Often those who believe and defend the doctrine of eternal security or perseverance of the saints contend that to not embrace such a teaching will not just affect the nature of justification (by grace through faith and not by works; Ephesians 2:8-9) but will in turn lead to a lack of assurance of our salvation. After all, it is contended, if one believes that salvation can be lost by sin then both the atonement of Christ and an assurance of salvation is lost. Is this fair?
Recently I read one prominent evangelical who stated that, among other things, that should one reject eternal security one can not rightly be considered an evangelical. Okay. So consider me out. I never enjoyed the term much these days anyway. But it is amazing to me that he chose to pick out that doctrine instead of pointing out that a true evangelical should accept the major doctrines of the faith such as the trinity, inerrancy and infallibility of Scripture, the person and work of the Lord Jesus Christ, Jesus’ bodily resurrection, His virgin birth, justification by faith, the work of the Spirit, the second coming of Christ, etc. Yet he chose to pick out eternal security as a source of doctrinal unity and division among evangelicals.
However, we Arminians contend that true assurance of our salvation is best found in remaining faithful to Christ from beginning to end. Jesus said that “But the one who endures to the end will be saved” (Matthew 24:13). One can debate Matthew 24 as Jesus speaking to His Twelve (v.1) or as speaking to future believers during the destruction of Jerusalem in A.D. 70 or to the future generation before the Tribulation (Matthew 24:34), but either way, Jesus’ words are clear that we must endure by faith in Him until the end. Most Calvinists would not disagree.
In fact, many Calvinists would insist that a true believer will persevere. However, we Arminians counter that the Calvinist doctrine of perseverance is more a preservation of the sinner in his sins then a perseverance of saints in holiness (Hebrews 12:14). Without a doubt true believers will persevere, but my contention is that this is necessary for eternal life. We are to have faith in Jesus (John 1:12-13) from beginning to end (Hebrews 12:2). We are not to lapse into unbelief (2 Peter 2:20-22) nor are we to disobey God and thus show our lack of faith in Him by living in continual sin (Hebrews 3:6-19; 6:4-20; 10:19-39; 1 John 2:3-6; 3:6-9). We are to keep our faith in Jesus strong and built up (2 Peter 3:17-18). We are told to keep ourselves in the love of God (Jude 21), and this is done by continued, persevering faith in the Lord Jesus Christ until the very end (Revelation 2:26).
This leads to the assurance of our salvation. I believe there are four things that every disciple should keep in their hearts and minds concerning our salvation in the Lord Jesus Christ and I believe these four points can help us obtain and keep our assurance that we are indeed Jesus’ disciples (Luke 9:23-26; 11:28; John 8:51).
1. Our Baptism
This first point will be of some contention for those who reject adult baptism and instead favor the practice of infant baptism as a sign of the covenant. I will not debate that here, but I will simply say that I reject infant baptism and favor disciple baptism. In other words, a person should be Jesus’ disciple to be baptized (Matthew 28:19; Mark 16:15-16; Acts 2:41).
I believe that baptism should be the proper response to the gospel. Now make no mistake – Jesus saves. Jesus’ blood alone washes our sins away (Hebrews 9:22, 27-28). Without faith in Jesus, baptism is nothing more than a bath. Yet with faith in Jesus, baptism is a powerful example of the death and resurrection of our Lord (Romans 6:1-4). The book of Acts presents thousands of believers being baptized (Acts 2:38-39, 41; 8:12-13; 9:18; 10:48; 16:14-15, 30-34; 18:8; 19:5; 22:16). In fact, you will not find one unbaptized Christian in the New Testament.
Baptism can serve as a powerful reminder that we have made the decision by God’s grace to take up our crosses and follow Jesus (Luke 14:25-35). Baptism is a place in time where we stood before other disciples and confessed Jesus as Lord (Romans 10:9-10) and were baptized (Colossians 2:12; 1 Peter 3:21-22) making the good confession of faith (1 Timothy 6:12). When doubts arise about our salvation, we can point to the time that we believed God and His Word, accepted Jesus’ work on the cross for our salvation (Matthew 26:28), and followed Jesus into the waters of baptism. The feelings will come and go, but the fact of what Jesus did for our sins and the confession we made in baptism are powerful and biblical reminders of salvation through Jesus Christ alone.
2. The Word of God
1 Peter 1:23 says, “Since you have been born again, not of perishable seed but of imperishable, through the living and abiding word of God.” The Word of God likewise brings the assurance of our salvation. The Bible teaches us right from wrong and truth from error (Hebrews 5:14 NIV). Jesus said that His true disciples abide in His word (John 8:31-32) and this sets us free! The Bible opens our hearts not just to the gospel message itself (Romans 10:14-17) but what God desires and what He expects of His children (Romans 12:1-2). The Bible also brings comfort in the midst of doubt (Romans 15:4) and the Bible cuts through our sins and our hard hearts to show us God’s truth (Hebrews 4:12-13). The Word of God brings life to us as we abide in it (Matthew 4:4).
Whenever I have failed to abide in the Word of God I have noticed that my doubts begin to rise. The false teachings of this world and its corrupt system so easily flood our minds with the Internet, television, movies, and music. Whenever we don’t counter the influences of the world and other false systems through God’s Word, we are setting ourselves up for failure. Is it any wonder then that Jesus would instruct His disciples to not just baptize disciples but to teach them His teachings as well (Matthew 28:19-20 NIV)? Acts 2:42 says that the new disciples were devoting themselves to the Apostles’ teaching. What were the Apostles teaching other than God’s Word that would include not just the Old Testament but the coming New Testament as well (Luke 24:44; John 14:26)?
Ephesians 6:17 describes the Bible as the sword of the Spirit. That is truly what it is for the disciple. It is our sword to defeat the arrows of Satan (Ephesians 6:16) that includes his lies (John 8:44).
Isaiah 26:3-4 says, “You keep him in perfect peace whose mind is stayed on you, because he trusts in you. Trust in the LORD forever, for the LORD GOD is an everlasting rock.” What a promise, and yet the Bible contains literally thousands of such promises to help us stand upon the Rock of Christ Jesus (Luke 20:18). May we build our lives and our salvation only on this Rock!
3. The Holy Spirit
Feeding off of number 2, the Spirit of God reveals to us His power to secure our salvation through faith in Jesus. Romans 8:16 says that the Spirit bears witness with our spirits that we are children of God. John Wesley said that at Aldersgate, his heart was “strangely warmed” and he knew he was saved. There is an emotional, experiential element to salvation. We should not deny this. Salvation is emotional because it flows from God’s truth, and the Holy Spirit bears witness within us that He has fulfilled His promises, saved us by His grace, and has sealed us in Christ by the Spirit of God (Ephesians 1:13-14). The Holy Spirit brings us under conviction (John 16:8-11) and He uses the truths of Scripture to transform our minds and our hearts (Romans 12:1-2; 1 Peter 3:15).
Jesus told His disciples that He would ask the Father to send the Holy Spirit and that He would be with us forever (John 14:16). He then tells them that He has been with them in John 14:17 in that the Holy Spirit was with them in the Person of Jesus Christ but now He would live within them. The Apostles (and us as well) would become the living temples of God on earth (1 Corinthians 6:20). The Holy Spirit would not be bound to simply reside in Jesus but now He would abide in all true disciples of Christ. He is the Promise of the Father (Acts 1:4-5) and He lives in us by faith in Jesus (Galatians 3:13-14; 4:6-7). He enables us to know that we are God’s children and He opens our eyes to God’s truth. What a glorious Comforter He truly is!
And yet I mustn’t ignore the fact that it’s possible to grieve the Holy Spirit through our sins (Ephesians 4:30). We must not abide in sin, for the wages of sin is nothing more than death (Romans 6:23). The Spirit is described first and foremost as Holy, and He has come to help us be the holy people that God desires for us to be. May we not live in sin and thus grieve the Spirit (Psalm 51:11).
4. Faith
We are saved by faith (John 5:24) and we are kept by faith (1 Peter 1:5). Faith is necessary for eternal life (Romans 5:1) and without faith we cannot please God (Hebrews 11:6). Faith is a gift from God in that the Holy Spirit enables us to believe in Jesus through His grace (John 6:44; Acts 16:14-15). All true Christians agree that faith in Jesus is necessary for salvation, but we Arminians contend that faith is necessary, essential, and must continue until the end. Faith in Jesus, in the New Testament, is always presented, with regard to salvation, as a continued action. It is not enough to have believed in Jesus (once saved), but Arminians contend that it is necessary to continue in faith (Acts 11:23). The Apostles surely believed in continued faith in Acts 14:22. Paul no doubt believed in continued faith in Romans 11:20-22. He likewise instructed the Corinthians that they were saved by the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ if they hold firm in their faith (1 Corinthians 15:1-2).
Hebrews 3:6 says, “But Christ is faithful over God’s house as a son. And we are his house if indeed we hold fast our confidence and our boasting in our hope” and again the writer writes in Hebrews 3:14, “For we have come to share in Christ, if indeed we hold our original confidence firm to the end.” That sounds pretty clear to me!
Justification is by faith in Jesus Christ (Romans 5:1; Ephesians 2:8-9; Titus 3:5-7) and only Jesus can save us (John 14:6; Acts 4:12; 1 Timothy 2:1-6), for He alone gave Himself for our sins to bring us to God (Ephesians 1:7; 1 Peter 3:18; Revelation 1:5-6). We believe that we are saved by faith and we are kept in Christ Jesus by faith. When we sin, we must in faith confess our sins to God through Jesus (1 John 1:9) and through faith in Jesus, God forgives our sins. Our salvation is based on the work and merits of Jesus (Romans 3:22-25) and not ourselves. There is not self boasting before God for this salvation, for it comes and is kept by faith in Jesus alone. Jesus alone is our salvation, our righteousness, our holiness, our redemption, and our satisfaction. His blood alone cleanses us from all sin and His righteousness is imputed to us by faith. We are saved by faith and we are kept by faith.
[Link to original post and comments at Roy Ingle’s website.]
