The Eternal Security of the Believer

The Following Articles are Excerpts from

“A Book of Bible Study”

Copyright 2014 by Joseph F. Harwood

https://www.abookofbiblestudy.net/

[email protected]
Scripture quotations taken from the NASB

The question sometimes arises as to whether someone who has come to faith
in Christ can lose their salvation. As with any question we may have regarding our
faith and the Christian life, we always go to the word of God to find our answers.
There are several passages in the Bible that speak to the degree of certainty we
have regarding our salvation, and to what extent our perseverance or continuance
in this state of grace depends upon our own actions after we are saved.

We may have some questions for which there are no direct answers in the
Scriptures; there are some things that we will not understand until we are finally
together with the Lord in Heaven. However, the issue of our eternal security and
perseverance in the faith is not one of those things that we will have to wait to
understand, because the Bible speaks to this issue extensively in several passages.
Let us now look at what God reveals through His word about the eternal certainty
of the salvation that He has provided for us as His people through the atoning death
of His Son, Jesus Christ.
 The Teaching of Jesus

There can be no better place to begin than to look first at the words of our
Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. Recorded in John 6, Jesus said:

“All that the Father gives Me will come to Me, and the one who comes to Me I will
certainly not 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 Him who sent Me, that of all
that He has given Me I lose nothing, but raise it up on the last day. For this is the
will of My Father, that everyone who beholds the Son and believes in Him will
have eternal life, and I Myself will raise him up on the last day.” (John 6:37-40,
emphasis added).

This passage speaks very clearly to the issue of the eternal security of the
believer. Jesus said that all of those who have been given to Him by the Father, or
God’s elect, will in fact come to Him. And then in this same verse Jesus said
regarding those who do come to Him, that He will certainly not cast them out.
And He said this with no mention of any added conditions whatsoever, or any
mention of their performance after they are saved.

Jesus emphasized the same point again in the following two verses when He
said that He had come down from Heaven not to do His own will, but the will of
His Father who had sent Him. Jesus then revealed that it is the will of His Father
that He would lose none of those who had been given to Him, but He would raise
them up at the last day. So here is the same teaching of the eternal security of the
believer given again in this same passage, in clear language, in order to make sure
that His message was fully understood.

In the final verse of this passage Jesus reiterates this same message of the
eternal security of the believer yet a third time, when He said that everyone who
looks to Him and believes in Him will have eternal life together with Him in
Heaven. Let us notice in this verse that Jesus did not say that some of those who to
look to Him and believe in Him will have eternal life, depending on what they may
do after they are saved. However He did say clearly, and with no added conditions
or any mention of a believer’s performance after they are saved, that everyone who
looks to Him and believes in Him will have eternal life; He will raise them up at
the last day. And so we see that three times in this passage of John 6:37-40, Jesus
emphasized that our salvation in Him is an eternal certainty.
 Going just a few verses further in John 6, we will consider once again a
teaching that we studied previously when discussing predestination and the
effectual calling of God. Here Jesus said: “No one can come to Me unless the
Father who sent Me draws him, and I will raise him up at the last day.” (John
6:44).

In the first part of this verse, Jesus taught that no one is able to come to Him
unless the Father draws them, or calls them. And then in the second part of the
verse, Jesus taught that those individuals whom God does call will be raised up at
the last day. There is no condition at all attached to His statement. Jesus stated
clearly that those whom God draws, or calls, will be raised up at the last day,
meaning that all who receive God’s calling to faith in His Son will be saved, and
none will be lost. Jesus also communicated this same truth in clear, unambiguous
language in John 6:39.

In John 10, Jesus again spoke of the eternal certainty and security of our
salvation when He said: “My sheep hear My voice, and I know them, and they
follow Me; and I give eternal life to them, and they will never perish; and no one
will 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 the Father’s hand. I and the Father
are one.” (John 10:27-30).

Those whom Jesus referred to as His sheep are those whom the Father has
given to Him. These are the elect, whom God foreknew from before the creation of
the world. God’s elect have already, or will at some point in time, be called by Him
to faith in Christ, and they manifest in their lives the calling of God by their belief
in Christ and their love for other believers. Speaking of these, Jesus said that they
will never perish. Jesus did not say that they will never perish unless they disobey
to some degree after they are saved. But He did say succinctly, and without any
added conditions at all, that they will never perish.

Jesus then continued in this passage to teach that no one is able to snatch
one of His sheep out of His hand, or His Father’s hand. Neither we ourselves, by
our own actions or failings, nor any other created being, is able to snatch any
believer out of God’s hand.
 The Teaching of the Apostles Paul and Peter

In Romans 8:29-30, we see the same teaching of the eternal certainty and
security of God’s salvation. In these verses Paul described a definite sequence, or
order of salvation, beginning with those whom God foreknew (See also Ephesians
1:4-5). Paul taught that those whom God foreknew have all been predestined to be
conformed to the image of His Son, Jesus Christ. Then in His time, God calls those
whom He foreknew to faith in His Son. Paul then said further that those who are
called are also justified. And finally in this sequence or order of salvation, Paul
said clearly, succinctly, and with no added conditions whatsoever, that those who
are justified are also glorified (verse 30).

In this passage Paul taught that all of those who are called by God to faith in
His Son Jesus Christ are justified, and all of those who are justified are ultimately
glorified. The certainty of the sequence of events is clear in Paul’s language. None
fall away, and again, Paul makes no mention of man’s performance or actions as
having any effect in this process whatsoever.

The entirety of the actions in effecting the salvation of God’s elect described
in this passage are God’s actions, and only His actions. Nowhere is any condition
regarding man’s performance made mention of at all, either before or after he has
been saved.

A believer’s performance or obedience to God’s word definitely has an

effect on his eternal reward, as Paul taught in his letter to the Corinthians: “Now if
any man builds on the foundation with gold, silver, precious stones, wood, hay,
straw, each man’s work will become evident; for the day will show it because it is
to be revealed with fire, and the fire itself will test the quality of each man’s work.
If any man’s work which he has built on it remains, he will receive a reward. If any
man’s work is burned up, he will suffer loss; but he himself will be saved, yet so as
through fire.” (1 Corinthians 3:12-15).

The “foundation” that Paul mentioned in this passage is Jesus Christ

Himself, and the salvation that God has provided for His people through the blood
of Jesus shed on Calvary’s cross. Paul then taught that the quality of each
believer’s work will be tested by fire. If his work withstands this test, he will
receive a reward from God.

Now let us notice what Paul taught in verse 15. He said that if the believer’s
work is burned up, he will suffer loss, but “he himself will be saved”, only as one
escaping through the fire. Here Paul again emphasized that disobedience and
failure to obey God will not affect the salvation of the believer, that salvation being
eternally secure. However, disobedience will result in a loss of rewards that one
may have received if he had been obedient, and his work had withstood the test of
fire. Regardless of a believer’s failings in life, even after he is saved, his salvation
itself is eternally secure.

Paul also taught in Romans: “for the gifts and the calling of God are
irrevocable.” (Romans 11:29). God does not change His mind concerning those
whom He calls to faith in His Son.

Though a believer’s salvation itself is eternally secure, there is yet another

very sobering teaching in the Bible that we must consider. There is reference made
in John’s first letter to sin that results in the physical death of a believer. John
wrote: “If anyone sees his brother committing a sin not leading to death, he shall
ask, and God will for him give life to those who commit sin not leading to death.
There is a sin leading to death; I do not say that he should make request for this.”
(1 John 5:16).

Hebrews 12:1-13 also speaks of God’s discipline of His sons, saying that
God disciplines every son whom He receives. We as believers must all take this
matter of obedience very seriously. God will separate us from our sins. Even
though our salvation itself is eternally secure, our future reward in Heaven, and
according to 1 John 5:16, maybe even our physical lives here on earth, are at stake.

Paul taught again in his letter to the Romans of the eternal certainty and
security of our salvation when he said there is no power in all of creation that is
able to separate us as believers from the love of God:

Who will separate us from the love of Christ? Will tribulation, or distress, or
persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or peril, or sword? Just as it is written,
“For Your sake we are being put to death all day long;
We were considered as sheep to be slaughtered.”
But in all these things we overwhelmingly conquer through Him who loved us. For
I am convinced that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor things
present, nor things to come, nor powers, nor height, nor depth, nor any other
created thing, will be able to separate us from the love of God, which is in Christ
Jesus our Lord. (Romans 8:35-39)
 No power in all of creation, including demonic power, is able to separate us
from the love of God that has been given to us in Christ Jesus our Lord. And this
includes our own miniscule power to disobey, or to rail angrily against God for the
troubles that come upon us during the course of our lives. Though we may fail
miserably, God’s word does not fail.

Once again, we consider the words of Jesus Himself when He said: “All that
the Father gives Me will come to Me, and the one who comes to Me I will
certainly not cast out.” (John 6:37). No one who has come to Christ will ever be
driven away from Him. None of God’s elect will ever be cast out from His
presence; our salvation is eternally secure. The One whose name is “Faithful and
True” (Revelation 19:11) has Himself said it.

We are not saved by grace, and then kept in this state of grace by our own
good works; rather we are kept by the power God. Peter wrote in his first letter:
“Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who according to His
great mercy has caused us to be born again to a living hope through the
resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, to obtain an inheritance which is
imperishable and undefiled and will not fade away, reserved in heaven for you,
who are protected by the power of God through faith for a salvation ready to be
revealed in the last time.” (1 Peter 1:3-5).

In this passage, Peter taught us that we as believers have “an inheritance

which is imperishable and undefiled and will not fade away”, and he taught that we
are protected or kept safe by the power of God until the time when we are finally
together with the Lord in Heaven. Though our future reward in Heaven depends
upon our obedience to God’s word, our salvation itself is eternally secure, and
entirely God’s own doing from beginning to end.

If our salvation in any way depended on our own works, then we would be
able to boast that our works were good enough to keep us saved. If our salvation
depended upon us making the “right decision” to accept Christ, then we would be
able to boast that we made that “right decision” when others did not. However, the
Scriptures teach that no man can boast that he had anything to do with his
salvation. Paul wrote: “For by grace you have been saved through faith; and that
not of yourselves, it is the gift of God; not as a result of works, so that no one
may boast.” (Ephesians 2:8-9, emphasis added).

Our faith in Christ is a gift that was given to us by God; it did not come
about through any work of our own whatsoever. And through this gift of faith, we
are protected not by our own power, but we are “protected by the power of God”
until our salvation is revealed (1 Peter 1:5).

Paul also emphasized that we are kept by God’s power and not our own,
when he wrote to the Corinthians teaching that it is God Himself who “will also
confirm you to the end, blameless in the day of our Lord Jesus Christ. God is
faithful, through whom you were called into fellowship with His Son, Jesus Christ
our Lord.” (1 Corinthians 1:8-9).

Paul wrote to the Thessalonians with this same message regarding the
eternal certainty and security of our salvation when he said: “Now may the God of
peace Himself sanctify you entirely; and may your spirit and soul and body be
preserved complete, without blame at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ. Faithful
is He who calls you, and He also will bring it to pass.” (1 Thessalonians 5:23-24,
emphasis added). So Paul emphasized yet again that God has called us into
fellowship with His Son, and God is faithful; He will preserve us and keep us
blameless all the way through to the coming of His Son, Jesus Christ our Lord.

Paul also wrote to the Philippians with the same message when he said: “For
I am confident of this very thing, that He who began a good work in you will
perfect it until the day of Christ Jesus.” (Philippians 1:6). The Scriptures teach us
that God Himself began the work of salvation in us, and He is the One who will
carry our salvation through to completion.

The Eternal Security of the Believer – Part 2

In Part 1 of our study, we examined several Scripture references regarding

the eternal security of the believer. Despite these teachings, which clearly reveal
that our salvation in Christ is eternally secure and certain, there are some who say
there is evidence from the Scriptures that a believer can lose their salvation. Those
who hold this view will often refer to Hebrews 6:4-9, Hebrews 10:26-29, and 2
Peter 2:20-22 to support their doctrine. We will now look carefully at each of these
Scripture passages to see if there is any validity to the assertion that these
Scriptures teach that a believer can lose their salvation.

In order to accurately interpret Scripture, we must consider the context of the

passage from which the Scripture is taken. We must also consider whom the author
is addressing in the passage. And we must interpret the passage under
consideration in the light of all the rest of the Scriptures as a whole, which is to say
that we must let Scripture interpret Scripture. If we derive an interpretation of a
Scripture passage that is contradicted by other passages in the Scriptures, then we
can be sure that we have derived an erroneous interpretation.

We have already examined several passages containing very clear and

unambiguous language, which state that a believer cannot lose their salvation.
These passages reveal that every believer is kept safe by the power of God, who
Himself carries our salvation through to completion, from beginning to end.

Now, in the interest of a complete consideration of what the Bible teaches

about the eternal certainty and security of our salvation in Christ, let us consider
several of the passages which are most often cited by some as evidence that a
believer can lose their salvation. And let us carefully examine these Scriptures in
order to arrive at a correct and biblically sound interpretation, so that any
confusion we may have on this issue may be resolved.

The Meaning of Hebrews 6:4-8

We should begin our study of this passage by understanding that the letter to
the Hebrews is addressed to Jews who had become professing Christians. As we
will see when we consider Hebrews 10:26-29, some of these professing Hebrew
believers were not continuing in the faith, but they were leaving the congregations
of believers to return to the way of Judaism.

The main purpose of the letter to the Hebrews was to emphasize to everyone
in these congregations the preeminence of Christ, and to admonish them that there
is no other way to God the Father than through Jesus Christ. The writer of Hebrews
warned that for those who ultimately reject Christ, there is nothing left for them
“but a terrifying expectation of judgment and the fury of a fire which will consume
the adversaries.” (Hebrews 10:27). They would not be saved simply because they
were descended from Jacob.
 Also as we begin our study of Hebrews 6:4-8, let us consider as well that
this passage is prefaced by Hebrews 5:11- 6:3. In these verses, the writer of
Hebrews comments on the fact that though the congregation had heard the
fundamental truths of the word of God preached, some did not seem to be growing
in the faith. And in fact, these needed someone to teach them the elementary truths
of God’s word all over again (Hebrews 5:12).

This failure to grow in the faith and bear fruit could indicate that some in the
congregation had never come to faith in Christ, though they had heard the words of
the Gospel message. With this preface in mind, we will now consider Hebrews 6:4-
8.

Looking at the first part of the passage, we read:

For in the case of those who have once been enlightened and have tasted of the
heavenly gift and have been made partakers of the Holy Spirit, and have tasted the
good word of God and the powers of the age to come, and then have fallen away, it
is impossible to renew them again to repentance, since they again crucify to
themselves the Son of God and put Him to open shame. (Hebrews 6:4-6)

And then immediately following in verses 7-8, we see reference to “ground”

receiving “rain” that often comes upon it. If the ground “brings forth vegetation
useful to those for whose sake it is also tilled” then it receives blessing from God.
But if it bears “thorns and thistles” it is worthless, and in the end it will be burned.
In these verses, the author employed a method of communicating his message that
was similar to a method that Jesus often used in His teaching, which was to teach a
spiritual principle by means of an analogy or comparison to something in the
natural world.

In Hebrews 6:7-8, the “ground” is symbolic of people. The “rain”, which

often falls upon the ground, is symbolic of the word of God, the Gospel message
which is preached in the hearing of men. The “vegetation” or harvest that is useful
to those for whom the ground is farmed is symbolic of the good fruit born by those
who hear the word of God and do indeed come to faith in Christ. As a result of
their genuine faith, they will indeed bear fruit in their lives, showing that they are
in truth Jesus’ disciples (John 15:8).

In contrast to the ground that bears a useful harvest of good fruit, other
ground receives the same “rain” of the word of God, but it bears only thorns and
thistles. This ground is symbolic of those people who hear the same Gospel
message, but they do not come to faith in Christ. And therefore they cannot
produce a useful harvest of good fruit.

There are three teachings of Jesus that are in complete agreement with the
analogy and teaching of Hebrews 6:4-8. The first is the Parable of the Sower given
in Matthew 13:1-23. The second is Jesus’ teaching on false prophets given in
Matthew 7:15-23. And the third is Jesus’ Parable of the Wheat and the Tares
recorded in Matthew 13:24-30 and 13:36-43. By considering Hebrews 6:4-8 in the
light of all three of these passages, we will let “Scripture interpret Scripture”, and
in doing so we will gain an understanding of this teaching given to us by the author
of Hebrews.

First, let us begin by comparing the Parable of the Sower in Matthew 13 to

Hebrews 6:4-8. In this parable, the “seed” sown by the farmer is symbolic of the
word of God. The seed falls upon different types of “ground” or “soil”, and again,
just as in Hebrews 6:7-8, the soil symbolizes men, who receive the word of God in
their hearing. Jesus taught that the only place where the seed of the word of God
will bear a useful harvest is where it falls upon “good soil”. The good soil
symbolizes God’s elect, who hear the word of God, and who do indeed come to
faith in Christ. Only those who come to faith will be able to bear a useful harvest
of good fruit.

Second, let us compare Jesus’ teaching about false prophets in Matthew 7 to

Hebrews 6:4-8. In His teaching here, Jesus warned us to watch out for false
prophets who come to us “in sheep’s clothing”, or claiming to be Christians, but in
reality they are not. He symbolized these individuals as bad trees, which cannot
produce good fruit (Matthew 7:18b). And He said that these “bad trees” will be cut
down and thrown onto the fire (Matthew 7:19. Compare with Hebrews 6:8.). By
contrast, Jesus symbolized those whose faith is genuine as “good trees”, which
produce good fruit and cannot produce bad fruit (Matthew 7:18a. Compare with
Hebrews 6:7).

And third, let us compare Jesus’ teaching in the Parable of the Wheat and the
Tares in Matthew 13 to Hebrews 6:4-8. In this parable Jesus spoke of tares or
weeds, which bear no good fruit, being mixed in among the wheat, which does
indeed bear a useful harvest of good fruit. The tares, which are often hard to
distinguish from the wheat, symbolize the unregenerate among true believers, and
they bear no good fruit. In contrast to the tares, the wheat symbolizes genuine
believers, and these do indeed bear good fruit, bearing a harvest “useful to those
for whom it is tilled”, as the writer of Hebrews said (Hebrews 6:7).
 The one consistent theme in each of these three teachings of Jesus, and
also in Hebrews 6:4-8, is that professing believers will demonstrate or give
evidence that their faith is genuine by the fact they do indeed bear good fruit.
Only genuine believers are able to bear good fruit; the unregenerate are not able
to do so.

The individuals in Hebrews 6:4-8 who receive the “rain” of the word of
God, but they bear no useful harvest of good fruit, are the same individuals that we
see in the Parable of the Sower who receive the “seed” of the word of God, but
they never come to faith in Christ. And therefore, they can bear no good fruit.

Again, the individuals in Hebrews 6:4-8 who receive the “rain” of the word
of God, but they bear no useful harvest of good fruit, are the false prophets about
whom Jesus spoke in Matthew 7. Their profession of faith is false. Though they
may claim to be Christians, and they may claim to have repented, they are not true
believers, and Jesus characterized them as bad trees which can produce only bad
fruit.

And again, these individuals in Hebrews 6:4-8 who receive the “rain” of the
word of God, but they bear no useful harvest of good fruit, are the tares in Jesus’
Parable of the Wheat and the Tares. The tares symbolize the unregenerate, who are
mixed in among genuine believers. Unlike genuine believers who are symbolized
as wheat, which does produce a useful harvest of good fruit, the tares cannot bear
good fruit.

To summarize, when we compare the teaching in Hebrews 6:4-8 with Jesus’

teaching in the Parable of the Sower in Matthew 13, His teaching about false
prophets in Matthew 7, and His teaching in the Parable of the Wheat and the Tares
in Matthew 13, we find that in all four of these passages the individuals who bear
no good fruit are those who receive the word of God in their hearing, but they
never come to faith in Christ as God’s elect do. As a result, they can bear no
good fruit.

The individuals referred to in Hebrews 6:4-8 who receive the “rain” of the
word of God, but they bear no useful harvest of good fruit, are individuals who will
be present in most every congregation of professing Christians, who are in fact
unregenerate. They will claim to have repented, and they will claim to be
believers, when in fact they have never come to faith in Christ.
 When the writer of Hebrews said that they “have once been enlightened”,
“have tasted the heavenly gift”, “have been made partakers of the Holy Spirit”, and
“have tasted the good word of God and the powers of the age to come”, he was
saying that these unregenerate individuals, who claimed to be believers but were
not, were present in the congregation and shared in the hearing of the preaching
and teaching of the word of God with others who were in fact true believers.
These unregenerate individuals are symbolized as ground that “drinks the rain
which often falls on it” (Hebrews 6:7), and again this rain is symbolic of the word
of God, but they produce only “thorns and thistles” (Hebrews 6:8), or bad fruit as
Jesus taught in Matthew 7:15-23.

In John 6 we see that Jesus spoke to a crowd saying: “...the words that I
have spoken to you are spirit and are life. But there are some of you who do not
believe.” … “For this reason I have said to you, that no one can come to Me unless
it has been granted him from the Father.” (John 6:63-65, emphasis added). For any
man to read or to hear the word of God is for him to partake in spirit and life,
but not all of those who partake in God’s word believe. Many hear the word of
God, but it has not been granted to them by the Father to believe in Christ, or to
come to Him, even though they hear the spoken Gospel message.

To hear the word of God preached is to be “enlightened” (Hebrews 6:4) as

to God’s only plan of salvation for man. It is also to “have tasted the heavenly gift”
(Hebrews 6:4), and to “have been made partakers in the Holy Spirit” (Hebrews
6:4), because once again, Jesus said that His words “are spirit and are life” (John
6:63). It is also to “have tasted the good word of God and the powers of the age to
come” (Hebrews 6:5).

These unregenerate individuals were present in the congregations of

professing Jewish believers, and they heard the word of God preached. But as the
writer of Hebrews also said, “the word they heard did not profit them, because it
was not united by faith in those who heard.” (Hebrews 4:2).

The word they heard did not profit them because, unlike the true believers in
the congregation who heard the word of God and came to faith in Christ, these
professing but unregenerate individuals heard the same Gospel message but did not
come to faith. And as we have seen from the Scriptures before, a genuine faith in
Christ is itself the gift of God, and a gift that He does not give to everyone, but
only to those whom He has chosen to show mercy in calling them to faith in His
Son (Ephesians 2:8-9, Romans 9:15-18, 1 Thessalonians 1:4-5).
 The individuals to whom the writer of Hebrews referred in this passage of
Hebrews 6:4-8 are not believers who have lost their salvation, or who are in danger
of losing their salvation. Rather, they are those individuals among professing
Christians who have never in fact come to faith in Christ in the first place.

The individuals spoken of in Hebrews 6:4-8 are not those whom Jesus once
knew; rather they are those whom Jesus never knew (Matthew 7:23). They are
those who heard the word of God, but they never came to faith in Christ because it
had not been granted to them by the Father (John 6:65, 8:43, 8:47). As a result,
they did not continue in the faith that they claimed to have but were ultimately
numbered among those “who have fallen away” (Hebrews 6:6. Consider also
Matthew 13:20-21 and 1 John 2:19).

These individuals are not trees that were once “good trees”, but because they
produced bad fruit they lost their salvation and became “bad trees”, because Jesus
taught that “A good tree cannot produce bad fruit…” (Matthew 7:18, emphasis
added). Rather, they were “bad trees” all along, and because of this they produced
no good fruit (Compare Matthew 7:16-19 and Hebrews 6:7-8).

When we interpret Hebrews 6:4-8 in the light of other similar teachings in

the Bible, we gain an understanding of what the author intended to communicate.
However, if we were to isolate this passage from the rest of the Scriptures, we
might arrive at an altogether different and erroneous understanding.

To interpret this passage as saying that a believer can lose their salvation
would be in stark contradiction to numerous passages we have already studied,
which state clearly that a believer cannot lose their salvation. According to the
word of God, our salvation does not depend upon our own power and ability to
obey God, but we are kept safe by His power (1 Peter 1:4-5). Our salvation is both
initiated and carried through to completion by God Himself (Philippians 1:6).

The Meaning of Hebrews 10:26-29

Another Scripture passage that some will say teaches that a believer can lose
their salvation is found in Hebrews 10. This passage reads:

For if we go on sinning willfully after receiving the knowledge of the truth, there
no longer remains a sacrifice for sins, but a terrifying expectation of judgment and
the fury of a fire which will consume the adversaries. Anyone who has set aside
the Law of Moses dies without mercy on the testimony of two or three witnesses.
How much severer punishment do you think he will deserve who has trampled
under foot the Son of God, and has regarded as unclean the blood of the covenant
by which he was sanctified, and has insulted the Spirit of grace? (Hebrews 10:26-
29)

Some would say this passage teaches that if a believer were to deliberately
continue to engage in sinful practices after “receiving the knowledge of the truth”
and having been saved, then they would lose their salvation. First, we need to look
no further than the context of this passage to know that such an interpretation is
invalid. In verses 28 and 29, we see that the writer of Hebrews was referring to the
sin of apostasy, or the sin of ultimately rejecting Christ and the sacrifice He made
of Himself for the sins of mankind, which is the only provision that God has made
for the sins of mankind (John 14:6, Acts 4:12).

The “we” in verse 26 refers to professing Hebrew or Jewish believers, who

are the individuals to whom the letter to the Hebrews is addressed. As with most
any group or congregation of professing believers, some are genuine believers, and
some are not.

The writer of Hebrews was communicating that if professing Jewish

believers received “the knowledge of the truth”, which is to say that they received
the proclamation of the Gospel message in their hearing, and they “go on sinning
willfully” in that they ultimately rejected the message, then there remained for
them no sacrifice for their sins, but only a fearful expectation of the judgment of
God which will come upon all unbelievers. They would not be saved simply
because they were descended from the twelve tribes of Israel, as Paul also taught in
Romans 9:1-8 and 11:1-8.

The entire passage from which Hebrews 10:26-29 is taken is Hebrews

10:19-39, which is a call for professing Jewish believers to persevere in their faith,
and not to return to the way of Judaism. It is apparent from this passage that there
were some who were not continuing in the faith but had apparently parted
company with true believers (verse 25). In verse 39 of this passage, we see that the
writer of Hebrews is contrasting those who “shrink back to destruction”, or those
who do not continue in the faith, with those who “have faith to the preserving of
the soul.”

Those who did ultimately depart from the faith showed themselves to be
those who had never been saved in the first place. The Apostle John described
these same individuals when he wrote: “They went out from us, but they were not
really of us; for if they had been of us, they would have remained with us; but they
went out, so that it would be shown that they all are not of us.” (1 John 2:19).

Though they had professed a faith in Christ, and they were associated for a
time with others who were genuine believers, they had never been saved. As a
result, they did not continue in the faith with those who were true believers.

By their departing they showed themselves to be the false prophets that

Jesus warned us about in Matthew 7:15-23, who claimed to be Christians, but were
not. They were “bad trees” that could not produce good fruit.

They are also the same individuals whom Jesus characterized as “rocky
places” without much soil that had received the seed of the word of God, as we
read in the Parable of the Sower. These rocky places received the seed of the
Gospel message, and the seeds immediately sprang up, symbolizing an apparent
conversion. But ultimately the heat of the sun withered the plants because they had
“no firm root” in themselves, as Jesus described them, and therefore they bore no
fruit (Matthew 13:5-6, 20-21).

The sin referred to in this passage of Hebrews 10:26-29 is the sin of

unbelief, or ultimately rejecting Christ after having heard the Gospel message, after
“receiving the knowledge of the truth”. This sin of unbelief or apostasy will be
committed by all of those who are not called to faith as Jesus taught in John 6:44
and 6:65.

The individuals in Hebrews 10:26-29 are not true believers who “go on
sinning willfully” in that they continued to participate in sinful behavior after they
were saved and therefore lost their salvation. Rather, these individuals were in fact
unregenerate. Though they had heard the outward proclamation of the Gospel
message, they had never been inwardly called by God to faith in Christ. Therefore,
they were still dead in their sins.

These individuals, if they are never called to faith in Christ, will persist in
their unbelief and rejection of Him. They will ultimately be shown to be among
those who do not receive God’s mercy (Romans 9:18), but who are “vessels of
wrath prepared for destruction” (Romans 9:22).

The writer of Hebrews himself attested to the fact that salvation through
Jesus Christ is only for those who are called by God when he wrote: “For this
reason He is the mediator of a new covenant, so that, since a death has taken place
for the redemption of the transgressions that were committed under the first
covenant, those who have been called may receive the promise of the eternal
inheritance.” (Hebrews 9:15, emphasis added).

Peter also taught that salvation is only for those who are called by God to
faith in Christ. Peter spoke to a crowd in Jerusalem, saying: “For the promise is for
you and your children and for all who are far off, as many as the Lord our God
will call to Himself.” (Acts 2:39, emphasis added).

We know from Romans 8:30 that all of those whom God calls, He also
justifies and ultimately glorifies. None of those who are called to faith in Christ are
lost (John 6:37-40). To interpret Hebrews 10:26-29 or any other passage of
Scripture as saying that a believer could lose their salvation would be clearly
contradicted by several passages of Scripture that we have already studied.

Hebrews 10:26-29 and Hebrews 6:4-8 both speak of the same group of
people. These passages speak of those individuals among professing Christians
who, though they have heard the proclamation of the Gospel of Jesus Christ, and
they claim to be believers, and they claim to have repented, they have never in fact
come to faith in Him. Though they appeared for a time to be genuine believers
because of their association with others who were, they were in fact not. As a
result, the time came when they no longer continued in the faith but fell away (See
Hebrews 6:6).

Those who have heard the word of God and claim to be believers, but
ultimately they fall away and do not continue in the faith, are those who have
“trampled under foot the Son of God”, and “regarded as unclean the blood of the
covenant” by which they at one time claimed to have been sanctified. And in doing
so they have “insulted the Spirit of grace.” (See Hebrews 10:29). They are not
among “those who have faith to the preserving of the soul”, rather they are among
“those who shrink back to destruction” (See Hebrews 10:39).

They heard the word of God, words that “are spirit and are life” as Jesus
said, but they did not believe because it had not been granted to them by the
Father to come to faith in Christ (John 6:63-65). They did not in reality ever come
to faith in Christ, though they will claim to be Christians (Matthew 7:22-23).

Jesus again spoke of these unregenerate individuals and their inability to

come to Him when He told His disciples the reason that He spoke to the crowds in
parables. Jesus said: “To you it has been granted to know the mysteries of the
kingdom of heaven, but to them it has not been granted.” (Matthew 13:11).

Even though many “receive the knowledge of the truth” in that they hear the
spoken proclamation of the Gospel message, which is the outward call to men to
put their faith in Christ for the forgiveness of their sins, only God’s elect will be
called to faith through the word of God with the inward, effectual calling of God
that Jesus taught about in John 6:44. The rest are unable to come to Christ. Unless
and until God intervenes in an individual’s life and effectually calls them to faith in
His Son as we have discussed previously, they will “go on sinning willfully”
(Hebrews 10:26) by persisting in their unbelief, because they can do nothing else.
(Consider also 1 Peter 2:7-8).

The Meaning of 2 Peter 2:20-22

Another passage that some refer to as teaching that a genuine believer can
lose their salvation is found in 2 Peter. This passage reads:

For if, after they have escaped the defilements of the world by the knowledge of
the Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, they are again entangled in them and are
overcome, the last state has become worse for them than the first. For it would be
better for them not to have known the way of righteousness, than having known it,
to turn away from the holy commandment handed on to them. It has happened to
them according to the true proverb, “A dog returns to its own vomit,” and, “A sow,
after washing, returns to wallowing in the mire.” (2 Peter 2:20-22)

To begin with, this passage is taken from a larger passage which consists of
2 Peter 2 in its entirety. The subject of the passage is false teachers and their
impending doom and judgment by God (2 Peter 2:17). So immediately we see that
those under consideration in the context of this passage are not true believers, but
false teachers.

In verse 20, Peter said that these individuals “have escaped the defilements
of the world by the knowledge of the Lord and Savior Jesus Christ”. These again
are those individuals who heard the proclamation of the Gospel message. They had
received “knowledge” of Jesus Christ and had “escaped the defilements of the
world”, in that they were present in the congregations of the early churches and
partakers with genuine believers in hearing the preaching and teaching of the word
of God (Compare Hebrews 6:4-8). But they were not changed by the Gospel
message; they never came to faith in Christ. They were in fact unregenerate and
bore only bad fruit, as is abundantly clear from the context of 2 Peter 2.

When Peter spoke of these individuals as being “again entangled” and

“overcome” by the defilements of the world, we know that he is not speaking of
believers, because as John taught: “for whatever is born of God overcomes the
world…” (1 John 5:4, emphasis added). No genuine believer is overcome by the
pollutions of the world. Rather, everyone who has been born of God will overcome
the world and all of the defilements in the world by the power of the One living
within them, Jesus Christ Himself.

The unregenerate condition of the individuals to whom Peter referred in 2

Peter 2:20-22 becomes even clearer when we look at verse 22, where he wrote: “It
has happened to them according to the true proverb, ‘A dog returns to its own
vomit,’ and, ‘A sow, after washing, returns to wallowing in the mire.’” A dog and
a pig were both considered unclean animals, according to the Old Testament
dietary laws.

The point to be made when looking at verse 22 is that though these

individuals may have professed a faith in Christ, they were in fact unregenerate, or
unclean. They did not persevere in the faith, but they went back to the unclean
ways they had known before because there had never been any change in their
lives; they had never come to faith in Christ. Just as the unclean dog and pig both
go back to the uncleanness to which they have always been accustomed, so also
these professing but unregenerate individuals went back to the defilements of the
world.

In Conclusion

Hebrews 6:4-9, Hebrews 10:26-29 and 2 Peter 2:20-22 have been used by
some to say the Scriptures teach that one can lose their salvation after they have
been saved as result of returning to a life of sinful practices. Though a believer will
sin at times after he is saved (Romans 7:7-25), no genuine believer will ever return
to a life that is characterized by sin, as is clearly taught in 1 John where we read:
“No one who is born of God practices sin, because His seed abides in him; and he
cannot sin, because he is born of God.” (1 John 3:9).

The only way that any of these three passages could be made to say that a
believer can lose their salvation would be to ignore the context of the broader
passages from which they are taken, and to isolate them from the rest of the
Scriptures a whole. In each of these three passages, the individuals under
consideration are not those who are genuine believers and are in danger of losing
their salvation. Rather, they are in fact the unregenerate who, though they had
heard the Gospel message, and had shared with true believers in the preaching and
teaching of the word of God, they had never been saved. Consequently, they could
bear no good fruit.

These unregenerate individuals are the false prophets about whom Jesus
warned us in Matthew 7:15-23, who come to us “in sheep’s clothing”, claiming to
be Christians. They will acknowledge Jesus as Lord, and even claim to have
prophesied, worked miracles and cast out demons in His name, but they will one
day here from Him the words: “…I never knew you; depart from Me, you who
practice lawlessness.” (Matthew 7:23, emphasis added).

The Eternal Security of the Believer – Part 3

Previously, we considered passages from Hebrews 6, Hebrews 10, and 2

Peter 2 which some have used to say that the Bible teaches that a believer can lose
their salvation. However, when we examined each of these Scriptures in the light
of the context in which they appear in the Bible, and in the light of the rest of the
Scriptures as a whole, we saw that these passages refer to those individuals among
professing Christians who will claim to be believers, but who in fact have never
been saved.

In Matthew 7 Jesus described these individuals as false prophets. They are

those whose profession or claim that they are believers is false. In this same
passage Jesus also described them as ravenous wolves among His sheep, and as
bad trees that cannot bear good fruit. In Matthew 13 He described them again as
tares among the wheat, which can bear no good fruit.

There is another passage of Scripture that some have used to say that a
believer could lose their salvation for failing to diligently maintain good works
after they are saved. This passage is found in 2 Peter 1:10-11. Let us now look
carefully at this passage, and let us consider it in the context of both 2 Peter and 1
Peter, and let us also consider it in the light of the rest of the Scripture as a whole,
so that we can understand what Peter intended to communicate to God’s people.

The Meaning of 2 Peter 1:10-11

Peter wrote: “Therefore, brethren, be all the more diligent to make certain
about His calling and choosing you; for as long as you practice these things, you
will never stumble; for in this way the entrance into the eternal kingdom of our
Lord and Savior Jesus Christ will be abundantly supplied to you.” (2 Peter 1:10-
11).

In verse 10, “these things”, which the believer is exhorted to practice in

order “to make certain about His calling and choosing you”, are the things
discussed in verses 5-8. Peter urged believers to be diligent in cultivating in their
lives, in ever increasing measure: goodness, knowledge, self-control, perseverance,
godliness, brotherly kindness, and love. Some would say this is evidence that
diligent effort in cultivating these qualities is required, if a believer is to not
“stumble” or fall away from the faith.

Let us recall what Paul taught clearly in Ephesians 2: “For by grace you
have been saved through faith; and that not of yourselves, it is the gift of God; not
as a result of works, so that no one may boast.” (Ephesians 2:8-9, emphasis
added). If we were saved by grace but kept in this state of grace by our diligent
pursuit of good works, then we would be able to boast that our works were good
enough to keep us saved. However, Paul taught that our salvation is not the result
of any works of our own, so no one may boast that he had anything to do with his
salvation.

Therefore, when Peter spoke of “making certain” about God’s calling and
choosing of us, he was not speaking of ensuring our own salvation by way of our
diligence in the pursuit of the good works mentioned in verses 5-8. What Peter
spoke of in this passage of 2 Peter 1:10-11 is “making certain” in our own hearts
and minds that we are indeed among those whom God has chosen and called; he
was speaking about our personal confidence or assurance concerning our own
salvation.
 As we have mentioned previously, the Scriptures teach us that a genuine
believer will always bear good fruit as a result of his conversion to faith in Christ
(Matthew 7:17-20, 13:1-23, John 15:8). Therefore, the qualities mentioned in 2
Peter 1:5-8 will be manifested in the life of every believer to some degree
(Matthew 13:23, Galatians 5:22-23). This bearing of good fruit is evidence of our
genuine faith.

However, as a result of our own disobedience at times, we will find

ourselves building upon the foundation of our faith not with the “gold, silver, and
precious stones” of obedience to God’s word, but with “wood, hay, and straw”,
which will not stand the test of fire that is to try all of our works, as Paul taught in
1 Corinthians 3:12-15. This disobedience will not result in the loss of our salvation
as we see from verse fifteen, but it will result in the loss of rewards, both now and
in eternity.

As a result of some particularly grievous sins, we might lose our confidence

or assurance about our own salvation. This loss of confidence in our salvation can
manifest itself at other times as well, especially in the lives of young believers who
may not yet be grounded in the truth of the word of God as taught in the Scriptures.

If we have been involved in very grievous sin, Satan, the “accuser” of God’s
people (Revelation 12:10, Zechariah 3:1-2), will do the accusing in our own minds,
suggesting to us that surely we could not be saved in view of the sins we have
committed. And he may be allowed to accuse us forcefully enough for us to
wonder if in fact this could be the case. But even the accusation of Satan will be
made to serve God, in that the fears that will come upon us as a result of having
fallen from our once secure position of assurance will send every genuine believer
running back to His Savior for forgiveness and restoration.

In order to better understand the exhortation given to us in 2 Peter 1:10-11,

let us consider the life and experience of the one who wrote this exhortation, the
Apostle Peter. Jesus predicted that Peter would deny Him, and this prediction is
recorded in all four Gospels. Also recorded in all four Gospels is an account of
Peter’s denial following Jesus’ prediction.

Peter’s assurance about his own salvation must have been shaken severely
after his grievous sin of having denied that he even knew Jesus, not once, but on
three occasions. After all, he was with Jesus and heard His teaching when He said
that whoever denied Him before men, He would deny before His Father in Heaven
(Matthew 10:32-33).
 Given his own dreadful failure during a time of testing in his life, Peter
surely understood better than most of us the torment that goes with one believing
they may have fallen from grace. And this is why he exhorted us to be diligent in
the pursuit of the qualities he mentioned in 2 Peter 1:5-8, always striving to move
forward living our lives in love and in obedience to God’s word. If we do these
things, then we will not experience the torment of believing that we might not be
saved in view of our own failures.

In John 21, we see a lesson given to us through the failure and the
subsequent restoration of Peter, even after he had denied His Lord and Savior three
times. In this passage, Jesus appeared to His disciples after He had been
resurrected.

The disciples had been fishing all night but had caught nothing. Jesus was
standing on the shore, and at first the disciples did not recognize Him. He called
out to them asking if they had any fish. They replied saying that they did not. Then
Jesus told them to cast the net on the right side of the boat, and they would find
some fish there. When they did so, they caught so many fish that they were not
able to haul the net into the boat.

At this point John recognized that it was the Lord who had called to them,
and he told Peter. As soon as Peter heard that it was Jesus, he could not wait to get
to Him, and he jumped into the water and swam toward Jesus ahead of the others,
who followed behind in the boat, dragging the net full of fish.

Paul taught us that no one will seek God if left to themselves (Romans 3:10-
11). However, God had determined before the world began that He would bring
Peter to faith in Christ (Ephesians 1:4-5). God Himself had caused Peter to follow
hard after His Lord and Savior (Psalm 63:1, 8). Just as it happened in the life of
Peter, when we experience the accusation of the devil that we have lost our
salvation because of some grievous sin in our lives, every true believer will run
toward their Savior for forgiveness and restoration, so that they may once again
experience the joy of their salvation that comes from fellowship with their Lord.

In John 21, we read of Jesus’ restoration of Peter, even after he had failed
Him so miserably. And just as Jesus restored Peter, so also will He restore every
one of us as His sheep if we should fail Him.
 Through his own experience of a grievous and severe failure in his walk
with the Lord, and his subsequent restoration, Peter came to understand the
unchanging, irrevocable decision of God to preserve everyone whom He has
called to faith in His Son Jesus Christ, regardless of how badly we may fail Him.
This is why he wrote in his first letter that every one of God’s elect has been given
an inheritance in Heaven “which is imperishable and undefiled and will not fade
away”, and that we are “protected by the power of God”, through the faith in Christ
which we have been given (1 Peter 1:1-6). Our powers may fail; God does not fail.

In summary, 2 Peter 1:10-11 speaks of our assurance and certainty about

our own salvation, and not the issue of losing our salvation as a result of our
own failings after we are saved. Later in 2 Peter, he warned believers to be on
their guard, so they would not be led astray by the “error of unprincipled men and
fall from your own steadfastness” (2 Peter 3:17). Once again, Peter was not
referring to the possibility of a believer losing their salvation. Rather, he was
warning of the deception and error that can be planted in the minds of believers
(especially those who are young in the faith) by false teachers.

Though the false teacher may lead a believer astray for a time, perhaps
causing them to sin and to fall from the once steadfast position of assurance they
held regarding their own salvation, only their assurance will be shaken. Their
salvation itself, on the authority of the word of God, is eternally secure. Even if
only one is straying and all the rest are safe, Jesus is coming for His straying
sheep. God our Father is not willing that any of these little ones should be lost
(Matthew 18:10-14).

In Conclusion

Our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ Himself told us in clear language that all
of those whom the Father has given to Him (His sheep, or the elect) will come to
Him. And then He also said that whoever comes to Him He will never drive away.
Jesus said that He did come not to do His own will, but His Father’s will. And He
said it was His Father’s will that He should lose none of those who had been given
to Him, but that they would all be raised up at the last day (John 6:37-40).

Jesus also taught us that as His sheep, we are known by Him. He said that
He gives us eternal life, and we will never perish. Jesus said further that no one
can snatch us out of His hand or His Father’s hand (John 10:27-30). And no one
means that not even we are able to snatch ourselves out of God’s hand through any
transgression of our own.

Paul taught us that there is no power in all of creation that is able to

separate believers from the love of God, which is ours in Christ Jesus our Lord
(Romans 8:31-39). And Paul taught us again in Romans 8 that our salvation is
God’s own doing from beginning to end (Romans 8:29-30). He also taught us
clearly that the gifts and the calling of God are irrevocable (Romans 11:29).

We also see from the Scriptures that we are not kept safe by our own power
and ability to obey God, but we are kept safe by the power of God, and He is the
One who will preserve us in our faith to the end (1 Peter 1:4-5, 1 Corinthians 1:8-9,
1 Thessalonians 5:23-24). Let us therefore be fully and completely confident, as
Paul was when he assured us: “He who began a good work in you will perfect it
until the day of Christ Jesus.” (Philippians 1:6).

God Himself began the work of salvation within us, and God Himself will
carry our salvation through to its completion. Let us rejoice and give thanks to God
the Father of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, because He has guaranteed our
salvation from beginning to end, and He has left none of it in our own hands.