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An excerpt from the book


by Lyndon Conn

Security in Christ

 

     Regardless of all the talk about the possibility of a person falling away and losing salvation, there is a place of security that we can have in Christ. Although we could possibly fall, fail, rebel or sin; Christ will never fail, lead us astray, do us wrong in any way, leave us nor forsake us. His promises are true and He will always be faithful to each of them. His love is unconditional, but His promises of our security are based upon our being faithful to Him. We can be sure that He will be faithful to those who are faithful to Him. That is the condition that is always there in the scriptures. If we deny Him, He will deny us before His Father in heaven.

     When a man and a woman are married, they will build their relationship and their trust for one another through their faithfulness to one another. If one becomes unfaithful, the other will not be able to trust that unfaithful one as long as he or she remains unchanged. Not many people would expect that one would trust their spouse who has proven to be unfaithful. As a matter of fact, if an unfaithful relationship continued, most would divorce their unfaithful spouse. But yet people fall into sin and become unfaithful to Christ and seem to think that He should be there for them and remain faithful to them, while they are having a spiritual adulterous affair. He will always remain “faithful”, but in order to see his hand of provision, He is limited by our faith and willingness to give ourselves completely to Him. Jesus can never be called unfaithful! It is we who become unfaithful, and cut ourselves off from His blessings and from salvation, if we will choose to live in sin. People will cling to the promises of God that were intended for the ones who are faithful to Christ, wanting to hold God to these promises while they are unfaithful to Him. But we must remember that Jesus said in Matthew 10:33 “But whosoever shall deny me before men, him will I also deny before my Father which is in heaven.” Our relationship to Christ and our security are based upon our faithfulness to Him. He will never be unfaithful, but He also will not interfere with the unfaithful Christians choice to committed spiritual adultery; and he cannot bless such an evil heart, until they turn to Him through repentance. He will be faithful to draw each person to that place, but they must make the choice themselves. His call to mankind has always been “Come unto me”, “seek me”, “follow me”, “obey me”, or “abide with me”. If we do not do these things, how can we expect Him to come through for us when we have not been unfaithful to His commands?

     Hebrews 10:38 “Now the just shall live by faith: but if any man draw back, my soul shall have no pleasure in him.”  The Greek word for pleasure is eudokeo (yoo-dok-eh'-o); to think well of, approve. God also, will not think well of a person who draws back from faith in Him.

 

Ezekiel 18:32 “For I have no pleasure in the death of him that dieth, saith the Lord GOD: wherefore turn yourselves, and live ye.”

 

     Because God loves us and has no pleasure in seeing harm come to us, this shows us two things. Because He shows that He does not like to see His people fall, we can be sure that He will be there to help us through the trials of life. And when we are faithful to Him we can have the assurance that nothing can separate us from His love or take us out of His hand. Our relationship with God is inseparable by any force in the world, as long as we abide in Him. He will never leave us nor forsake us; but will we leave or forsake Him?

     A faithful Christian has the promise from a faithful God and savior that they will never fall! We do not need to walk in constant fear of falling away, but we should fear sin and the consequences of falling into it, which will cause spiritual death. If we will continue in Him, abide in Him, follow Him, obey Him, make righteous choices, and forsake sin; then we will be “Eternally Secure”. If a Christian has a heart that is always willing to repent when they acknowledge sin in their life, then that person will keep from falling, through repentance. We have security in Christ as long as we will be willing to repent (if or when we sin), because sin will not have dominion over us. Romans 6:14-16 “For sin shall not have dominion over you: for ye are not under the law, but under grace. What then? shall we sin, because we are not under the law, but under grace? God forbid. Know ye not, that to whom ye yield yourselves servants to obey, his servants ye are to whom ye obey; whether of sin unto death, or of obedience unto righteousness?” Grace does not mean that we can sin and still be saved! Grace means that we are not controlled by sin, but free from it through the power of the Holy Spirit. God’s wonderful grace has enabled us with the ability of our Lord and savior to overcome sin. Paul asked, “…Shall we sin…? God forbid.” He said if we serve sin then we will be dead spiritually. But if we will obey God and live a life of obedience to Christ, then we will have the righteousness of Christ.

     God never said that He promised blessings, provision, healings, or anything at all for a Christian. Anyone can be called a Christian or attempt to be a “sinning Christian”. But God’s promises were only to the righteous! Psalm 37:25 “I have been young, and now am old; yet have I not seen the righteous forsaken, nor his seed begging bread.”

 

Matthew 5:6 “Blessed are they which do hunger and thirst after righteousness: for they shall be filled.” Many other scriptures tell of God’s provision for the “righteous”, and those who will have faith in God. Abraham’s faith was counted for righteousness. Romans 4:3,5 “Abraham believed God, and it was counted unto him for righteousness…his faith is counted for righteousness.” It is those who live a righteous life through faith that have the many promises of scripture given to them. To forsake faith and righteousness is to forsake the promises! If we do not continue in Christ and His commandments, then we will not have part of His blessing now or His eternal blessing in heaven.

    Three times Jesus has mentioned that it is “he who endures to the end” that shall be saved (Matthew 10:22, 24:13, and Mark 13:13). In Romans 13:11 “And that, knowing the time, that now it is high time to awake out of sleep: for now is our salvation nearer than when we believed.” In this life we have temporal salvation. We are not guaranteed eternal salvation until after we have endured to the end. When we “believed” we received salvation, but eternal salvation is yet to come. We have eternal salvation only as we continue in Christ, enduring to the end. We are eternally secure only as long as we hold onto the promises of God through faith, unto righteousness.

     Peter also commented on the subject of eternal salvation of the soul.

1 Peter 1:5,9,13 “Who are kept by the power of God through faith unto salvation ready to be revealed in the last time…Receiving the end of your faith, even the salvation of your souls…Wherefore gird up the loins of your mind, be sober, and hope to the end for the grace that is to be brought unto you at the revelation of Jesus Christ;” It is true that God will keep us and protect us; but this is only as we abide in Him. All faithful Christians will then receive “the end of your faith, even the salvation of your souls”.

     We can rejoice in our present salvation, knowing that eternal salvation is coming soon. Those who assume that all is made eternal without any conditions may deceive themselves, even becoming unfaithful. Some claim eternal salvation without even knowing the joy of temporal salvation. And without the temporal, one cannot receive the eternal. We have Eternal security in Christ only because we live in obedience to His commands, walking by faith in this present salvation. This faith will without exception lead to a life of righteousness in Christ.

     Calvinists speak of assurance of salvation being so important. I agree! But assurance must be based on “true security” or it is useless. Jehovah’s Witnesses do not believe in a literal hell; Calvinists do not believe in losing salvation. But in the end, the only ones who will truly be safe are those who had “true security” in Christ. Either way, when truth is revealed, Arminians will be safe, while many Calvinists take a very big risk with their eternal souls. Who really has “True Security”?


 


 

 
FEATURED CHAPTERS

-Table of Contents
-History
-The Five Points of
Calvinism

-Romans 9:1-24
-The Calvinist
View of Eternal
Life

-Dispensationalism
-Sealed by Faith
-Faulty Logic
-Misuse of Words
-Original Sin
-The Sinning
Christian

-Can
Righteousness
Save Men?

-Works Salvation
-Christians
or Hypocrites?

-Returning to Sin
-Christians Cut Off
-Sons of God may
BacKslide

-Above Sin?
-Falling Away
-The Book of Life
-The Bride of Christ
-Who Jesus Knows
-Conditions
-Responsibilities
-Whose Sin?
-Saved or Not?
-Confession of Sins
-Rewards
-Election and
Grace

-What If I Fall?
-No Condemnation
-The Blood of
Jesus

-The Atonement
-Justification
-Finished Work
-Faithful Christ
-Security in Christ
-True Grace
-Charles Stanley