the context of a statement—and not the tense of the verb—that determines whether the action is viewed as a single act or as a continuing one. As we have pointed out in the text of this chapter, it is clear from the various Johannine contexts that “believing” is viewed as a single act of appropriation. (Absolutely Free by Zane C. Hodges, Academie Books, Zondervan Publishing House, 1989)
The Nature of Saving Faith
Having seen that it is the context that primarily conveys the durative aspect (continuity of action) of a Greek verb, it is advisable at this juncture to illustrate the nature of saving faith. Salvation (justification) is not only a one-time never to be repeated “event,” but it is appropriated by a one-time never to be repeated “act” of personal faith, and its nature is best seen in the gospel of John, the only book within the New Testament specifically written with an evangelistic purpose and focus in mind, i.e, in order that you (mankind) “may believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, and that believing you may have life in His name” (John 20:31).
A side note for those who misguidedly advocate “lordship” and/or “multi-step” salvation, it should be noted that never once in the entire book of John, the one New Testament gospel that centers on the deity of Christ and God’s salvation (justification) message for mankind, is anything mentioned pertaining to the issue other than “believing” in Jesus Christ. One may search the entirety of John’s gospel but will never find one reference to “repentance” (although the concept of the word does indeed represent the turning by faith to Christ from all other confidences), much less a reference to “surrender” or “submission” (although these terms could be used to refer to the personal acceptance of the truth, i.e., the facts pertaining to Jesus Christ) as a condition for eternal life. The only word that is frequently and routinely mentioned in John as the means of appropriating eternal life is “believe,” a synonym for “faith.”
As such, the gospel of John best reveals the nature or distinctive qualities of saving faith. It depicts saving faith as (1) factual, (2) appropriating, (3) transforming, (4) forever (5) definitive and final and (6) assuring. John utilizes several accounts of individuals who had personal encounters with Jesus Christ to illustrate these points as follow:
· Martha of Bethany (John 11:20-27)
While Martha’s brother Lazarus lay dead in the tomb, Jesus Christ confronts her with a magnificent claim and a decisive question:
Jesus said to her, “I am the resurrection and the life. He who believes in Me, though he may die, he shall live. And whoever lives and believes in Me shall never die. Do you believe this?” (vss. 25, 26)
Those who advocate “lordship salvation” will often say that saving faith is not merely “belief in the facts;” yet this position is misconceived and cannot stand up under biblical examination. In His exchange with Martha, Christ announced some staggering facts; not only that He is the resurrection and the life, but that anyone who believes in Him will physically be resurrected back to life and will never experience spiritual death. He then made it personal to Martha by asking her, “Do you believe this?”
The term “head knowledge” as is commonly used by Christians, referring to knowing intellectually the facts of Christ but not actually believing them, is not what the Lord was asking of Martha. By asking her if she “believed” (the facts) that He had just proclaimed, He was asking her if she accepted them as truth.
The New Testament writers knew perfectly well how hostile their environment was to the acceptance of Christian truth. They never depreciated or deprecated the worth of “believing the facts” about the Son of God, a huge difficulty in that day for both Jew and Gentile alike. Martha affirmed that she personally believed the facts He had shared concerning Himself with her: “Yes, Lord, I believe that You are the Christ, the Son of God, who is to come into the world.”
The faith under discussion is unmistakably factual. The facts presented to Martha are more than great facts. They are saving facts. They were divinely revealed facts, which are to be believed for salvation. Thus, Jesus’ words to Martha are what it means to believe in Christ.
Not all facts about God are saving facts. For example, to believe in the unity of God (“there is one God”) saves no one. Every orthodox Jew in the Roman world believed that. So, in fact, do the demons (James 2:19). Although this is a glorious truth, it does not contain within itself the truth of the gospel.
But to believe that Jesus is the Christ—in John’s sense of that term—is to believe saving truth. Jesus was asking Martha whether she believed that He fully guaranteed the eternal destiny of every believer, which was the same as asking if this great truth applied to her as well. She affirmed that it did. Thus, by believing these key facts about the person of Christ, Martha was trusting Him for her personal eternal destiny—believing that it was in His hands.
Faith or “believing,” as it contextually applies to the justification (eternal salvation) of the believer is never presented in terms of strong or weak. It is not a question of what kind of faith one has; it is simply the matter of whether the person does or doesn’t personally believe the facts as truth.
By believing the facts Martha was appropriating the gift of eternal life. By making the facts part of her personal belief system she was “born again” and secured her eternal destiny. Her confidence in Jesus Christ, i.e., the truth about Him that He had shared with her, was nothing less than a personal appropriation of saving truth. She had received the testimony of God about His Son, and in so doing she had appropriated eternal life itself.
If we receive the witness of men, the witness of God is greater; for this is the witness of God which He has testified of His Son. He who believes in the Son of God has the witness in himself; he who does not believe God has made Him a liar, because he has not believed the testimony that God has given of His Son. And this is the testimony: that God has given us eternal life, and this life is in His Son. He who has the Son has life; he who does not have the Son of God does not have life. These things I have written to you who believe in the name of the Son of God, that you may know that you have eternal life, and that you may continue to believe in the name of the Son of God. (1 John 5:9-13)
· Samaritan woman from the city of Sychar (John 4:6-26)
In this important passage of John, the apostle presents saving faith as an act of appropriation. Jesus sets the direction of this interview with the Samaritan woman with these words: “If you knew the gift of God, and who it is who says to you, 'Give Me a drink,' you would have asked Him, and He would have given you living water.” Jesus is telling her that she needs to appropriate something that He wants to give her. But to do that, she needs to know certain facts—concerning God’s gift and about the Person who was placing the offer before her. The conversation that follows provides her with the needed information.
God’s gift was the “water of life” (vss. 13, 14), not the kind of water that would satisfy her physical thirst (vs. 15) as she supposed. It was water designed to meet her spiritual thirst. But that was only half of the truth. She also needed to know the identity of the Person who was speaking to her. And Jesus deftly directs her toward this goal and in verse 26 reveals that He is the Messiah, who is called Christ who is the Giver of eternal life.
Thus, when she received this saving truth in faith, she received nothing less than the gift of God. God’s testimony about His Son—His living Word—was now within her. Her acceptance of the facts as truth was her act of appropriation. This was her decision of faith, and by it she had come into possession of the water of everlasting life.
The exchange with the Samaritan woman has as its basic premise the discussion of a gift, one that Jesus would gladly give her upon her request (vs. 10). It is the nature of gift-giving that once it is given, it is in the possession of the recipient. The concept of the gift as “water,” also perfectly reveals that it is inwardly transforming. From then on she will possess and inner fountain, or “spring,” whose supply of water is as unending as eternity itself (vs. 14). This is the miracle of regeneration. The life-bearing Word of God accomplishes an inner transformation when it is received by faith. The reception takes place at a point in time, like taking a drink of water; but the effects of that drink are unending, they are forever (more on this to follow).
· Nicodemus (John 3:1-16)
In Christ’s nighttime encounter with the Pharisee Nicodemus, Christ stated: “Most assuredly, I say to you, unless one is born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God” (vs. 3). The imagery of “birth” conveys the same truth as that found in the previously discussed image of a “drink of water.” Birth, too, is a one-time event with permanent consequences. There is no way anyone can reverse his physical birth. Even suicide does not undo it. And even those who will physically die, will eventually know physical existence again (John 5:28, 29). By physical birth a person enters God’s creation as an eternal person. There is nothing he can do to reverse it, just as he can do nothing to reverse his regeneration once he has experienced it.
By the astonishing miracle of regeneration a person is constituted a “child of God.” Even if later he should not want to be His child, it would not change this fact. His spiritual birth, like his physical one, is irreversible. Some would say that as with a “gift,” one can give it back; but this would not apply to a “drink of water,” which is consumed in the appropriation and consumption (inward transformation). It certainly does not have such a meaning with “birth.” A person can no more give his spiritual birth back to God then he can give his physical birth back to his earthly parents.
If a person could give back his spiritual birth to God then the promises of John’s gospel are false, i.e., a person who believed in God’s Son would perish, contradicting John 3:16; a person who had possessed eternal life would come into judgment, contradicting John 5:24; and a person who drank of the water of life would thirst again, contradicting John 4:14. In fact later when in Capernaum, Jesus declares the following: “I am the bread of life. He who comes to Me shall never hunger, and he who believes in Me shall never thirst.” (John 6:35) “Never hunger! Never thirst”! Jesus is saying “It’s permanent! It’s permanent!”
But He says it again almost immediately: “All that the Father gives Me will come to Me, and the one who comes to Me I will by no means cast out.” (John 6:37) And then again He says: “For I have come down from heaven, not to do My own will, but the will of Him who sent Me. This is the will of the Father who sent Me, that of all He has given Me I should lose nothing, but should raise it up at the last day. And this is the will of Him who sent Me, that everyone who sees the Son and believes in Him may have everlasting life; and I will raise him up at the last day.” (John 6:38-40) “By no means cast out! Lose nothing! Raise it up at the last day!” The meaning is clear, regeneration is permanent!
No wonder the Savior insisted when speaking to Martha that He was both the Resurrection and the Life to every believer. Both are guaranteed. They are part and parcel of the promise that Jesus makes in His offer of salvation. Eternal life is more than just a gift, it is indeed a forever gift.
The fact that it is a forever gift demonstrates that the act of faith that appropriates this gift is definitive and final. In regards to the drink-gift that Jesus offered to the Samaritan woman at the well, He was not telling her to drink and drink and drink, ad infinitum. She was being asked to drink—once and for all!
This was the point of the contrast between the water in the well and the water that Jesus was offering. There would be no drinking of His water ever again. The initial drink was sufficient because its results were permanent. Again, review the note by Hodges pertaining to MacArthur’s comments regarding the tense of the verb “believe” above.
Pertaining to this, Hodges makes a particularly astute comment:
It is just here that we can recognize a serious weakness in much evangelical thought today. In our excessive concentration on the “nature” of faith, we have lost the biblical focus on the gift which faith receives.
After all, taking a drink of water is only a means to an end. It is the water itself that matters, even on the physical level. If the liquid I drink happens to be salt water, it does not matter how skillful or proficient I am at drinking it. Water like that will not satisfy my physical thirst.
But many evangelicals are out of tune with the biblical perspective. In Scripture, saving faith is a simple and uncomplicated issue. . . .
But the water of life itself is by no means uncomplicated. Indeed, it is totally supernatural. Its effects are marvelous, mysterious, and eternal. Yet the faith that receives so great a gift has the utter directness of childlike trust. (Absolutely Free by Zane C. Hodges, Academie Books, Zondervan Publishing House, 1989)
It should also be noted that the illustration of saving faith Jesus gave to Nicodemus in John 3:14, 15 (whereby the children of Israel only needed to one-time simply look up to the serpent on the pole in order to be physically healed) comports in kind to a “once-for-all” and “permanent” act of faith (belief) in the appropriation of eternal life.
And finally, saving faith is also assuring. Hodges again makes the following remarks:
Or to put it another way, when a person believes, that person has assurance of life eternal. How could it be otherwise? Think, for example, of the words of Jesus.
Most assuredly, I say to you, he who hears My word and believes in Him who sent Me has everlasting life, and shall not come into judgment, but has passed from death into life (Jn 5:24).
This is extremely clear. The believer, says our Lord, has eternal life. Moreover, he will not come into judgment. In fact, he has already passed out of death into life. And to believe His Word is to believe these things too!
Thus it is utterly impossible for us to give credence to the gospel message without knowing that we are saved. For that message carries its own guarantee along with it. Therefore, to doubt the guarantee of eternal life is to doubt the message itself. In sort, if I do not believe that I am saved, I do not believe the offer that God has made to me.
. . . When Martha declared that she believed Jesus to be “the Christ, the Son of God” (Jn 11:27), she was responding to the words, “Do you believe this?”
But behind the word “this” lay an important claim that Jesus had made. In fact, in two ways He told her that He guaranteed the eternal destiny of every believer. First, He said: “He who believes in me, though he may die, he shall live” (Jn 11:25). And, second, He said, “And whoever lives and believes in Me shall never die” (Jn 11:26).
Both of these great declarations are included in the word “this” when Jesus says, “Do you believe this?” It follows that if Martha believed “this,” she believed “this” about herself too. Indeed, to deny “this” for herself would have been to deny that “‘whoever’ lives and believes in Me shall never die.” But Martha believed and, in so doing, she knew that she, too, would never die. In a word, like all believers, at the moment of saving faith Martha “knew” that she had eternal life.
This is not to say, however, that later on Martha could not have doubted this truth. Even John the Baptist doubted (Lk 7:18-20). But it is to say this: a person who has “never been sure” of eternal life has “never believed” the saving message of God. . . .
But at least two things [regarding saving faith] are so utterly fundamental that they must never be forgotten. One is that a miraculous new birth occurs within the believer by which one comes into possession of the very life of God. The other is that the believer knows that he or she has this life.
These two facts make the divine gift every bit as “good and perfect” as James [James 1:17] says that God’s gifts always are. Non one can begin to live a new life until they first receive that life by faith. And no one will be able to live that life effectively who is not sure that it is actually possessed. God’s “good and perfect” gift makes provision for both of these basic needs, and they are met at the very moment of faith. (Absolutely Free by Zane C. Hodges, Academie Books, Zondervan Publishing House, 1989)
Works vs. Faith in Salvation
The Bible clearly states that salvation (justification—eternal life) cannot be contingent upon works, i.e., man’s self-efforts to achieve the approbation (approval) of God. No matter how thoughtful, kind, and gracious a person may be; such efforts can secure no passage into heaven. This includes adherence to God’s law, i.e., the Ten Commandments and the several hundred other laws recorded in the Old and New Testaments. All such efforts by man (human good) are an affront to God and are considered as “filthy rags” by Him (Isaiah 64:6). God’s salvation is based solely upon the non-meritorious exercise of faith; it is not an obligation of debt based upon the efforts of man. Furthermore, God works through believers (divine good) by the same principle of faith. There can be no genuine obedience to God unless it is founded in faith. Spiritual birth and spiritual life are both due to the grace of God so that man can never take credit for either of them.
But we are all like an unclean thing, and all our righteousnesses are like filthy rags . . . . (Isaiah 64:6)
Therefore let it be known to you, brethren, that through this Man is preached to you the forgiveness of sins; and by Him everyone who believes is justified from all things from which you could not be justified by the law of Moses. (Acts 13:38, 39)
But now the righteousness of God apart from the law is revealed, being witnessed by the Law and the Prophets, even the righteousness of God, through faith in Jesus Christ, to all and on all who believe. For there is no difference; for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, being justified freely by His grace through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus, whom God set forth as a propitiation by His blood, through faith, to demonstrate His righteousness, because in His forbearance God had passed over the sins that were previously committed, to demonstrate at the present time His righteousness, that He might be just and the justifier of the one who has faith in Jesus. Where is boasting then? It is excluded. By what law? Of works? No, but by the law of faith. Therefore we conclude that a man is justified by faith apart from the deeds of the law. (Romans 3:21-28)
In this passage we find the doctrine of salvation totally, completely and exhaustively explained. Nowhere does Paul refer or allude to doing goodness or performing righteous acts in order to obtain justification. Paul uses the verb “justify” 22 times, mostly in Romans 2:13-5:1 and Galatians, chapters 2 and 3. It is translated “justify” in all cases except two (Romans 2:13; 3:20), where it is translated “declared righteous.” The term describes what happens when someone believes in Christ as his Savior, i.e., he is declared “not guilty” and he is declared “righteous.” God cancels the guilt of the person’s sin and credits righteousness to him. Paul plainly says that this couldn’t be done by observing the law (i.e., doing good works). But even though all are sinners and not worthy, God will declare “not guilty” and “righteous” anyone who by faith alone receives Christ alone for his personal salvation.
This legal declaration is valid because Christ died to pay the penalty for all sins and lived a life of perfect righteousness that can in turn be imputed to the believer. This is the central theme of Romans and is stated in the theme verse, 1:17 (For in it the righteousness of God is revealed from faith to faith; as it is written, “The just shall live by faith.”). “From faith to faith” is the equivalent of saying a person is “saved by faith and is sanctified by faith.” Faith is the primary principle recognized by God. Yes, it will produce good works, but works have nothing to do with the imputation of righteousness by God, and it is this imputation of righteousness to the believer that insures eternal life. Man’s righteousness avails nothing. Christ’s righteousness (His obedience to God’s Law) will be credited to believers as their own. Paul uses the word “credited” nine times in chapter 4 alone.
Next is the phrase freely by His grace in verse 24. The fundamental idea in justification is that even though man clearly deserves to be declared guilty (vss. 9-19) and condemned, because of his faith alone in Christ alone God declares him righteous. In verses 24 and 25 this is stated in several ways: (1) “freely” – as a gift, for nothing, (2) “by His grace,” (3) “through the redemption that came by Christ Jesus” and (4) “through faith.”
Next redemption is considered in the same verse, a word taken from the slave market meaning to purchase. In the slave market those who were “free” redeemed or purchased those who were “slaves” or “not free.” The basic idea is that of obtaining release by payment of a ransom. Paul uses this word to refer to release from guilt, with its liability for judgment, and to deliverance from slavery to sin, because Christ in His death paid the ransom for all. Not to go into great detail in this setting, but man is a sinner in several ways. Because of Adam’s sin in the Garden of Eden, Adam’s sin is imputed to Adam’s progeny. All of Adam’s descendants inherit the “sin nature” by way of human birth, and all commit personal sins. Sin enslaves every human being. No one can ever become free of sin unless the price for this sin is paid, which must come through death (spiritual). And as man’s substitute, it was Christ who made the penalty-payment for man’s sin on the cross of Calvary. In verse 25 He was the “sacrifice of atonement.” The Greek for this phrase speaks of a sacrifice that satisfies the righteous wrath of God. Without this appeasement (“propitiation”) all people are justly destined for eternal punishment.
The entire tone in Paul’s detailed explanation of God’s salvation for mankind is centered on God, His power, His mercy, His grace . . . His everything. The tall and the short of it is that only God is capable of satisfying God, His righteousness, His standards, His expectations . . . His plan. Everything about it focuses on God. It uplifts Him. It glorifies Him. If for one moment or in the minutest way it were then dependant upon man and his works to affect his salvation, all of this would not be true.
For those who believe they can lose their salvation through personal sin after trusting Christ for their salvation, there remain the following two questions: How much sin does it take before a saved person crosses the “line” and thereby becomes lost again? Is there a number or size that applies to them? Instead of going down this most irrational path, it is best to rest on the fact that the blood (metaphor for spiritual death on the cross) of Christ has paid for your salvation. It was a full and complete payment. Nothing can take from it or add to it, not even a person’s “righteous” works. To think otherwise is to dishonor the Savior.
What then shall we say that Abraham our father has found according to the flesh? For if Abraham was justified by works, he has something to boast about, but not before God. For what does the Scripture say? “Abraham believed God, and it was accounted to him for righteousness.” Now to him who works, the wages are not counted as grace but as debt. But to him who does not work but believes on Him who justifies the ungodly, his faith is accounted for righteousness, just as David also describes the blessedness of the man to whom God imputes righteousness apart from works. (Romans 4:1-6)
Knowing that a man is not justified by the works of the law but by faith in Jesus Christ, even we have believed in Christ Jesus, that we might be justified by faith in Christ and not by the works of the law; for by the works of the law no flesh shall be justified. (Galatians 2:16)
O foolish Galatians! Who has bewitched you that you should not obey the truth, before whose eyes Jesus Christ was clearly portrayed among you as crucified? This only I want to learn from you: Did you receive the Spirit by the works of the law, or by the hearing of faith? Are you so foolish? Having begun in the Spirit, are you now being made perfect by the flesh? (Galatians 3:1-3)
Therefore He who supplies the Spirit to you and works miracles among you, does He do it by the works of the law, or by the hearing of faith? — just as Abraham “believed God, and it was accounted to him for righteousness.” Therefore know that only those who are of faith are sons of Abraham. And the Scripture, foreseeing that God would justify the Gentiles by faith, preached the gospel to Abraham beforehand, saying, “In you all the nations shall be blessed.” So then those who are of faith are blessed with believing Abraham. For as many as are of the works of the law are under the curse; for it is written, “Cursed is everyone who does not continue in all things which are written in the book of the law, to do them.” But that no one is justified by the law in the sight of God is evident, for “the just shall live by faith.” (Galatians 3:5-11)
For by grace you have been saved through faith, and that not of yourselves; it is the gift of God, not of works, lest anyone should boast. (Ephesians 2:8, 9)
Furthermore if keeping God’s law, i.e., works (human good), has no part in appropriating salvation (justification before God) and self-effort (efforts apart from God’s Spirit working through the believer) has no value in the Christian life; it stands to reason that the believer has no say in the retention of his salvation. He cannot save himself; he cannot keep himself saved. Or to put it another way, there is nothing he can do to obtain salvation or lose it once it is obtained. It is a gift of God based solely upon His grace, bought and paid for solely by the sacrifice of His Son Jesus Christ on the cross, which may only be freely received (appropriated) by non-meritorious faith.
And the Spirit and the bride say, “Come!” And let him who hears say, “Come!” And let him who thirsts come. Whoever desires, let him take the water of life freely. (Revelation 22:17)
Knowing that you were not redeemed with corruptible things, like silver or gold, from your aimless conduct received by tradition from your fathers, but with the precious blood of Christ, as of a lamb without blemish and without spot. (1 Peter 1:18, 19)
In Him we have redemption through His blood, the forgiveness of sins, according to the riches of His grace. (Ephesians 1:7)
And they sang a new song, saying: "You are worthy to take the scroll, And to open its seals; for You were slain, and have redeemed us to God by Your blood Out of every tribe and tongue and people and nation. (Revelation 5:9)
In response to Paul’s clear teaching that works have no part in appropriating eternal life, those of the Arminian persuasion, as well as the strict Calvinist (but for another reason), run to James 2:14-24:
What does it profit, my brethren, if someone says he has faith but does not have works? Can faith save him? If a brother or sister is naked and destitute of daily food, and one of you says to them, "Depart in peace, be warmed and filled," but you do not give them the things which are needed for the body, what does it profit? Thus also faith by itself, if it does not have works, is dead. But someone will say, "You have faith, and I have works." Show me your faith without your works, and I will show you my faith by my works. You believe that there is one God. You do well. Even the demons believe--and tremble! But do you want to know, O foolish man, that faith without works is dead? Was not Abraham our father justified by works when he offered Isaac his son on the altar? Do you see that faith was working together with his works, and by works faith was made perfect? And the Scripture was fulfilled which says, "Abraham believed God, and it was accounted to him for righteousness." And he was called the friend of God. You see then that a man is justified by works, and not by faith only.
The epistle of James, whose human author may very well have been the Lord’s half-brother, has been misinterpreted by many in the past and present regarding the message of salvation of grace by faith alone. Even Martin Luther called it a “right strawy epistle.” Armenians take delight in believing that it teaches “salvation plus works” as the formula that justifies (saves) the individual. On the other hand, the strict Calvinist believes it to teach that proper (saving) faith will always produce works, which will endure and continue until physical death. These positions are patently wrong, both being born from a preconceived-theological rather than a truly exegetical interpretation.
Key to understanding the book of James and thereby understanding its contextual setting is first to distinguish that it is written to Christians who are being spiritually tested, second to observe that its theme is to instruct them toward greater spiritual maturity, and third to be aware of the actual meaning of several words used throughout the epistle, such as “save” and “soul.” As to the first two points, the following sets the stage:
My brethren, count it all joy when you fall into various trials, knowing that the testing of your faith produces patience. But let patience have its perfect work, that you may be perfect and complete, lacking nothing. (James 1:2-4)
As to point number three, the expression that contains both of the words, “save” and “soul,” is found in the following verse:
Therefore lay aside all filthiness and overflow of wickedness, and receive with meekness the implanted word, which is able to save your souls. (James 1:21)
The companion passage to this verse in James is found in 1 Peter:
Therefore, laying aside all malice, all deceit, hypocrisy, envy, and all evil speaking, as newborn babes, desire the pure milk of the word that you may grow thereby. (1 Peter 2:1, 2)
Both passages speak about the proper way of learning Bible doctrine in order to advance in well being and growth, both physically and spiritually. But whereas James uses the terms “save your souls” as the benefit of absorbing Bible doctrine, Peter expresses it as follows: “that you may grow [spiritually] thereby.” It is unfortunate that many Bible readers as well as teachers automatically react to the phase “save your souls” as meaning “eternal salvation from hell.”
But the recipients of this epistle, understanding this phrase in the Greek (sosai tas psychas hymon), would have understood it to have the common use of the day “to save the life.” It is used in both the Septuagint (Greek translation of the Old Testament) and in the New Testament, with exactly this sense (Genesis 19:17; 32:30; 1 Samuel 19:11; Jeremiah 48:6; Mark 3:4; Luke 6:9). This is also the obvious meaning in James 5:20 (let him know that he who turns a sinner from the error of his way will save a soul from death and cover a multitude of sins.), which refers to the physical preservation of a life from death. It may also be said that nowhere in the New Testament or the Septuagint does this phrase signify deliverance from hell. In fact, the proper understanding of the Greek words “save” and “soul” clarifies various passages spoken by the Lord regarding discipleship and not justification, such as in Matthew 16:24-28; Mark 8:34-38; and Luke 9:9:23-27.
In commenting on James 1:21, Zane C. Hodges, who taught New Testament Greek and exegesis for 27 years at Dallas Theological Seminary, had this to say:
It is unfortunate that most interpreters of James are either unaware of this data or dismiss it as irrelevant. Whenever linguistic evidence of this type is ignored, faulty interpretation is almost inevitable. Nevertheless the meaning which the data supports—“to save your lives”—is precisely the meaning most suited to this context. The readers are already born again (v 18) and are in no need of being saved from hell. Moreover, James has just spoken of the death-dealing consequences of sin (vv 14-15). In this light, the meaning of v 21 is transparent: although sin can culminate in physical death, the Word of God, properly received, can preserve physical life. This thought is deeply embedded in the wisdom literature of the OT in statements like these:
“The fear of the Lord prolongs days, But the years of wicked will be shortened” (Prov 10:27)
“As righteousness leads to life, So he who pursues evil Pursues it to his own death” (Prov 11:19)
See also Prov 12:28; 13:14; 19:16
From both a linguistic and contextual point of view, as well as from the perspective of Hebrew wisdom, there can be no legitimate doubt about James’ meaning in this verse. To take these words as a reference to eternal salvation is to commit an obvious error of eisegesis (reading one’s own ideas into the text). As long as a reader does that in v 21, he will not only misunderstand the verse itself, but he will misunderstand the entire epistle, including 2:14-26! (The Epistle of James, Zane C. Hodges, Grace Evangelical Society, 1994)
It is precisely the saving of physical life that James is speaking of in James 2:14-24, as quoted above. James opens this section with the fundamental issue that if one lays claim to faith yet cannot illustrate such faith with acts of obedience of the kind James has been discussing (1:26-2:13), he cannot expect his faith in God’s Word to “save (prolong) his physical life.” Under God’s grace, works do not save as pertains to hell fire. Justification (salvation from hell) comes solely as an expression of God’s grace and may only be appropriated by faith unadorned by works—then or later. But when it comes to the enhancement of spiritual life while still in the flesh and the prolongation of physical life, works born of faith do in fact matter.
The Bible clearly teaches that sin can both diminish the quality of a Christian’s spiritual life, i.e., make it ineffective with future consequences (1 Corinthians 3:12-15; 2 Corinthians 5:10), and can, if left unattended by confession (1 John 1:9), shorten a Christians physical life span (1 Corinthians 5:5; James 5:20).
A few other comments by Mr. Hodges are worth noting in this study, as follow:
Some who hold a view of James 2 similar to the one we are presenting here have tried to connect 2:14 with 2:13. They argue that the salvation in view is salvation from an unfavorable review at the Judgment Seat of Christ, accompanied by loss of reward (but not of “eternal” salvation). But this is not a probable connection for the following reasons: (1) James does not suggest, or even hint, that there is some form of salvation available at the Judgment Seat. He speaks exclusively of receiving a merciful judgment or an unmerciful one. (2) James does speak in his epistle of salvation of the life, not only at 1:21 but also in 5:19-20. The probability is high that James is picking up a theme he expects his readers to recognize from a pervious reference to it, rather than referring to an idea not articulated at all in the letter. (3) If the flow of argument from 1:21 through 2:14ff is kept in mind, the reference back to the key exhortation of the unit (1:21) is quite natural. (4) The theme of “saving” connected with “good works” is such a compelling link between James 1:21-25 and 2:14-26, that it cannot be explained away. In fact, on reflection, the subject matter in 2:14-26 is simply an elaboration of the principles laid down in 1:21-25, as the exposition to follow seeks to show. (The Epistle of James, Zane C. Hodges, Grace Evangelical Society, 1994)
For a more detailed exegetical and linguistic analysis of James 2:14-24 and a proper exegetical interpretation of works as they relate to the present and the future aspect of God’s salvation plan, the reader is referred to the following references:
· The Epistle of James by Zane C. Hodges, Grace Evangelical Society, 1994
· The Reign of the Servant Kings by Joseph C. Dillow, Th.D., Schoettle Publishing Co., 1993
A final verse is provided for anyone reading this study that persists in believing that works matter in one’s salvation (justification before God):
Then they said to Him, "What shall we do, that we may work the works of God?" Jesus answered and said to them, "This is the work of God, that you believe in Him whom He sent." (John 6:28, 29)
Key Passages Portraying Eternal Security
John 6:35-40
And Jesus said to them, "I am the bread of life. He who comes to Me shall never hunger, and he who believes in Me shall never thirst. But I said to you that you have seen Me and yet do not believe. All that the Father gives Me will come to Me, and the one who comes to Me I will by no means cast out. For I have come down from heaven, not to do My own will, but the will of Him who sent Me. This is the will of the Father who sent Me, that of all He has given Me I should lose nothing, but should raise it up at the last day. And this is the will of Him who sent Me, that everyone who sees the Son and believes in Him may have everlasting life; and I will raise him up at the last day." (John 6:35-40)
If Christ is to be taken at His word then it must be concluded that any person who comes to Him (accepts Him by faith) will never hunger or thirst or be cast out (see again the comments regarding “never thirst” in John 4:14 above). Why? It is because it is the will of God that of all God gives to Christ (by grace through faith), He will lose none; but they will have everlasting life and will be raised up at the last day. See again the comments pertaining “never die” in John 11:26 above.
John 10:27-30
My sheep hear My voice, and I know them, and they follow Me. And I give them eternal life, and they shall never perish; neither shall anyone snatch them out of My hand. My Father, who has given them to Me, is greater than all; and no one is able to snatch them out of My Father's hand. I and My Father are one. (John 10:27-30)
It is rather preposterous to believe that anyone that has been given eternal life by Jesus Christ can then eventually perish, i.e., to be snatched out of the hand of God the Son. Why? It is because God the Father and God the Son are indeed one, and based upon His Omnipotence, no person is permitted to do this—not even God Himself, for He will never violate His Word.
Furthermore in this passage, our Lord uses the Greek double negative in stating that we shall never perish. The double negative in the Greek language is unlike the double negative in English. In English one negative only reverses the other negative, making it a positive. But in the Greek language it fortifies the other negative to make it a very, very strong negative. So we can read this statement of our Lord as they shall never, no never perish!
One other point should be made while considering this passage in John as it relates to Matthew 7:21-23, a passage often referred to by those who are of the Arminian persuasion. In Matthew Christ states the following:
Not everyone who says to Me, “Lord, Lord,” shall enter the kingdom of heaven, but he who does the will of My Father in heaven. Many will say to Me in that day, “Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in Your name, cast out demons in Your name, and done many wonders in Your name?” And then I will declare to them, “I never knew you; depart from Me, you who practice lawlessness!” (Matthew 7:21-23)
It is clear in this passage that these “do-gooders” were never saved, or, if you wish, they were never sheep. Christ says in John 10:27 when referring to His sheep “I know them.” But here He is referring to those whom He “never knew.” Jesus didn’t say “I knew you once but now I don’t because you fell away,” which essentially is what should be said if one can become a “sheep” as in John 10 and then lose one’s salvation due to a lack of good works. No, He specifically said that He never knew them. Actually when one takes these verses in Matthew within the context starting with verse 15, it is clear that Christ is warning His followers of “false prophets.” The emphasis is on the doctrine these individuals prophesied. Their teachings are the fruit of which Christ speaks of in verses 16 to 20. The only way anyone may have an inkling of whether or not a person is a child of God is by what he proclaims as truth. If a person testifies that he believes in the gospel message then a person may feel confident that such a person is truly saved; although, only God truly knows for certain. But for sure, no person can ever tell whether or not another is a Christian (sheep) by his works—good or bad; because both Christian and non-Christian may do both.
As far as “good works” are concerned these false prophets had accomplished many wondrous acts in the name of Christ. Yet Christ confirmed that it was not their grand and noble accomplishments that mattered when it comes to entering the kingdom of heaven; it is in doing the will of God the Father, which specifically is “believing in His Son” and which is expressed by Him in John 6:38-40:
For I have come down from heaven, not to do My own will, but the will of Him who sent Me. This is the will of the Father who sent Me, that of all He has given Me I should lose nothing, but should raise it up at the last day. And this is the will of Him who sent Me, that everyone who sees the Son and believes in Him may have everlasting life; and I will raise him up at the last day. (John 6:38-40)
It is further unfortunate that those of the Arminian persuasion believe the fruit Christ is referring to in Matthew 7 is the same fruit He is speaking of in the parable of the vineyard in John 15:1-8 and 16.
I am the true vine, and My Father is the vinedresser. Every branch in Me that does not bear fruit He takes away; and every branch that bears fruit He prunes, that it may bear more fruit. You are already clean because of the word which I have spoken to you. Abide in Me, and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit of itself, unless it abides in the vine, neither can you, unless you abide in Me. I am the vine, you are the branches. He who abides in Me, and I in him, bears much fruit; for without Me you can do nothing. If anyone does not abide in Me, he is cast out as a branch and is withered; and they gather them and throw them into the fire, and they are burned. If you abide in Me, and My words abide in you, you will ask what you desire, and it shall be done for you. By this My Father is glorified, that you bear much fruit; so you will be My disciples. . . . You did not choose Me, but I chose you and appointed you that you should go and bear fruit, and that your fruit should remain, that whatever you ask the Father in My name He may give you. (John 15:1-8, 16)
The context of this passage is not about sonship; it is about discipleship. Jesus is instructing His followers how to be fruit-bearing Christians, an indication of which is proper joy and love as is indicated in verses 11 and 12, which will result in answered prayer as seen in verses 7 and 16. In the parable Christ is the vine and Christian are the branches, who have already become clean [saved] because of the word [gospel message of faith alone in Christ alone] that I have spoken to you. The point Christ is attempting to get over to these saved followers has nothing to do with becoming saved or staying saved. It is about abiding in Him so that they will live productive spiritual lives of divine goodness.
God the Father is the vinedresser or gardener. He knows how to manage the vineyard to produce maximum fruit in each believer’s life. He knows when to cut the branches, how, where, what exact angle to cut the branches and what to leave. In this parable He deals with four types of branches (Christians): those that bear no fruit, those that bear meager fruit, those that bear more fruit, and those that bear much fruit. He prunes His branches that they progressively bear more fruit. That is His job. The job of the branch (Christian) is to abide in the vine (Christ). Simply being in Christ (salvation) is quite different from abiding in Christ. The first (in) pertains to salvation by the baptism and sealing of the Holy Spirit; the second (abide in) pertains to spiritual empowerment by the filling of the Holy Spirit. Faith alone in Christ alone places a person in Christ while yielding to the lordship of Christ (only possible after salvation) allows a person to abide in Christ. For unless a Christian abides in Christ (for without Me you can do nothing) it is impossible to bear acceptable (divine) fruit that will endure the fiery test at the judgment seat of Christ (1 Corinthians 3:10-15; and 2 Corinthians 5:10).
Yet, should a Christian lapse into a carnal state, a distinct possibility spoken much of by the apostle Paul in Romans 7, 8 and 1 Corinthians 3, and continue in this fruitless state; God will either have the Christian removed from Christian fellowship to experience an unproductive and wearisome life; or, possibly complete physical removal from this life—both situations will result in embarrassment before the fiery judgment seat of Christ, resulting in loss of rewards and position of rulership (joint-heirship) with Him during His future millennial reign upon earth (1 Corinthians 3:14, 15).
The phrase “cast out” as used in this passage can mean other than “cast out of a relationship” with Christ. It was Christ who promised that anyone who came to Him by faith He would never cast out (same Greek wording) in John 6:37. Whereas Christ is speaking about a relationship (salvation), in the parable of the vineyard it refers to fellowship (spiritual impoverishment).
Finally, in verses 10, 14, and 15 it is quite definite as to how the believer may continue to abide in Christ. It is by the absorption of and adherence to Bible doctrine that this is accomplished. To absorb is to study and learn God’s Word; to adhere is to yield to and obey God’s Word.
Romans 8:1-4
There is therefore now no condemnation to those who are in Christ Jesus, who do not walk according to the flesh, but according to the Spirit. For the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus has made me free from the law of sin and death. For what the law could not do in that it was weak through the flesh, God did by sending His own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh, on account of sin: He condemned sin in the flesh, that the righteous requirement of the law might be fulfilled in us who do not walk according to the flesh but according to the Spirit. (Romans 8:1-4)
In the best manuscripts the phrase “who do not walk according to the flesh, but according to the Spirit” is absent from the first verse. Essentially the thought of the passage, in line with the context of the book and the entire Bible, is that anyone who is in Christ (saved) will never more face condemnation as it relates to hell. The believer is also free from the law of sin and death by means of the law of the Spirit of life, which is only in Christ. It is then possible for the believer to experience true or divine righteousness as he walks according to the Spirit, i.e., abiding in Christ by means of the filling of the Holy Spirit. Yet those of the Arminian persuasion will site Romans 8:13, 14 (For if you live according to the flesh you will die; but if by the Spirit you put to death the deeds of the body, you will live. For as many as are led by the Spirit of God, these are sons of God. ) in an endeavor to show that “not living by the Spirit” and by “living according to the sinful nature,” a person will die. Here again is a case were the word “die” has no connection to being delivered from the fires of hell. And it is also important to understand what Paul means by the phrase, “sons of God.” These verses must be taken in context:
In Romans, chapter 8, the apostle Paul turns from the struggle in chapter 7 and explains the source and method of living abundantly. It is by the Spirit of God and the use of certain spiritual weapons that the Christian experience can be characterized by “life and peace.” It is persistence in using the means of grace that will result in a vital Christian life that will result in future reward and the gain of joint-heirship with the Messiah in the final destiny of man.
It seems obvious that it is possible for “brethren” to die. In some sense a true Christian can experience a type of spiritual death. Earlier in the context he has defined death as the opposite of life and peace (Romans 8:6). It is therefore not to be equated with loss of salvation or hell but with emptiness, depression, and spiritual impoverishment.
This interpretation naturally flows from the argument of Romans 8:1-11. In Romans 7:14-25 Paul has summarized his experience as a mature Christian—battling daily with the flesh. The message is that the flesh is weak and unable to win. How then can he be victorious in the daily struggle? In 7:25 he gives praise that God provides a means for practical victory, which is the subject of chapter 8.
There is therefore now no condemnation to those who are in Christ Jesus, who do not walk according to the flesh, but according to the Spirit. (Romans 8:1)
The word “condemnation” (Gk. katakrima) is best rendered “penal servitude” (i.e., the enslaving power of sin). It is quite unlikely that the reference is to justification, for that stage of the argument has already been reached in 3:21. Rather, the “therefore” casts the reader back to the preceding verse, “Thank God.” Paul thanks God that deliverance from the penal servitude to sin is available. He then explains how.
This deliverance comes by means of a new and higher principle that Paul calls the “law of the Spirit of life” (i.e., the regulating and actuating power of the Holy Spirit). This higher law has set him free from the lower one, the law of sin and death, which cannot refer to the law of Moses because that was holy (7:12) and spiritual (7:14), but to the “inward rule of the sin principle.” The problem was not with the law but with the flesh. It was too weak to obey. So God solved this problem by releasing the flesh from its sin master. This was the subject of Romans 6:1-11 and is now alluded to in chapter 8:
For what the law could not do in that it was weak through the flesh, God did by sending His own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh, on account of sin: He condemned sin in the flesh, for those who live according to the flesh set their minds on the things of the flesh, but those who live according to the Spirit, the things of the Spirit. (Romans 8:3, 4)
The condemnation of sin occurred while Christ was “in the flesh.” The condemnation in view is the judgment on the old man (Romans 6:6) that resulted in man being “freed from sin.” This freedom is a legal release from penal servitude to the “sin master” (i.e., the dominion of sin—the sin principle embodied in the flesh).
Paul summarizes the first twelve verses with the statement, “So then brethren we are under obligation, not to the flesh, to live according to the flesh” (8:12). He saying it is possible for “brethren” to walk according to the flesh; but that it is also entirely possible (and preferable) to walk according to the Spirit—thus, abundant life is meant, and not regeneration.
That it is possible for these brethren not to put to death the deeds of the body is obvious because he says, “if.” A failure to do this will result in the opposite: death, or walking according to the flesh. Paul’s picture here is of a battle, a battle between the flesh and the Holy Spirit. A Christian must choose life or death, fellowship with God or spiritual impoverishment. He evidently has his own struggle in Romans 7:14-25 in mind.
“Life” (Gk. zoe) is often used of an abundant quality of life beyond regeneration, which is the possession of those who “persevere in doing good” (Romans 2:7). Not just a counterbalance to death is meant, i.e., regeneration, but an abundant life, a vibrant experience with Christ. It is “newness of life” (Romans 6:4).
Death, being the opposite of life and peace, is not final commitment to hell. It is the life of anxiety and emptiness that comes to any person who sets his mind on the wrong things.
Because the carnal mind [one that is set on the flesh] is enmity against God; for it is not subject to the law of God, nor indeed can be. (Romans 8:7)
Here is the key to the seeming inability of many Christians to live consistent, powerful Christian lives. When a Christian sets his mind on the flesh, he is hostile to God and is cut off from the Holy Spirit [the Holy Spirit is quenched—1 Thessalonians 5:19, and grieved—Ephesians 4:30] and therefore unable to obey and submit to God and thereby experience an abundantly spiritual life.
To say that these verses refer to a contrast between Christians and non-Christians rather than between two kinds of Christians not only contradicts the facts of Christian experience but the rest of the New Testament as well. According to this view all Christians “walk according to the Spirit (8:4), have their minds “set upon . . . the things of the Spirit (8:5), and have their minds “set upon the Spirit” (8:6). This contradicts Paul’s teaching elsewhere, which is that walking in the Spirit is not automatic and inevitable (Galatians 5:16). In addition, it is refuted by the conditionality of this walk in the immediate context of Romans 8. In vs. 13 the possibility of a rich spiritual experience (“life”) is conditioned upon putting to death the deeds of the body. It is not the automatic possession of each Christian. Furthermore, what Christian since Pentecost has ever unconditionally experienced this abundant life, peace, and the fulfillment of the requirements of the law? To say these things are true of all Christians is a mockery of Christian experience.
In order to live abundantly, Christians must realize that they have no obligation to the sin principle anymore. Furthermore, they must accept their obligation to live according to the Spirit:
Therefore, brethren, we are debtors—not to the flesh, to live according to the flesh. For if you live according to the flesh you will die; but if by the Spirit you put to death the deeds of the body, you will live. (Romans 8:12, 13)
If Christians (“brethren”) live kata sarka, they will experience death (spiritual impoverishment to possibly even physical death). The life of this verse comes as a result of “putting to death the misdeeds of the body” as Christians live kata pneuma. Paul implies that true Christians are still subject to the “deeds, actions, and pursuits” of the sarx (flesh). Hence, he exhorts them to make use of the indwelling Spirit, which will result in abundant (spiritual) life.
Those who refuse to believe that a Christian can resort to a carnal state have great difficulty with this passage. In their system they have little choice but to conclude that “life” (understood only as “eternal life”) comes as a result of perseverance in works. But the plain words of the passage confute this. Nowhere in Romans does Paul suggest that heaven is obtained by means of putting to death the deeds of the body. That would, in fact, be contrary to the entire thrust of the epistle where he is trying to separate works as far as possible from the means of obtaining eternal life, which is by faith alone (Romans 4:5).
Death here (vs. 6) is the spiritual destitution and impoverishment that comes as an ingredient of divine discipline upon the sinning Christian—the opposite of “life and peace.” This is also the meaning for Paul’s pre-Christian experience of death and spiritual depression as a result of his attempts to find life by means of law (Romans 7:9-11). “Life” here is abundant life, and not regeneration or heaven.
When Paul says Christians are to put to death the deeds of the body, he says they are to do it “by the Spirit.” What does he mean? He means that Christians, in the context of spiritual warfare, are to use spiritual weapons to fight against the death-principle of the flesh. The emphasis in the New Testament is for the Christian to use the spiritual weapons with which God has equipped him.
For though we walk in the flesh, we do not war according to the flesh. For the weapons of our warfare are not carnal but mighty in God for pulling down strongholds, casting down arguments and every high thing that exalts itself against the knowledge of God, bringing every thought into captivity to the obedience of Christ. (2 Corinthians 10:3-5)
The “strongholds” are “arguments and every high thing that exalts itself against the knowledge of God.” In order to fight this battle, Paul says the Christian is to destroy speculations and to bring “every thought into captivity to the obedience of Christ,” which is the same as setting the mind on the things of the Spirit instead of the things of the flesh.
Finally, who are the “sons of God” in Romans 8:14? Christians can be “sons of God” in two senses in the New Testament. It is, of course, true that all Christians are sons of God by faith in Christ—all part of the family of God. But it is also true that the Greek word for son, huios, takes on a different emphasis depending on the context. In Matthew 5:45 Christians are to do the work of loving their enemies in order to become sons. In Matthew 5:9 they need to be peacemakers before they can be called sons of God. In the book of Revelation it is “He who overcomes will inherit these things, and I will be his God and he will be My son” (21:7). It is obvious that these are not conditions for becoming sons of God in the sense of being saved.
Though one becomes a son by justification, he does not possess the filial state (“sons indeed”); he does not really enjoy adoption until he has become loyally submissive to the operation of the Spirit. This meaning fits well with the context of Romans 8. Some Christians allow themselves to be led by the Spirit of God, and some do not. Those who do are “sons indeed” [a reference of similarity to “disciples indeed” in John 8:31]. They are the Christians who “put to death the things of the body” and as a result enjoy true abundant (spiritually victorious) life.
That Paul has such a distinction in mind between being a son and behaving as a son is reinforced by the fact that he connects the sonship of vs. 15 with being an adopted son (Gk. huiothesia), which is different from being a son by birth. The method of adoption intended by Paul may include one or both of the following:
Paul uses the word “adoption” in both senses depending upon what he wanted to emphasize—the Roman idea when he was emphasizing man’s release from the slavery of sin, and the Greek idea when he was emphasizing the relationships and gifts of sonship. In fact the argument for the Greek position is quite strong given the warm familial relationship with the words “Abba, Father” and the fact that the idea, like the word, is native Greek. The Greek view is also favored by the context referring to obedience, i.e, putting to death the deeds of the body.
All Christians are adopted sons by virtue of spiritual birth and the paid-up legal ransom (by Christ), but not all adopted sons fulfill the requirements of adoption even though God does His part. Adoption is of grace, and is a fact regardless of whether or not the requirements are fulfilled (Galatians 4:5), but only those who do fulfill them are worthy of the name “son” and will finally obtain the inheritance rights.
Only faithful Christians, those who allow themselves to be led by the Spirit of God, are “sons indeed.” They are the ones who are putting to death the deeds of the flesh and who as a result will truly live an abundant (spiritually victorious) life while here on earth.
2 Corinthians 1:21, 22; 5:5; Ephesians 1:13, 14; 4:30; 2 Timothy 2:19
Now He who establishes us with you in Christ and has anointed us is God, who also has sealed us and given us the Spirit in our hearts as a guarantee. . . . Now He who has prepared us for this very thing is God, who also has given us the Spirit as a guarantee. (2 Corinthians 1:21, 22; 5:5)
In Him you also trusted, after you heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation; in whom also, having believed, you were sealed with the Holy Spirit of promise, who is the guarantee of our inheritance until the redemption of the purchased possession, to the praise of His glory. . . . And do not grieve the Holy Spirit of God, by whom you were sealed for the day of redemption. (Ephesians 1:13, 14; 4:30)
Nevertheless the solid foundation of God stands, having this seal: “The Lord knows those who are His,” and, “Let everyone who names the name of Christ depart from iniquity.” (2 Timothy 2:19)
In the Roman world a seal was a mark of protection and ownership. It was only as strong as the strength of the one who authorized and secured the seal. It was the earliest method of distinguishing one’s property. Two very important features of the Holy Spirit’s ministry pertaining to the Body of Christ (all believers) stand out in these verses: (1) He seals (Gk: sphragizo) them, and (2) He is the guarantee or pledge (Gk: arrabon) of God’s seal to them.
The Christian should know that by the omnipotent (all powerful) strength of God, he is the property of God and has been sealed until the day of redemption. His sealing was by the Spirit of God, and his assurance of a bodily resurrection/redemption of his body (Romans 8:23) and reaching the ultimate destination of heaven rests in the fact that God’s Spirit guarantees it.
The Holy Spirit Himself is the seal (Ephesians 1:13, 14). He is the guarantee of God’s protection and proof that believers are the property of God. Should a seal be broken in the days of Rome, it meant that which was sealed was not protected; but in the case of the believer, his seal (the Holy Spirit) can never be broken.
The believer is assured by the Word of God Himself (Ephesians 4:30) that he will be sealed until the day of redemption. The believer will arrive safely for the redemption of his body and entrance into heaven (Romans 8:23). The believer cannot lose his salvation any more than he can break the seal.
Although the Arminian may suggest that the Holy Spirit can do nothing for the believer who refuses His ministry, these verses are indeed stating just the opposite. The baptism and sealing ministries of the Holy Spirit take place instantly at the point in time when a person believes in Christ. Afterwards the person, who is now a Christian, may impede the filling (control) of the Holy Spirit (Ephesians 5:18) and thereby grieve Him (Ephesians 4:30), but such action by the Christian has no effect on the Spirit’s seal.
The Greek word arrabon that is translated “guarantee” also conveys the concept of “pledge.” In other words the Holy Spirit is the believer’s pledge (2 Corinthians 5:5); a legal concept from the language of business and trade referring to a “first installment, down payment, and deposit,” which obligates the contracting party to make further payments. Similarly, in Romans 8:23 Paul speaks of the “first fruits” of the Spirit, a down payment that obligates God to redeem the believer’s body. In this matter God has legally (and morally) bound or obligated Himself to bring the believer to heaven, i.e., his eternal security.
It stands to reason that so vital an action could not be left up to the believer who is still embodied in human, fallen flesh. For the believer not to reach heaven could only mean that God has broken His pledge, which is an impossibility with God. The believer may rest assured that his arrival in heaven is insured by none other than God’s honor and reputation.
1 Peter 1:3-5
Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who according to His abundant mercy has begotten us again to a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, to an inheritance incorruptible and undefiled and that does not fade away, reserved in heaven for you, who are kept by the power of God through faith for salvation ready to be revealed in the last time. (1 Peter 1:3-5)
Having shown God’s absolute sovereignty in and over the conversion (salvation) experience, the Apostle Peter now reveals that the same God who saved us is the same God who keeps us saved and guarantees our ultimate inheritance and salvation.
In verse 3 he describes present aspects of the conversion (salvation) experience. He starts by declaring praise (Gk. eulogetos—meaning “to praise, to celebrate with praise”) for the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ. The title he uses for our Savior indicates the two-fold relationship between God and Christ. As “God” to our Lord, the emphasis is on the humanity of our Savior. As “Father” to our Lord, the emphasis is on our Savior’s deity, i.e., His relationship as Son. The full name of our Savior is used by Peter, indicating (1) Lord—the one who has exclusive right to rule in our hearts and lives, (2) Jesus—the one who has the ability to save us from our sins and (3) Christ—the one anointed by God and who has been exalted to God’s right hand in heaven.
Peter next declares that it is by God’s great mercy we have experienced the new (or second) birth. The notable Greek scholar Kenneth S. Wuest (Moody Bible Institute) in his exegetical treatment of this verse states that in this phrase “. . . we get the idea of domination, thus not ‘according to the measure of His abundant mercy,’ but ‘impelled by His abundant mercy.’ It was the compelling constraint in the merciful heart of God that made inevitable the atonement for sinners.” The fact that His mercy is “great” or “abundant” can only be appreciated when one considers the magnitude of man’s depravity and rebellion to God.
The new birth in this verse calls our attention to John 3 wherein Christ Jesus explains to the Pharisee Nicodemus that (vs. 3) unless one is born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God. In further explanation found in the same chapter (vs. 8), Jesus says so it is with everyone born of the Spirit. Looking at the Greek text in 1 Peter 1:3, Wuest puts it this way: “‘Hath begotten’ is from an aorist participle and refers merely to the past fact of begetting, ‘begat us.’ ‘Again’ is from the preposition ana, which is prefixed to the participle, the preposition meaning in composition with another word, ‘renewal, new again.’ Thus, regeneration is spoken of here, the act of the Holy Spirit imparting to us a new life, making us partakers of the divine nature and thus children of God, a begetting anew.”
This new birth is to a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead . . . . In the Bible, hope is not wishful thinking but a firm conviction of expectation. Wuest says: “hope here is not only an objective thing, but a subjective hope on the part of the believer. It is a lively hope, that is, not only living, but actively alive, an energizing principle of divine life in the believer.” This “confident expectation” made alive by the “new birth” produces an optimism and willingness in the believer to serve Christ. “It is both an attitude of expectancy as the Christian looks forward to the inheritance awaiting him in heaven, and a hopefulness of present blessings from God in this life . . . . This lively hope is made possible by the resurrection of the Lord Jesus in that it is through the believer’s identification with Him in the resurrection that he is given a new life in regeneration, and thus will also be able to enjoy the heavenly inheritance into which he has been born.”
As sinners, we had no hope beyond the grave. There was nothing ahead for us but the certainty of judgment and fiery indignation. As members of the first creation we were under the sentence of death. But in the redemptive work of Christ, God found a righteous basis upon which He can save ungodly sinners and still be just. Christ has paid the penalty of our sins. Full satisfaction has been made. The claims of justice have been met, and now mercy can flow out to those who obey the gospel. In the resurrection of Christ, God indicated His complete satisfaction with the sacrificial work of His Son. The resurrection is the Father’s “Amen” to our Lord’s cry, “It is finished!” Also, that resurrection is a pledge that all who die in Christ will be raised from among the dead. This is our living hope—the expectation of being taken home to heaven to be with Christ and to be like Him forever. F.B. Meyer calls the living hope “the link between our present and future.” (Believer’s Bible Commentary, William MacDonald, Thomas Nelson Publishers, 1995)
Verses 4 and 5 describe future aspects of the conversion (salvation) experience. Wuest has this to say regarding the matter: “As begotten children of God, we become His heirs, and joint-heirs with His Son Jesus Christ (Rom. 8:17), and thus come into an inheritance. This inheritance is incorruptible because it belongs to the future life which the risen saints share with God Himself. It is undefiled as our great High Priest is undefiled (Heb. 7:26 same word). It is non-fading, not able to wither away, as a flower would. The word ‘reserved’ is from tereo, which means ‘to watch, to observe, to guard, protect, to reserve, set aside.’ Heaven is the safe-deposit box where God is guarding our inheritance for us under constant surveillance. The participle is in the perfect tense, speaking of a past completed action having present results. We could translate, ‘has been laid up and is now kept guarded in safe deposit.’”
Earthly inheritances are uncertain at best. Sometimes the value of an estate drops sharply because of market declines. Sometimes wills are successfully contested by parties not mentioned in them. Sometimes people are deprived of an inheritance because of legal technicalities. But this divine inheritance is not subject to any of the changes of time, and there are no loopholes in the believer’s title to it. It is kept in the safety-vault of heaven for the child of God. (Believer’s Bible Commentary, William MacDonald, Thomas Nelson Publishers, 1995)
Not only is our divine inheritance (ultimate salvation) secured (locked away) for us by our absolute sovereign God, but He also protects or shields us by His unfailing power until our inheritance is realized. Wuest says this: “Kept” is from phrouomenous, a present participle implying action constantly going on. It is a military term, meaning ‘to guard or protect’ . . . While our inheritance is being kept guarded in Heaven under the watchful eye of God, we are being garrisoned about by God’s protecting care for it. The guard is never changed. It is on duty twenty-four hours a day, year in and year out until we arrive safely in Heaven. This protection is God’s response to our faith which we exercised in the Lord Jesus as Savior and which now rests in Him as our preserver. Our faith lays hold of this power, and this power strengthens our faith, and thus we are preserved. The salvation spoken of here is of course the glorification of our bodies. We received our justification at the moment we believed. We are receiving our sanctification, namely victory over sin and growth in the Christian life now. We will yet receive that part of salvation which awaits us in Glory.”
Not only is the inheritance guarded for Christians, but they are kept or guarded for it. In this life an heir may die before an inheritance is divided. But the same grace that preserves the heavenly inheritance preserves us as heirs to enjoy it. God’s election of His people can never be frustrated. Those who were chosen in eternity past are saved in time now and kept for eternity to come. The believer in Christ is eternally secure. (Believer’s Bible Commentary, William MacDonald, Thomas Nelson Publishers, 1995)
With an understanding of these first five verses of 1 Peter as they apply to the eternal security of the believer, any Christian should now have complete confidence that his absolute sovereign God has not only saved him, but will with His unassailable power keep both him and his inheritance (ultimate salvation) for a certain and eventual reunion in heaven with God. See also a companion verse in Jude 1:1: Jude, a bondservant of Jesus Christ, and brother of James, to those who are called, sanctified by God the Father, and preserved [kept] in [by] Jesus Christ.
Romans 8:29-39
For whom He foreknew, He also predestined to be conformed to the image of His Son, that He might be the firstborn among many brethren. Moreover whom He predestined, these He also called; whom He called, these He also justified; and whom He justified, these He also glorified. What then shall we say to these things? If God is for us, who can be against us? He who did not spare His own Son, but delivered Him up for us all, how shall He not with Him also freely give us all things? Who shall bring a charge against God's elect? It is God who justifies. Who is he who condemns? It is Christ who died, and furthermore is also risen, who is even at the right hand of God, who also makes intercession for us. Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or peril, or sword? As it is written: “For Your sake we are killed all day long; we are accounted as sheep for the slaughter.” Yet in all these things we are more than conquerors through Him who loved us. 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 created thing, shall be able to separate us from the love of God which is in Christ Jesus our Lord.
The apostle Paul raises the question of eternal security of the believer in his conclusion to Romans 8. After presenting the five unchangeable links of God’s “security chain” that guarantees the believer’s eternal destiny (foreknowledge, predestination, calling, justification, and glorification), he now asks and answers a series of questions.
How then are we to comfort the troubled soul who lacks assurance of salvation? There is perhaps no better way than to follow the method employed by the apostle Paul in Rom. 8:31-39. Here the apostle asks four questions, each beginning with the word “who”:
1. Who can be against us (v. 31)? His answer is “no one,” because Christ gave Himself for all of us, and therefore God will graciously give us all things.
2. Who will bring any charge against those whom God has chosen (v. 33)? His answer is “no one,” because God, the only one who could bring such a charge has already rendered His verdict, justified!
3. Who is he that condemns (v. 34)? His answer is “no one,” because Christ has paid the penalty for sin and is at the right hand of God right now interceding for us.
4. Who shall separate us from the love of Christ (35)? His answer is “no one,” because Christ loves us.
What is striking about all four of these answers is that Paul never asks the believer to look inwardly and test for evidences of regeneration, as the Experimental Predestinarian requires. Rather, in answer to all four questions he directs him to Christ. How does this bring assurance? It does so objectively because it provides the answers to my deepest doubts and fears. . . . From such a premise, only one conclusion is possible. It is the conclusion of assurance.
A believer may lack subjective assurance due to doubt, trials, or even due to an inconsistent Christian life. But for the sincere Christian the Bible does not ask him to examine his life but to look outwardly to Christ. Attention must be focused on Christ and the answers Paul gives to the four questions above. This gives the objective foundation from which subjective feelings of assurance can flow. Assurance can be felt to greater or lesser degrees, but it is the product of looking at the “mirror of our election.”
The Bible says, “Faith is the assurance of things hoped for.” How else could a biblical writer make it plainer that assurance is the essence of faith? (The Reign of the Servant Kings, Joseph C. Dillow, Schoettle Publishing Co., 1993)
It is not within the scope of this study to show the reconciliation of the biblical doctrines of election and free will. Should the reader wish to explore this, he is directed to the study entitled “Election vs. Free Will” within the topical section of www.bibleone.net. Nevertheless, any fair-minded biblical scholar must recognize that this passage in Romans irrefutably stipulates the believer’s eternal security.
Arminian (Limited Security) Passages
As stated briefly in the section entitled “The Confusion” at the beginning of this study, there are several factors that contribute to the lack of agreement between the biblical position of the eternal security of the believer’s salvation (justification) and the misguided concept that a person is able to lose it. Chief among these is the inability to see that although justification is based solely upon the grace of God and His sacrifice upon the cross; sanctification, quality of spiritual life (maturity) with its temporal effects, and certain aspects of the believer’s inheritance (during the coming Millennial Kingdom) rest upon the believer’s willingness during this life to submit to God for the creation of divine good in the fulfillment of God’s personal plan for him.
Although there are several passages of Scripture that the Arminian will use to argue against the eternal security of the believer and though this study will not address all of them; it will address the one that is most often used, which will follow immediately below. For a more detailed study of many others the reader is advised to acquire the following two recourses:
· The Reign of the Servant Kings—A Study of Eternal Security and the Final Significance of Man, a 649 page book by Joseph C. Dillow, Th.D., Schoettle Publishing Company, 1993.
· Absolutely Free! By Zane C. Hodges, B.A., Th.M., Greek Professor for 27 years at Dallas Theological Seminary, Academie Books, 1989.
In fact, any books by the two above authors/scholars are recommended by this study. The commentary on the following most trusted (by Arminians) passage in Hebrews is derived from the author’s review of chapter 19 in the above referenced book by Joseph C. Dillow, which may also be obtained by going to www.bibleone.net.
Hebrews 6:4-12
For it is impossible for those who were once enlightened, and have tasted the heavenly gift, and have become partakers of the Holy Spirit, and have tasted the good Word of God and the powers of the age to come, if they fall away, to renew them again to repentance, since they crucify again for themselves the Son of God, and put Him to an open shame. For the earth which drinks in the rain that often comes upon it, and bears herbs useful for those by whom it is cultivated, receives blessing from God; but if it bears thorns and briars, it is rejected and near to being cursed, whose end is to be burned. But, beloved, we are confident of better things concerning you, yes, things that accompany salvation, though we speak in this manner. For God is not unjust to forget your work and labor of love which you have shown toward His name, in that you have ministered to the saints, and do minister. And we desire that each one of you show the same diligence to the full assurance of hope until the end, that you do not become sluggish, but imitate those who through faith and patience inherit the promises. (Hebrews 6:4-12)
Few passages have had greater impact on Arminian thinking than this fearful warning about falling away and entering into such a spiritual state that it is impossible to be renewed to repentance. Strict Calvinists have exercised ingenuity in their attempts to maintain the doctrine of final perseverance in the face of the seemingly plain statements confuting it in this passage, their exegesis widely acknowledged as “theological” rather than “exegetical.” Of these two positions the Arminian view is more defensible; however, there is another option.
The Exhortation (6:1-3)
Therefore, leaving the discussion of the elementary principles of Christ, let us go on to perfection [maturity], not laying again the foundation of repentance from dead works and of faith toward God, of the doctrine of baptisms, of laying on of hands, of resurrection of the dead, and of eternal judgment. And this we will do if God permits. (Hebrews 6:1-3)
The opening phrase “therefore” is best taken as referring to the preceding verses (5:11-14) as a whole.
Of whom we have much to say, and hard to explain, since you have become dull of hearing. For though by this time you ought to be teachers, you need someone to teach you again the first principles of the oracles of God; and you have come to need milk and not solid food. For everyone who partakes only of milk is unskilled in the word of righteousness, for he is a babe. But solid food belongs to those who are of full age, that is, those who by reason of use have their senses exercised to discern both good and evil. (Hebrews 5:11-14)
Because of the reader’s spiritual dullness, they need to commit themselves to learning and applying the truth and to press on to maturity. They need to be able to distinguish “good and evil,” and the author of this epistle wants them to move from “milk” (receiving truth) to “solid food, (more in-depth truth and its application).
In the midst of his discussion regarding the Melchizedekian priesthood of the Lord Jesus Christ (Hebrews 5:1-10) the author pauses to rebuke the readers for their spiritual stupor (5:11-14), to exhort them to press on to maturity (6:1, 2), to warn them about the danger of falling away (6:4-6), to illustrate to them the danger with an analogy from nature (6:7, 8), and to encourage them regarding confidence in their spiritual status and their need to finish what they have begun (6:9-12). He then returns to his main theme, the priesthood (Melchizedekian) of Christ in chapter 7.
The apostle’s focus in this passage is for these (true, not professing) Christians to grow to spiritual maturity. They “ought to be teachers, “but they are “dull of hearing,” i.e., slow to learn. They need “milk,” not “solid food.” This is a frequent metaphor of Paul, who also contrasts “babes” (Gk. nepios) with those who are mature (Gk. teleioi), such as is found in 1 Corinthians 2:6; Galatians 4:3; and Ephesians 4:13, 14. Like these other references in the New Testament, the “babes” here are not non-Christians but “infant” Christians who have refused to grow spiritually. The spiritual “maturity” in view is the same as that described in the preceding verse—not just spiritual understanding, i.e., advanced mental perception, but it is experiential righteousness and spiritual discernment (5:14).
The author is addressing Christians, since non-Christians (professing Christians) cannot grow in their ability to experientially apply the Word (Bible doctrine) to daily life and have their spiritual senses trained in spiritual discernment. They are to go beyond the foundation of repentance and the elementary teachings about Christ and faith in God. He says, “And this we will do if God permits.” What is it that we will do, “God permitting,”? The antecedent of “this” cannot be “laying again the foundation” because then the author would be saying, “Let us go beyond the foundation, and we will lay the foundation, if God permits,” yielding nonsense. The immediate antecedent of “this” is obviously “let us go on to perfection [maturity].” And in phrasing it this way, he is preparing them for the warning to follow because God may not permit it (the advance in spiritual maturity) just as He did not permit the exodus generation to enter into their inheritance-rest, the land of Canaan.
The Warning (6:4-6)
For it is impossible for those who were once [once for all] enlightened, and have tasted the heavenly gift, and have become partakers of the Holy Spirit, and have tasted the good Word of God and the powers of the age to come, and have fallen away, to renew them again to repentance, since they crucify again for themselves the Son of God, and put Him to an open shame. (Hebrews 6:4-6)
The transitional word “for,” which is incorrectly omitted in some translations, establishes a causal link with what the author has just said about going forward to spiritual maturity, God permitting. What is the precise nature of this link? It appears to refer back to the phrase “this we will do,” i.e., “go on to perfection [spiritual maturity].” Thus, the author explains by this warning why it is necessary to press on to spiritual maturity. It is because if not there is the danger of “falling away,” a condition from which it is impossible to be renewed to repentance [specifically, a condition from which it is impossible to “change one’s mind” and return].
Because this warning suggests the possibility of final apostasy of the regenerate man, strict Calvinists have labored to demonstrate that only professing non-Christians are the subject of the warning. Typically, their exegesis consists of an attempt to prove that the descriptive phrases (“enlightened,” tasted the heavenly gift,” “become partakers,” and “tasted the good Word of God”) do not necessarily refer to regenerate people.
Instead, they argue that they could only refer to those exposed externally to the influence of the Gospel through association with Christians and sitting under the preaching of the Word of God. Yet, most commentators in the history of the Church have found little difficulty in understanding that the components of this warning in Hebrews are addressed to genuine Christians.
Several things are said of these people who are capable of “falling away.” The central theme is enlightenment. The last four phrases explain what characterizes those who have been enlightened.” The five phrases that are all united under the word “who,” which describes these people (6:4, 5) are as follow:
All statements are united under the same “who” and there is no reason for taking number 5 as conditional (i.e., “if they fall away”) even though some translations attempt to do so. Furthermore, whenever the Greek word te is followed by kai . . . kai, they must all be taken the same way. In other words, four of the five cannot be circumstantial participles but the fifth one conditional. Therefore, it is not impossible for those characterized by 1-4 to fall away from the faith.
Enlightened
The Greek word for enlightened is photisthentas, a common word in the New Testament. In John 1:9 it is used of Christ as the true light who enlightens every person that comes into the world—mostly likely a kind of general enlightenment short of actual conversion. In Hebrews, however, this is not likely. The addition of “once for all” or “conclusively” (Gk. hapax) and the defining phrases that follow indicate that the enlightenment of conversion is probably its true meaning.
In Ephesians 1:18 the apostle Paul applies it to Christians in his prayer for their enlightenment. The author of Hebrews uses it of his readers’ initial reception of the gospel: “But recall the former days in which, after you were illuminated (enlightened), you endured a great struggle with sufferings” (10:32). Those who received this light are those who have confessed Christ (10:35), who have proven their regeneration by a life of works and hope of heaven (10:32-34), who have been sanctified (10:29), and who possess the imputed righteousness of Christ (10:38). In Hebrews it is used only of true conversion.
In 2 Corinthians 4:4-7 receiving the light is used for regeneration. In 1 Peter 2:9 coming out of darkness into light is described as conversion. Indeed, the movement from darkness to light is a popular theme in the apostle John’s writings for the movement from death to life, conversion (John 5:24). Jesus called Himself the light of the world (John 8:12) and said “I have come into this world so that the blind will see” (John 9:39).
The readers of Hebrews have been hapax photisthentas (“once for all” enlightened). The word hapax often has a sense of finality in it. It is the opposite of “again” (Gk. palin) in verse 6. It is used by the writer to describe the once-for-all entrance into the Holy of Holies by the high priest on the Day of Atonement, in contrast to the regular and repeated entrances by the priests during the preceding year (Hebrews 9:7). He uses it of Christ’s “once-for-all” appearance at the end of the age to do away with sin (Hebrews 9:26) and of the finality of death that comes upon all men (9:27). It is applied to the “once-for-all” taking away of sin by Christ’s sacrifice (9:28). And the apostle John uses it of the faith, which has been “once-for-all” delivered to the saints (Jude 3).
This “enlightenment’ is not merely a mental awareness, a mere first introduction, but a “final” enlightenment—hardly consistent with the thesis that these readers were not born again. Furthermore, assuming that the structural arrangement of the passage outlined above is correct, the word is then defined in the immediate context as “tasting the heavenly gift” and as being a “partaker of the Holy Spirit.”
Tasted the Heavenly Gift
The enlightenment is first explained as involving a “tasting” of the heavenly gift (Gk. dorea). The parallel with John 4:10 is noteworthy:
Jesus answered and said to her, "If you knew the gift [Gk. dorea] of God, and who it is who says to you, 'Give Me a drink,' you would have asked Him, and He would have given you living water." (John 4:10)
In every usage of dorea in the Bible it refers to the bestowal of some divine gift, spiritual and supernatural, given to man. In each case, unless Hebrews 6 is an exception, the receiver of this gift is either regenerate already, or the gift itself is regeneration (John 4:10; Acts 2:38; 8:20; 10:45; 11:17; Romans 5:15, 17; 2 Corinthians 9:15; Ephesians 3:7; Hebrews 6:4).
Regeneration is, of course, not part of the semantic value of the word. The precise nature of the gift must be determined from its sense in the context of Hebrews 6—in this case a “heavenly” gift, or a gift that comes from heaven. The gift of God is the gift of regeneration (2 Corinthians 9:15) and the gift of the Holy Spirit (Acts 10:44-46). [Reviewer’s comment: It is notable that the gift mentioned in Ephesians 1:8 is in the Greek, “doron,” from which is derived “dorea.”]
The Greek word for “taste” is geuomai, and it is not used by the author of Hebrews of an external association but of an internal taste. It is not merely, as some would indicate, only to sample but not feasted upon. On the contrary, it includes within its compass the sense of “to eat.”
Then he became very hungry and wanted to eat (“geuomai”) . . . . (Acts 10:10).
Now when he had come up, had broken bread and eaten (“geuomai”) . . . . (Acts 20:11).
As newborn babes, desire the pure milk of the word that you may grow thereby, if [sense] indeed you have tasted (“geuomai”) that the Lord is gracious. (1 Peter 2:3)
In both biblical and secular Greek it commonly means to eat or to “partake of” or to “join.” Eating and tasting are synonymous terms and imply believing in Christ resulting in regeneration and eternal life. In Hebrews 2:9 Christ tasted death in the sense that He experienced its bitter taste to the full. The amount consumed is not the point, but the fact of experiencing what is eaten. The experience of tasting is not that of those who do not know Christ but of those who have come to know Him.
Partakers of the Holy Spirit
The second qualifier of enlightenment is that it includes being “partakers” (Gk. metochoi) of the Holy Spirit. This is the same word translated “partners” and used in Hebrews 3:14 of true Christians.
In each reference in Hebrews to metochoi truly regenerate people are in view, a few examples follow:
In view of the fact that they are partakers of the Holy Spirit and that in all other references to partakers true Christians are in view, there is no reason here not to assume that it means something like close partnership or true spiritual fellowship, which is possible only to the regenerate.
Tasted the Goodness of the Word of God
The third qualifier of the word “enlighten” is their “tasting the goodness of the Word of God.” This may be described as a continual tasting of the Word (cf. 1 Peter 2:2, 3), not an external taste but a consumption of it.
Tasted the Powers of the Coming Age
And the last qualifier of “enlightenment” is the tasting of the powers of the coming age. This refers to the miracles of the New Testament, which are a foretaste and preview of the miraculous nature of the future kingdom of God. The ministry of the Holy Spirit in authenticating the gospel with “powers” is mentioned in Hebrews 2:4. The taste, just as in the tastes above, is not superficial. It was a full taste just as Jesus tasted death. A personal experience with the Holy Spirit is implied, not just the observation of His performing miracles. They had experienced personally and internally the power of God in their lives.
While some may suggest that the people here are contrasted with true believers later in verse 9, in actuality the contrast is not so much between two different groups of people as between two possibilities that may affect the same group (just as verses 7 and 8 describe two possibilities that may arise on the same earth).
Who Have Fallen Away
One cannot know if in fact any of the readers had “fallen away,” but nevertheless, the author of Hebrews warns them of this distinct danger. The Greek word used is parapipto, which means to “fall by the wayside.” It is used only here in the New Testament. In the papyri manuscripts it is sometimes translated “to wander astray.”
In the LXX (Septuagint—Greek translation of the Old Testament) it appears to have the sense of religious apostasy. In Ezekiel it often takes the sense of turning from God to idols (Ezekiel 14:13; 15:8; 18:24; 20:27; 22:4—LXX). This meaning fits well with the theme of Hebrews. These believers were considering a relapse into Judaism. Indeed, the whole book was written to demonstrate the superiority of Christianity to Judaism and hence to prevent precisely such a relapse. In addition, the central sin, the sin of willful unbelief, is what is warned about in 10:26. Throughout the epistle the readers are urged to hold fast to their confession of faith (10:23). It is the danger of final apostasy that is in view.
The author of the epistle seems to imply that some of his readers may already have taken this step. He writes to warn others that they too are in danger of doing so (6:9). He is aware, however, that the decisive act of apostasy has precursors. It is the result of a period of hardening of heart that crystallizes at a particular moment. It is preceded by “neglect” of one’s great salvation, by hardness of heart (3:7-13), and by refusal to grow (5:11-14). It is likely that the particular reference to “going astray” in Hebrews 6 refers not to apostasy but to the preceding hardness of heart as well.
The context has been addressing the need of the readers to grow from infancy to maturity. The meaning, “fall away,” must include the opposite of “going on to maturity.” As they “go on,” as they press to that goal, there is a danger that some will “go astray, fall away,” that they will fail to persevere.
It is not falling away from salvation referenced here; it is about wandering from the path that leads to spiritual maturity (the progression in the Christian life that will result in ultimate entrance into “rest,” the achievement of the believer’s life’s work—Hebrews 4:11). It is not about falling away from a “profession of faith.” The readers possessed true saving faith. They were regenerate. The real concern of the epistle is that they were in danger of failing to press on to spiritual maturity and thereby eventually denying the faith altogether.
Later the readers are told:
Therefore do not cast away your confidence, which has great reward. For you have need of endurance, so that after you have done the will of God, you may receive the promise. (Hebrews 10:35, 36)
The author of Hebrews has before his mind the failure of the regenerate exodus generation who failed to achieve their intended destiny, entrance into the inheritance-rest of Canaan.
Reviewer’s comment: The exodus generation as an analogy indicates that “salvation” was their deliverance from slavery in Egypt, not the achievement of “rest” in Canaan.
A failure to go on to maturity typically results in spiritual lapse, a hardened heart, and unbelief (Hebrews 3:7, 12). What is in danger is the forfeiture of their position as one of Christ’s metochoi, those who will partake with Him in the future reign of the servant kings.
How does one know when a believer has “gone astray”? Some indicators follow:
(If indeed the exodus generation is the parallel, there may be the suggestion that an “age of accountability” is involved. Only those who were twenty years and older were in danger of the certain severe divine judgment for this behavior pattern—Numbers 14:29).
These are only the initial symptoms. The author of Hebrews has a deeper concern. He worries that Christians who begin to fall away will eventually commit apostasy by finally rejecting the faith altogether. This is his meaning when he warns them not to throw away their “confidence” (Hebrews 10:35) and not to “deliberately keep on sinning” (10:26). He does not want them to take this final step and be among those who “shrink back and are destroyed” (10:39). It seems evident from these warnings that it is possible for true Christians to commit apostasy, final rejection of Christ. The consequence of such an apostasy, however, is not loss of salvation but loss of inheritance, as is shown in the example of Esau (Hebrews 12:17). Likewise, the readers are warned extensively through the example of Israel’s failure to obtain “rest” in chapters 3 and 4.
The Impossibility of Renewal
For those who have “fallen away” (“gone astray”), i.e., committed apostasy (final rejection of Christ), it is “impossible” (Gk. adunatos) to renew them again to repentance. The usage of adunatos (“impossible”) in other places in Hebrews excludes the idea that it could be rendered “very difficult”—it is impossible for God to lie (6:18), impossible for the blood of bulls and goats to take away sin (10:4), and impossible to please God without faith (11:6).
Yet “nothing is impossible with God” (Luke 1:37) except to lie or otherwise contradict His own holiness (Hebrews 6:18). Therefore the impossibility to renew such a Christian that has achieved a state of apostasy applies to man, i.e., the apostate himself or any other human. When such a state is reached by a Christian he will, like the wilderness generation, die in the wilderness and never enter into “rest.” It must be remembered that God “swore in My wrath, ‘They shall not enter My rest’” (Hebrews 3:11). This is why the author of Hebrews says that progression to maturity (6:1) can only continue “God permitting” (6:3). God may not permit it. He may draw the line and disinherit them like He did the exodus generation. But what is the precise object of “renew”? It is “repentance.”
Reviewer’s comments: The author of the book takes several paragraphs to express the fact that “repentance” in this context represents the redemptive experience of faith alone in Christ alone, which is not an uncommon usage in the New Testament. The Greek word for repentance is “metanoia,” which strictly means a “turning around” (180 degrees) or a “change of mind.” Salvation (redemption/justification) repentance does not embody the requirement of “sorrow for one’s sins;” although, this emotion may be involved with some individuals prior to their decision for Christ. Salvation repentance is precisely a genuine decision within a person’s will when he turns solely to Christ and His work on Calvary instead of (away from) any other confidence (dead works) for his personal salvation (justification before God).
In Hebrews 6:1 the readers of the epistle had experienced the foundation of “repentance from dead works [any other confidence] and of faith toward God.” In 10:23 it is said of them that they had professed hope (Gk. elpis) or “confident expectation (true faith) in Christ. In 10:35 they are said to have “confidence” (Gk. parresia) or “unwavering and fearless confidence of faith in their public confession” of Christ.
In other words, these readers were truly saved and it was this salvation experience represented by the word “repentance” to which they would never be able to be renewed should they achieve an apostate’s state of mind (final rejection of Christ). The first time these people repented they changed their mind about their sin-condition, the works-means for salvation, and trusted Christ (God) alone for their personal salvation. Should they become apostates, it would be impossible to restore them once again to the state of mind where they would be willing to change their minds about their sin of hardness (lethargy and unbelief) while turning back in faith to Christ.
Crucifying Again the Son of God to His Public Shame
The reason given for the impossibility of renewal to repentance is that they crucify the Son of God and subject Him to public shame (Hebrews 6:6). There were only two possible interpretations of the death of Christ. He was either crucified justly as a common criminal (the Jewish view) [Reviewer’s comment: This would constitute a denial of Christ’s deity], or He was crucified unjustly as the Son of God. When a Christian denies Christ, he is in effect saying that the Jewish view is correct. If He is not the Son of God dying for all sin, then the only other possible conclusion was that He is a blasphemous deceiver who received what He deserved. It is in this sense that the apostate holds Christ up to public shame. The apostate’s life and denial testifies that Christ was not God incarnate, was a criminal, and His shameful death was deserved. To go this far, to finally deny Christ, is possible for a true Christian, but the loss of his salvation is never possible!
But why is crucifying the Son of God the reason for the impossibility of renewal to repentance? It is possible that the habitual and continuous aspect, which the present tense sometimes carries, should be stressed here. The tenses of the preceding verses were all aorist, so the unexpected switch to the present may be intentional. They cannot be renewed to repentance because they continually crucify the Son of God. In other words, because they have arrived at a state of continuous and habitual sin, they continuously and habitually shame the name of Christ by denying His deity. The hardness associated with any continued state of sin makes repentance psychologically and spiritually impossible. Because of their harness they are beyond persuasion by other Christians.
Reviewer’s comment: Although the author of this book holds to the position that God could still bring the apostate Christian back to repentance, this may indeed be an impossible path for God. God cannot go back on His Word, which in this passage reveals clearly that it is impossible for an apostate Christian to be renewed to repentance.
The Saved Condition of the Apostates
Before continuing the discussion of “falling away,” it is necessary that some summary points regarding the regenerate nature of these apostates be made, as follow:
The Thorn-Infested Ground (6:7, 8)
The only possible result for such behavior is divine discipline and judgment. The author of Hebrews explains this by an analogy from nature, as follows:
For the earth which drinks in the rain that often comes upon it, and bears herbs useful for those by whom it is cultivated, receives blessing from God; but if it bears thorns and briars, it is rejected and near to being cursed, whose end is to be burned. (Hebrews 6:7, 8)
The “earth” refers to the individual regenerate man, the true Christian. Two types of earth are not in view, i.e., one that produces a good crop and one that produces thorns. The view here is of two differing crops that can come from the same earth. That the “earth” represents a regenerate person is demonstrated by the descriptive phrases applied to him in 6:1-3 (see also 6:10; 10:14, 32-34).
The “earth” (Christian) can bring into being one of two differing types of “produce” once it receives the often coming rain, e.g., a life of perseverance in good works (herbs useful for those by whom it is cultivated) or a wasted life of thorns and briars. The rain refers to the influence by the Holy Spirit and the Word of God upon the believer. In sum, the rain points back to the four blessings described in Hebrews 6:1-3. Furthermore, the earth “drank” these blessings. The difference is not in drinking or not drinking but in the kinds of produce that resulted from the drinking. There is no picture of the rain simply falling on the surface and not sinking into it. It would be difficult to find a clearer picture of saving faith. These people not only were enlightened and were partakers of the Holy Spirit and recipients of the heavenly gift, but they drank and absorbed it.
The word “drink” (Gk. pino) is commonly used elsewhere of saving faith (John 4:13; 6:54; 7:37, 38). These “holy brothers” who are in danger of apostasy have all drunk of the water of life (i.e., believed), and on the authority of Jesus will be raised on the last day. The fact that drinking and receiving water elsewhere means regeneration further substantiates the interpretation above that “enlightenment” is not mere “mental perception” but “rebirth.”
The crop is useful to God, the “owner.” However, the same earth may not produce this useful crop. It may also produce “thorns.” It is clear that the author of Hebrews does not believe that a life of perseverance is the necessary and inevitable result of regeneration. The Lord taught the same thing in the parable of the soils. The final three soils all represent regenerate people as proven by the fact that even the one with no root did grow and hence manifest regenerate life. But two of the three did not produce fruit.
When the earth produces a good crop, it receives blessing from God. This blessing is to be understood as divine approval, the believer’s entrance into “rest” (Hebrews 4:11), the receiving of eternal rewards and various unspecified temporal blessings as well. The only other use in Hebrews is of Esau forfeiting his inheritance (Hebrews 12:17). That seems to confirm the interpretation that the blessing from God is reward at the judgment seat of Christ. As demonstrated elsewhere, the inheritance-rest of Hebrews, indeed the inheritance in the New Testament, is always, when conditioned on obedience, a reward in heaven and not heaven itself.
But strict Calvinists insist it is not possible for the same soil to bring forth both a good and a bad crop. It can only bring forth one or the other. But this contradicts statements in other parts of the epistle. These regenerate people had produced a “crop” of patience in suffering and commendable good works (10:32-34). But some had also produced the “crop” of dullness and spiritual lethargy (5:11-14), some of these “brothers” are in danger of hardness of heart (3:12), and many have stopped meeting together with other Christians (10:25). The same earth that produced a crop of perseverance in patience also produces a crop of initial righteousness that then may fall into transgression. That is the whole point of the book.
Reviewer’s comment: The author then takes several paragraphs explaining how strict Calvinists, which he calls “Experimental Predestinarians,” attempt to go outside of Hebrews (Matthew 7:16, 18; James 3:11) to prove that the same regenerate heart cannot produce righteousness for awhile and then fall into unrighteousness. His refutations of their arguments may be found in detail in his book.
If the heart of the regenerate man produces thorns, three phrases describe his uselessness to God. He is “rejected,” “near to being cursed,” and “whose end is to be burned.” Each phrase is considered in turn:
Paul used the word of himself in 1 Corinthians 9:27 when he said that his goal was that at the end of life he would not be found “disqualified (adokimos) for the prize.” As discussed elsewhere (the discussion under 2 Corinthians 13:5), Paul does not doubt the security of his salvation. He is burdened about finishing his course and receiving his reward. Similarly, the believer who produces thorns in Hebrews 6 is not subject to damnation, but his disobedient life will disqualify him at the judgment seat and will make him useless for the purposes of God in the present.
While the immediate reference is to divine discipline in time, the author of Hebrews probably has the future consequences of this cursing in mind as well. He often speaks of the need to persevere and hence receive reward (10:36; 11:6, 10, 15, 16, 26) and has this thought in view in the immediate context when he says, “. . . but imitate those who through faith and patience inherit the promises” (Hebrews 6:12). Conversely, those who do not persevere in faith and patience will be cursed, i.e., be disinherited like Esau was (12:17). The cursing does not refer to loss of salvation.
But the purifying intent is doubtful here. The parallel of the exodus generation’s failure and their destruction in the wilderness is the controlling thought of the warnings. It is impossible to renew them to repentance. So the burning is, first of all, divine judgment in time. This is the thought of 10:27 where the author speaks of the “raging fire that will consume the enemies of God”—this will be covered in the next chapter and proven that it refers to judgment in time and not the eternal judgment of hell.
Elsewhere is recorded the burning of the believer’s dead works at the judgment seat of Christ (1 Corinthians 3:10-15), with negative as well as positive consequences that will accrue to believers at that time (2 Corinthians 5:10). So it is not without scriptural parallel if the interpretation of this passage is from that perspective. The burning of the believer then would be a metonymy for the burning of the believer’s works.
This would help explain the statement that in “whose end” the works of the unfaithful believer (the produce of the field) will be “burned.” There is no reference to hell here but rather, to the burning up of the believer’s life-works at the judgment seat of Christ. Even though the fire consumes his house of wood, hay, and stubble (= “earth,” metonymy for “thorns and thistles,” in Hebrews 6:8), yet this carnal Christian “will be saved, but only as one escaping through the flames” (1 Corinthians 3:10-15).
Consolation and Encouragement (6:9-12)
Having warned them, the author’s pastor-heart now emerges, and he turns to consolation in Hebrews 6:9-12. He is confident that their lives are characterized by the better things that accompany salvation. Salvation in Hebrews, as discussed elsewhere (see chapter 4), refers not to final deliverance from hell, which is based upon faith alone, but to the future participation in the rule of man (Hebrews 1:14; 2:5) and which is conditioned upon obedience (cf. Hebrews 5:9). The inheritance they will obtain refers not to heaven, which is theirs through faith alone, but to their reward in heaven, which only comes to those “who through [“by means of”] faith and patience inherit what has been promised” (Hebrews 6:12). Since the “promise” in Hebrews usually refers to the millennium (e.g., 4:1; 6:13, 15; 7:6; 11:9, 11, 13, 17; 12:26), to “inherit the promise” means to rule in the Millennial Kingdom and parallels the phrase “inherit the kingdom,” which does not mean merely entering the kingdom but to own it and rule there.
Conclusion
There is no reference in Hebrews 6 to either a falling away from salvation or perseverance in holiness. Rather, this is a warning to true believers concerning the possible loss of rewards at the judgment seat of Christ and temporal discipline in time. This passage is a dreadful warning to those with a hardened heart, but it is not a passage to apply to the persevering Christian who is “in the battle.”
Assurance of Salvation and Spiritual Morale
The Christian is engaged in a spiritual battle with Satan and his cohorts. Jesus Christ spoke of this when comparing discipleship to warfare.
Or what king, going to make war against another king, does not sit down first and consider whether he is able with ten thousand to meet him who comes against him with twenty thousand? Or else, while the other is still a great way off, he sends a delegation and asks conditions of peace. So likewise, whoever of you does not forsake all that he has cannot be My disciple. (Luke 14:31-33)
It is important to understand that within both contextual and linguistic exegesis Christ is speaking not about being eventually justified before God, but about discipleship or properly being schooled by and following Him in spiritual warfare—both of which comes at great cost. He is saying that discipleship is a royal battle between kings:
· The Christian who is a royal person, the regenerate child of the King Eternal and who holds membership in a “royal priesthood” (1 Peter 2:9).
· Satan who is the “ruler of this world” (John 14:30), the “prince of the power of the air, the spirit who now works in the sons of disobedience” (Ephesians 2:2), and the “god of this age” who has blinded the minds of those who do not believe (2 Corinthians 4:4).
The Christian is up against a formidable foe. Paul speaks graphically of the forces of spiritual darkness confronting the Christian and of his life as warfare.
For we do not wrestle against flesh and blood but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this age, against spiritual hosts of wickedness in the heavenly places. Therefore take up the whole armor of God that you may be able to withstand in the evil day, and having done all, to stand. (Ephesians 6:12, 13)
The Christian’s battle is real. He is locked in battle with opponents whose capabilities far exceed his unless he avails himself of the resources God places at his disposal. The Christian is strongly advised to wear the “whole armor of God” in order to be able to stand against the onslaught of evil.
Of course the strict Calvinist believes that part and parcel with salvation the Christian cannot help but stand and be victorious to the end. And in so doing makes void all the warnings throughout the New Testament that failure is indeed possible to the Christian warrior. In fact, it makes such warning rather ridiculous, since it is according to them impossible for a “true” Christian to fail to persevere to the end. Otherwise, according to the strict Calvinist and those who preach “lordship salvation,” the failure to persevere successfully in the Christian race and in spiritual warfare is a sign that one is not really born again. But if losing and defeat are not possibilities for the Christian, then the race and the battle are not real!!
As Hodges puts it: “In fact this point of view is a ready formula for defeat. It is even a kind of unilateral spiritual disarmament. Its consequences are extremely grave, playing beautifully into the hands of our enemy.” (Absolutely Free!).
A Christian’s morale is of vital importance if victory is to be achieved. Every military leader understands this. But they who hold to the Armenian view (one may lose salvation) and those who hold to “lordship theology” and the strict Calvinistic viewpoint, which forces them to constantly look inward to validate their salvation, fail to understand that such positions destroy proper spiritual morale. These positions are in fact another means in which man’s pride focuses not on the grace of God and His abilities, but on works and man’s ability to both prove and succeed in his eternal salvation.
Instead of having confidence in one’s citizenship of one’s country, the Christian under such theological thought is urged to fight hard in order to prove it really is their country. Thus the battle is turned into a test of one’s salvation.
But Christians do not fight to prove their salvation, much less to win it. They know that their “citizenship is in heaven” and they are “members of the household of God” (Ephesians 2:19; Philippians 3:20); and this assurance is a powerful motivation in battle. Indeed, one of the most overlooked aspects of New Testament teaching is the extent to which the writers appeal to their readers’ assurance of salvation, using such as an effective motivational tool in exhorting believers to spiritual victory For example in 1 Corinthians 6:15-20 the apostle Paul does not urge his reader to refrain from improper sexual behavior to become or to prove their salvation; he stresses such prudence because they are Christians, i.e, their union with Christ by means of the indwelling Holy Spirit. See also 1 Thessalonians 5:4-6; Ephesians 4:2; 5:8; Philippians 3:20, 21; 4:1; 1 Peter 1:13-16, 22, 23; 2 Peter 1:3-7; James 1:18-20; etc.
Over and over again throughout the New Testament Christians are implored to be what they are. They are exhorted to holy living because of their knowledge and assurance of God’s saving grace. The assurance of salvation is fundamental to all New Testament morality and a victorious spiritual life. It is the fixed point of reference out of which Christian obedience can properly flow. By stripping believer of the unconditional certainty of their eternal salvation, by spurious doctrine or whatever means, is to dangerously erode the solid ground they need beneath their feet for proper spiritual battle.
To put it another way, by calling the believer’s Christian identity into question . . . prevents him or her from drawing from this identity the spiritual strength God intended them to draw. Indeed, such teaching throws the Christian back on legalistic principles whereby one must seek to prove one’s relationship to Christ through sustained performance. Gone is the peace that comes from resting in God’s grace alone.
Paul did not live that way. Instead, his life proceeded on the basis of deeply held certitudes. He makes this clear to us in a dynamic way:
For I through the law died to the law that I might live to God. I have been crucified with Christ; it is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me; and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave Himself for me. (Gal. 2:19-20)
But suppose I am not quite sure that I have been crucified with Christ? Suppose I do not know with certainty that Christ lives in me? How then can I draw upon such wonderful realities, as Paul did, for the life of faith which I must live day by day?
Is it not clear that . . . every suggestion of spiritual weakness within me, every experience of failure and frustration, can have enormous destructive potential? How soon one will ask: Am I then really saved at all? Do I truly have Christ in me or am I vainly seeking victory in my own unregenerate strength? And in the wake of doubt comes discouragement, despair, and defeat.
Let no one be under any illusions. This is precisely the quagmire into which many have fallen as a result of lordship [and Arminian] doctrine. Those who so teach bear a terrible responsibility before God. The spiritual battlefield is littered with their victims.
But it need not be so. For, in discipleship, we move forward as kings to engage the enemy king. We advance precisely because we are the royal offspring of the King of heaven. And because we “know” it! (Absolutely Free! by Zane C. Hodges, Academie Books, 1989)
Consequence for Christians with Unconfessed Sin
Yet even though a Christian should never doubt his salvation (eternal justification before God), he should never doubt that unconfessed sin in his life will have serious consequences—temporal (in this life) and eternal (at the judgment seat of Christ). Such doctrine is not within the scope of this study. Suffice it to list a few scriptural passages that the reader may take under consideration, all of which apply to God’s discipline of His children designed to encourage correction of behavior and encouragement toward discipleship.
It is God’s will for His child (who will always be His child) to name or take responsibility for his sin (1 John 1:9); otherwise, there will be consequences for him during this life and in that which is to come (1 Corinthians 3:10-15; 4:5; 2 Corinthians 5:10; Romans 2:6; 14:10; Galatians 6:7; Ephesians 6:8; Colossians 3:24, 25; 1 Peter 1:7; Revelation 22:12).
Epilogue
During the preface of this study it was mentioned that the Armenian doctrine of “faith plus works” is a doctrine that is both subjective and tenuous. Anyone holding such doctrine can never be sure of his eternal destination. He must always be proving it; and even then, he can never be certain. On the other hand the sure doctrine of the “eternal security of the believer” honors God and His Word in that it:
* Establishes the preeminence of the work (life, death and resurrection) of Christ
* Uplifts and honors the person, authority and power of Jesus Christ
* Is grace-centered
* Is only conditional upon the concept or principle of unmeritorious faith
* Promotes gratitude
* Establishes confidence
* Teaches humility
* Honors all of God’s Word
* Promotes Spirit-initiated righteousness
* Is true to God’s established family structure
* Is entirely focused on God (Father, Son and Holy Spirit)
* Is objective and concrete.
This study on the eternal security of the believer, although long and somewhat complex, falls far short of the many hundreds of passages within God’s Word that truly supports this most important doctrine. To adhere to anything less when it comes to the “full and final” payment Christ paid on the cross of Calvary for one’s sins is to minimize God’s grace and His character. |