THE ETERNAL SECURITY OF THE BELIEVER
By W. P. CLARKE
Where
there is apparent contradiction on any particular doctrine of Scripture it is
possible to take the preponderance of passages in favour of the one view or the
other. But the contradiction must be apparent only (certainly in
reference to the original scriptures, which we do not now have) - apparent,
probably due to faulty interpretation, or possibly to mistakes in transcription
or translation; most probably to faulty interpretation. So it is the case
of the doctrine of the eternal security of the believer (the great dividing
line, and divergence of opinion between Calvinist and Armenian) in which the
preponderance of Scripture seems overwhelmingly in favour. The gospel of
John, without any other Scripture, is alone sufficient to prove it; and there
we have our Lord's repeated assurance, devoid of any statement of His to the
contrary, that His sheep are
eternally safe.
We
commence with that well-known text, John 3: 16
"the gospel in a nutshell", as it has been termed. "God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son,
that whosoever believeth in Him should not perish, but have
everlasting life," repeated by John the Baptist in verse 36. If eternal it cannot possibly
have an end. So chapter 5: 24 - "He that . . . believeth . . . hath" an immediate
present possession, emphasised later on by the words "Verily, Verily" - "everlasting
life and shall not come into condemnation, but is passed from death unto life"
- surely not to pass back into death?¹
There is not even a suggestion of that! Chapter
4: 14 to the Samaritan woman: "Whosoever drinketh of the water that I shall give him shall never"
- never - "thirst," but it shall
become "in him a well of water springing up to
everlasting life." Chapter 6: 39:
"This is the will of him that sent me, that of all
which he hath given me I should loose nothing, but should raise it up again at
the last day" : repeated in verses
44 and 54 - a promise He must and
assuredly will fulfil. Again in chapter 10:
28: "I will give unto them eternal life,
and they shall never perish, neither shall any" - neither man nor
devil -"pluck them out of my hand . . . and no one
is able to pluck them out of my Father's hand" - the Almighty hand
of Him who is "greater than all"-
absolute security! So to Martha (chapter 11:
25) Jesus said: "I am the Resurrection, and
the Life: he that believeth in me shall never die. Believest
thou this?" A question He asks every believer who
doubts His assurances. And lastly in His High Priestly prayer He prays
"that to all whom Thou hast given Him He
should give eternal life."
Can
anything be plainer or more explicit than these passages of Scripture?
Surely we can rest on our precious Saviour's repeated assurance, despite any
apparently contrary expressions in Scripture? So far John's gospel, but we
would refer to one or two other passages by way of confirmation. In Ephesians 1: 4 we learn that Believers were chosen
"before the foundation of the world"
and pre-ordained as sons through Jesus Christ unto Himself. Is it
possible for them to be ultimately lost? In 1
Corinthians 3: 14 we find that if any man's work, which he hath built on
the foundation laid by God in Christ Jesus, is burned he shall suffer loss but
he himself shall be saved, yet as through fire, escaping, as it were, with life
only, from a burning building. But why multiply texts to further prove
what is so abundantly proven already? "A child of God is eternal as
God, for he shares the life of God, and when the world is totally dissolved in
flaming fire he will be among the morning stars around the Throne" (D. M.
PANTON).
We
may now look at some Scriptures which seem to contradict this assertion -
admittedly difficult of interpretation; but however difficult, we may be sure
they do not contradict the explicit statement of our Lord. The two main
stumbling blocks to the Calvinist believer are both in the epistle of the Hebrews, chapter 6: 4-8 and 10: 26-31, which have led some expositors to believe they
refer especially to the Jewish economy and do not refer to salvation in Christ;
but this does not seem tenable. Others are sure - and this is the most
common explanation - that the persons referred to were never saved, but are
merely professors. Others rely, in chapter 4:
6, on the revised marginal reading, "the
while," or whilst continuing, instead of the text "seeing" they crucify afresh the Son of God.
Others explain that repentance can never again be repeated, and let it be
noted the "judgement" and punishment
- not eternal death - are the results of such transgressions.
Some, not many, expositors maintain that both passages refer to Apostates ² - more than backsliders, those who have adjured
and definitely rejected Christ. If this hypothesis is correct and it
means everlasting punishment, then the case of an apostate is the only
exception to the rule that every believer is eternally saved; but it is a
matter of thanksgiving that there are, so far as is known, so few apostates.³ The very fact that there are in these passages,
so many diverse explanations and so many differences of interpretation, make it
impossible that they should be used to contradict the explicit utterances of
our Lord Himself.
If
then the eternal security of Believers is the true interpretation of Scripture,
the question naturally arises as to the position of the cold, lukewarm and
unfaithful believers, who prove unworthy to enter the Kingdom, and of
all backsliders - some of whom have grossly backsliden
- dying in their backsliden state, although God in
His infinite mercy has made it possible for them to confess and repent. There
must be some time and place where they are dealt with, for "our God is consuming fire," and "righteousness and justice are the foundation of His throne"
(Psalm 97: 2); and the Apostle Peter,
through the Holy Spirit, warns us that "Judgement
must begin at the House of God." Our own sense of justice
demands in this life that they who break the law must incur the penalty of
the law, and "shall not the Judge of all the
earth do right? "
It cannot be that unworthy Christians and
backsliders, dying un-repentant and un-forgiven, shall immediately thereafter
enter into bliss and reign with Christ! The incestuous
Corinthian of 1 Cor.
chapter 5 is a case in point. No! it
is the "little flock" to whom it is
the Father's good pleasure to "give the Kingdom."
The "overcomers" are the only ones to
whom are given the promise of sharing Christ's throne. "Assuredly it
is the
As
to time and place, we dismiss the idea of Purgatory (a purely Romanish invention) if for no other reason than that no
judgement precedes it.*
"It is appointed unto men once to die and after
this the Judgement" - not Purgatory - and none is condemned by
God without being judged. At the great white throne it is written -
"they were judged every man according to his
works." The dispensation of Grace ends with the coming of
Christ for His saints and their rapture in the air. During the Presence
of Christ in the air - the Parousia - the Bema or
Judgement Seat of Christ takes place: although not explicitly stated in
Scripture, there is no other time that it can be held;*
and it is there the position if every believer will be determined in
relation to the
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NOTES
1.
That is, the "second death," - eternal
separation from God in the "lake of fire"
(Rev. 20: 15). - Ed.
2.
There is no doubt in my mind that the passage in Hebrews
6: 4-8 deals with apostates; and if one wants to know what actions
qualify a believer for that category, he should read Numbers
chapter 14. - Ed.
3. It
is a fact that there are more apostates than the author and most Christians
imagine: the apostate knows what he has been rejected, and then sets out to
bring about the downfall of other Christians by using Anti-Millennial doctrines.
*
There is a judgment of God and the overruling of human affairs, which is in progress at all times. Prominent instances of this are shown in Job chapters 1 & 2,
Ahab (1Kings 22), Nebuchadnezzar (Dan.
4). "The first case shows
the judicial proceedings effecting perfecting, the second death, the third reformation.
"Job
was a godly man under discipline for his good: an upright man was made a holy
man. Thus still does God chasten His sons that they may become partakers
of His holiness (Heb. 12: 10, 11)." (G.
H. Lang.) This continuous judicial administration can take place before
and after death. "Sinning Christians were
disciplined even unto premature death, and it is explained that this operates
to save them from liability to condemnation at the time when God will deal with
the world at large." The Lord has made many fearful and most serious
statements regarding His dealings with His redeemed people at His return.
Some of these are as follows: (Luke 12: 22-53; Luke
17: 11-27; Matt. 24: 42- 25: 30).
"If
it be thought inconceivable that the Lord should describe one of His
blood-bought and beloved people as a "wicked
servant" (Matt. 25: 26), it
should be weighed that He had before applied the term to a servant whose "debt" had been fully remitted: "thou wicked servant, I forgave thee all that debt"
(Matt. 18: 32). Thus one who, as an
act of compassion by the Lord, has been fully forgiven all his failure as a
servant may prove a "wicked servant,"
his wickedness consisting in this, that though
forgiven he would not forgive. To deny that a child of God can be
unforgiving is to blind the eyes by denying sad and stern fact.
The Lord left no room for doubt that members of the divine family were in His
mind by the application of the parable He then and there made: "Even so shall my heavenly Father do unto you [Peter, whose question as to forgiving had drawn forth the
parable, and the other disciples (v. 21)], if YE forgive
not, each one of you (hekastos), his brother
from your hearts" (v. 35).
It is the Father and the brothers who are in question, not here those
outside the family circle." (Lang).
Judgement
may take place at or immediately after death (Heb.
9: 27). It can take place before death,
or Paul could not have been assured of winning his "crown of righteousness," (2Tim. 4: 6-8). "The expression 'I
have finished my course' is taken from the athletic world which held so
large a place in Greek life and interest and is so often used by Paul as a
picture of spiritual effort. In 1 Cor. 9: 24-27, it is used as a plain warning that
the coveted prize may be lost. Phil.
3: 12-14 employs it to urge to intense and unremitting effort to win
that prize. The Lord is the righteous Judge, sitting to
adjudicate upon each contestant [i.e, each regenerate
believer] in the race or contest.
Now
of unavoidable necessity the judge of the games automatically formed his
decision as to each racer or wrestler as each finished the course or
the contest. The giving of the prizes was indeed deferred to the close of
the whole series of events: Paul's crown would be actually given "in that day"; but not till then did the judge
defer his decision as to each item or contestant. It could not be, for the most
celebrated of the Greek games, the Olympic, lasted five days.
The
figure, taken with the case of Paul, and in the light of Dives and Lazarus (Luke 16), suggests a decision of the Lord as to
each believer before or at the time of his death. That decision issues in determining the place and
experience of the man in the intermediate state, [in 'Hades'] and may
extend to assurance that he has won the crown, 'the
prize of the high calling'.
Rev. 6: 9, 11, The Fifth Seal. These martyrs "under the altar" are not yet raised from the
dead, for others have yet to be killed for Christ's sake, and only then will
they be vindicated and avenged. But to each one of them separately a
white robe is given. The white robe is the visible sign, conferred by the Lord,
of their worthiness to be His companions in His glory and
Kingdom. This again makes it evident that for these the Lord's judgement
had been formed and announced. No later adjudication upon such is needful
or conceivable; only the giving the crown "in that
day."
Form these facts and considerations it seems fairly clear that the
judgement of the Lord upon the dead of His people is not deferred to one
session but is reached and declared either (a) immediately before death
(as Paul), when there is no further risk of the racer failing, or (b) immediately
after death (as Lazarus), or (c) at least in the intermediate state of death - "the souls [in Hades] under the altar."
Judgement upon His own people therefore God exercises now; this
is the very period for it, but the general judgement of the world is deferred:
"The
time is come for judgement to begin at the house of God" (1Peter 4: 17). and again : "If we discriminated
[sat in strict judgement upon] ourselves, we
should not be judged; but when [failing in this holy self-judgement] we are judged, we are chastened by the Lord that we may not
be condemned with the world" (1 Cor. 11: 30, 31). And this
chastening may extend to bodily weakness, positive sickness, or even
death. So it was in the cases of Ananias and Sapphira (Acts 5: 1-11, and see Jas. 5: 19, 20:
1 John 5, 16, 17; Matt. 5: 21-26; 18: 28-35).
- G. H. Lang.
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