Audio
assurance of salvation
The Bible affirms that all who remain in faith in Jesus Christ will be saved and that nothing will ever tear them back from the hand of Christ. The Bible emphasizes the infinite fidelity of the Lord and the absolute sufficiency of Jesus Christ for our salvation. Furthermore, she emphasizes the everlasting love of God for all peoples and describes the gospel as the power of God for the salvation of all who believe. In possession of this assurance of salvation, the believer is called upon to remain firm in faith and to grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. (Johannes 10,27-29; 2. Corinthians 1,20-22; 2. Timothy 1,9; 1. Corinthians 15,2; Hebrews 6,4-6; John 3,16; Romans 1,16; Hebrews 4,14; 2. Petrus 3,18)
How about "eternal security?"
The doctrine of "eternal security" is referred to in theological language as "the endurance of the saints." In common parlance, she is described with the phrase "once saved, always saved," or "once a Christian, always a Christian."
Many scriptures give us a certainty that we already have salvation, though we must wait for the resurrection to finally inherit eternal life and the kingdom of God. Here are some of the terms that the New Testament uses:
Whoever believes has eternal life (John 6,47) ... whoever sees the Son and believes in him has eternal life; and I will raise him up on the last day (John 6,40) ... and I give them eternal life, and they will never perish, and no one will tear them out of my hand (John 10,28) ... So now there is no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus (Romans 8,1) ... [Nothing] can separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord (Romans 8,39) ... [Christ] will also hold you firmly to the end (1. Corinthians 1,8) ... But God is faithful, who does not allow you to be tempted beyond your strength (1. Corinthians 10,13) ... he who has begun the good work in you will also finish it (Philippians 1,6) ... we know that we came from death into life (1. John 3,14).
The doctrine of eternal security is based on such assurances. But there is another side that concerns salvation. There also seem to be warnings that Christians may fall at the mercy of God.
Christians are warned, "Therefore, let him that thinkth he stand take heed lest he fall" (1. Corinthians 10,12). Jesus said, "Watch and pray that you will not fall into temptation" (Mark 14,28), and "love will grow cold in many" (Matthew 24,12). The apostle Paul wrote that some in the church “by faith
have been shipwrecked" (1. Timothy 1,19). The Church at Ephesus was warned that Christ would remove its candlestick and spit out the lukewarm Laodiceans from his mouth. The exhortation in Hebrews is particularly terrible 10,26-31:
“For if we sin willfully after we have received the knowledge of the truth, we have no other offering for sins henceforth, but nothing but a dreadful expectation of judgment and the greedy fire that will consume the adversaries. If anyone breaks the law of Moses, he must die without mercy on two or three witnesses. How much more severe punishment do you think he deserves who tramples the Son of God underfoot, counting unclean the blood of the covenant by which he was sanctified, and reviling the Spirit of grace? For we know the one who said: Vengeance is mine, I will repay, and again: The Lord will judge his people. It is terrible to fall into the hands of the living God.”
Hebrews too 6,4-6 tells us:
"For it is impossible for those who have once been enlightened and tasted the heavenly gift and been filled with the Holy Spirit and tasted the good word of God and the powers of the world to come, and then fallen away, to repent again , since for themselves they crucify the Son of God again and make a mockery of it.”
So there is a duality in the New Testament. Many verses are positive about the eternal salvation that we have in Christ. This salvation seems safe. But such verses are softened by a few warnings that seemingly state that Christians can lose their salvation through persistent unbelief.
Since the question of eternal salvation, or whether Christians are safe - that is, once saved, then they are always saved - usually because of scriptures such as Hebrews 10,26-31 comes up, let's take a closer look at this passage. The question is how we should interpret these verses. To whom is the author writing, and what is the nature of the people's "unbelief," and what have they assumed?
First, let's look at the message of Hebrews as a whole. At the heart of this book is the need to believe in Christ as the all-sufficient sacrifice for sin. There are no competitors. Faith must rest on him alone. The clarification of the question of possible loss of salvation that verse 26 raises lies in the last verse of that chapter: "But we are not of those who will shrink and be condemned, but of those who believe and save the soul" (v. 26). Some shrink, but those who remain in Christ cannot be lost.
The same assurance to the believer is found in the verses before Hebrews 10,26. Christians have confidence in being in God's presence through the blood of Jesus (verse 19). We can approach God in perfect faith (v. 22). The author exhorts Christians in these words: “Let us hold fast to the profession of hope, and not waver; for he is faithful that promised them” (v. 23).
One way to understand these verses in Hebrews 6 and 10 about “falling away” is to give readers hypothetical scenarios to encourage them to remain steadfast in their faith. For example, let's look at Hebrews 10,19-39 on. The people to whom he speaks have "freedom of entrance into the sanctuary" (verse 19) through Christ. They can "come near to God" (v. 22). The author sees these people as "holding fast to the profession of hope" (verse 23). He wants to stimulate them to even greater love and greater faith (v. 24).
As part of this encouragement, he paints a picture of what might happen—hypothetically, according to the theory mentioned—to those who “willfully persist in sin” (v. 26). Nonetheless, the people he is addressing are those who "were enlightened" and remained faithful during persecution (vv. 32-33). They have put their "trust" in Christ, and the author encourages them to persevere in faith (vv. 35-36). Finally he says of the people to whom he writes that we are not of those who shrink back and are condemned, but of those who believe and save the soul” (v. 39).
Notice also how the author translated his warning about "falling away from the faith" in Hebrews 6,1-8 finished: “But though we speak so, dear ones, we are persuaded that you are better off and saved. For God is not unjust to forget your work and the love that you have shown his name in serving and still serving the saints” (vv. 9-10). The author goes on to say that he told them these things so that they might "show the same zeal to hold on to hope to the end" (verse 11).
Hypothetically speaking, it is possible to speak of a situation in which a person who had genuine faith in Jesus can lose it. But if it were not possible, would the warning be appropriate and effective?
Can Christians lose their faith in the real world? Christians can “fall away” in the sense of committing sin (1. John 1,8-2,2). They can become spiritually lethargic in certain situations. But does this sometimes result in "falling away" for those who have genuine faith in Christ? This is not entirely clear from the Scriptures. Indeed, we can ask how one can be "real" in Christ and "fall away" at the same time.
The position of the church, as expressed in the beliefs, is that never can people who have the enduring faith that God has given to Christ be torn from his hand. In other words, when a person's faith is focused on Christ, he or she can not be lost. As long as Christians hold this confession of their hope, their salvation is secure.
The question about the doctrine of "once saved, always saved" has to do with whether we can lose our faith in Christ. As mentioned earlier, Hebrews seems to describe people who had at least initial "faith" but who may be in danger of losing it.
But this proves the point we made in the previous paragraph. The only way to lose salvation is to reject the only way to salvation - faith in Jesus Christ.
The letter to the Hebrews is primarily about the sin of unbelief in God's work of redemption, which he accomplished through Jesus Christ (see, for example, Hebrews 1,2; 2,1-4; 3,12. 14; 3,19-4,3; 4,14). Hebrews chapter 10 dramatically addresses this issue in verse 19, stating that through Jesus Christ we have freedom and full confidence.
Verse 23 exhorts us to adhere to the confession of our hope. We certainly know the following: As long as we hold on to the confession of our hope, we are quite sure and can not lose our salvation. This confession includes our faith in Christ's reconciliation for our sins, our hope for new life in him, and our continued faithfulness to him in this life.
Often those who use the slogan "once saved, always saved" are not sure what they mean. This phrase does not mean that a person was saved just because he or she said a few words about Christ. People are saved when they have received the Holy Spirit, when they are born again to new life in Christ. True faith is demonstrated by faithfulness to Christ, and that means living no longer for ourselves but for the Savior.
The bottom line is that as long as we continue to live in Jesus, we are safe in Christ (Hebrews 10,19-23). We have the full assurance of faith in him because it is he who saves us. We don't have to worry and ask the question. “Will I make it?” In Christ we are secure—we belong to Him and are saved, and nothing can snatch us from His hand.
The only way we can get lost is to kick our blood, and decide that we do not need it in the end and that we are self-sufficient. If that were the case, we would not worry about our salvation anyway. As long as we remain faithful in Christ, we have the assurance that he will complete the work that he has begun in us.
The comfort is this: We don't have to worry about our salvation and say, "What happens if I fail?" We have already failed. It is Jesus who saves us and He does not fail. Can we fail to accept it? Yes, but as Spirit-led Christians we have not failed to receive it. Once we accept Jesus, the Holy Spirit lives in us, transforming us into His image. We have joy, not fear. We are at peace, do not be afraid.
When we believe in Jesus Christ, we stop worrying about "making it". He "made it" for us. We rest in him. We stop worrying. We have faith and trust Him, not ourselves. So the question of losing our salvation no longer plagues us. Why? Because we believe Jesus' work on the cross and His resurrection is all we need.
God does not need our perfection. We need His, and He gave it to us as a free gift through faith in Christ. We will not fail because our salvation does not depend on us.
In summary, the Church believes that those who remain in Christ cannot perish. You are "safe forever". But this depends on what people mean when they say "once saved, always saved".
As far as the doctrine of predestination is concerned, we can summarize the church's position in a few words. We do not believe that God has always determined who will be lost and who will not. It is the Church's view that God will make fair and just provision for all those who have not received the gospel in this life. Such people will be judged on the same basis as us, that is, whether they place their faithfulness and faith in Jesus Christ.
Paul Kroll
