Eternal Security

Most simply put, Eternal Security is the belief that once a person accepts Jesus Christ as his Savior, he can never be lost. There are generally two ideas surrounding the idea of Eternal Security. Calvinism, which takes one position and Arminianism which takes the other. For those of you that participate in Calvinism vs. Arminianism debates, you probably know both sides of the issue and what they mean. However, for most people, I’ll cover these two sides, then of course end this article with my own thoughts on where I stand. When you are done reading, you will be able to think for yourself whether or not the saying, “Once saved always saved” is true.

Now, I won’t sit here and spout off hundreds of Bible versus for you to dig through your Bible to look up and read. I’ll save you the trouble by just saying that Calvinist’s believe that we are once saved always saved, because we were elected by God and thus predestined to be in Heaven with Him. No human effort can change this assurance of salvation. Conversely, Arminianist’s believe that we have free-will, and thus choice in the matter. They also believe that we can fall from God, even after being saved.

So which of these is right? Calvinism? Arminianism? Or is there another option?

Most people find that believing the Calvinist position (also called the Perseverence of Saints) is easiest. I would have to agree with that statement. It’s definitely easier if God has chosen us to be with Him in Heaven, and no matter what we try and do on Earth, and no matter how many sins we commit, we will join our Father in Heaven. But does the easiest way necessarily mean it’s the right way?

Well, on the other side of the coin is that we can fall from God and also commit the “unforgivable sin”. For those of you that don’t know, the “unforgivable sin” is when we blasphemy against the Holy Spirit. The definition of blasphemy is expressing a lack of reverence or showing disrespect toward something sacred. Blaspheming the Holy Spirit occurs when a person who knows better rejects the Word of God which the Holy Spirit is attempting to bring into the heart of that person. Hence this rejection or this refusal is telling the Holy Spirit that what He is trying to bring into the person’s heart is not being believed, that the very Word of God is not important, and that the beliefs and teachings of Jesus Christ are being rejected. Many people wonder if they have committed this sin. I can assure you that if you are worried about if you had unknowingly committed this sin, you haven’t. People who commit this sin have hardened hearts and have no interest in spending time with God in Heaven.

“Ok, wait a second Matt…” (you, the reader are probably saying) “Doesn’t eternal mean forever? And so if we can commit the ‘unforgivable sin’ then how can we be eternally secure?” These are good questions. Let me answer them.

The reason your questions are so good is because what the theologians have left us with is an incompatible set of ideas. Now, I understand that each school of thought have their own underpinnings that attempt to cover every scenario. For instance, Calvinists believe that if you commit the unforgiveable sin, you were never chosen by God in the first place. Meanwhile, the Arminians are complaining because they don’t understand how someone who says they believe in God, and then, since they have a free ticket to Heaven, goes out and lives a horrible life the rest of their life, can get into Heaven. (remember, once saved always saved)

All this arguing makes me laugh. This is the one topic where we can’t give a divinitive answer to, partly because the judging aspect is done by God, not us humans. And furthurmore, since God is the only one who can see into each individual’s heart and know how they truly felt, we should just try and rely on the Bible as a guide, and live our lives as closely to that of Christ’s as we can. No matter which camp we believe. With this being said, I will now give you my opinion on the matter.

If you were to look at what both standpoints were and then combine them, I think you’d come up with something similar to what I believe. You see, I find it true that once we find salvation in Jesus Christ that God will never take that away from us. That’s our assurance of salvation. But here’s the catch. Notice I said that God would never pull the Holy Spirit from us. But, what about us as humans? If salvation is a relationship between us and God, then I have only talked about what I think God would do (or in this case not do) and not what we (humans) do. I believe that even after we have been saved by the grace of God that *we* can choose to leave God.

If it helps, think about it like this. Imagine our ‘being saved’ is like a light-switch. It’s either on, or it’s off. Saved, or not saved. Once we recognize the pull from God and profess Christ as our savior, God turns the light-switch on. We are saved and here’s the beautiful part: He will never turn it back off. After it is turned on, it’s up to us to decide whether or not we want to turn that switch off. Later on in life, when we die and stand before God, if we turned that switch off by doing the things Jesus warned us about, then God will have no choice. For God is a 100% just God. But please take note of this. God would never purposly try and make us not be with Him. Jesus died for everybody. After you have been saved by God, it’s up to the Devil to deceive us, and try to get us to fall. And I have to admit, Satan does a good job by planting the idea of eternal security in our heads. You see, if we roam about earth and believe that we have a free ticket to Heaven, and begin to live our lives the way we want to live them, never thanking Jesus for dying for our sins, asking for forgiveness, or talking with God during prayer, then we *do* grow farther from God. As we grow farther from God it becomes easier for us to totally ignore His existance. If you’re one of these people who no longer believe that God exists then you have chosen that position. God didn’t choose that for you. God cannot make us sin. A God who is 100% Holy cannot perform sin. In fact, He detests it. That is why sin seperates us from God. However, people sin everyday…but that’s not because He causes us to sin. He just *allows* us to sin.

So do I believe in Eternal Security? Sure. On God’s part I do. He will deliver what He promised. And He has promised all who earnestly seek Him Eternal Security. That won’t change, because God does not lie and God is 100% completely just. However, as for our part…well, that’s a different story, but that’s what we get to show God by faith through our actions. And it doesn’t get more exciting than that!