It must be stated at the outset of this article that the Bible student will not find one passage of Scripture verbally declaring the security of the believer. The term secure (security, securely) is mentioned ten times in the Bible, yet never in a context remotely referring to the security of the believer. Two of these references are found in the New Testament: "And if this come to the governor's ears, we will persuade him, and secure you (Matthew 28:14)," and "When they had taken security of Jason, and of the other, they let them go (Acts 17:9)."
This observation, however, does not imply that the doctrine of the security of the believer does not exist. We simply mean there is no verse declaring it to be so. For this reason, this doctrinal question has raged among the theological systems over the centuries. The passages of Scripture that are used to prove it by one theological system become interpreted differently according to the presupposition of another theological system.
The Principle of Security
Security is a needed, precious doctrine to be found in Christ by a genuine, abiding believer. It is, however, a deadly doctrine if embraced by a person who makes a profession of salvation while not being truly born again. Such individuals tend to use the doctrine as a license to sin and live lukewarmly, never knowing the reality of the indwelling Christ. Jude 4 warned of certain men who would creep in unawares (among God's people), "turning the grace of our God into lasciviousness, and denying the only Lord God, and our Lord Jesus Christ." Because of the lack of sound Bible teaching, we are witnessing more and more professing Christians who deny the Lordship of the Father and the Son in their lives while claiming to be secure no matter what they do.
We must remember that the first false eternal security preacher in the Bible was the Devil through the serpent. In Genesis 3:4 he boldly declared to Eve, after she had acknowledged the death penalty because of sin, "Ye shall not surely die." He convinced Eve that she did not have to worry about falling or dying. On the contrary, the partaking of the forbidden fruit would bring her power; she would be like God. Yet the serpent's message of security was a false one.
David Cloud, a strong Baptist Fundamentalist who is a prolific writer and a contender for the Faith, deals with the subject of security in his book Way of Life Encyclopedia of the Bible & Christianity. In answer to the question, "Who Has Eternal Security?" he gives eighteen characteristics that must mark a redeemed person's life:
(1) Those who have been born again. (2) Those who follow Christ. (3) Those who are purifying themselves. (4) Those who love the brethren. (5) Those who have an undivided convinced faith. (6) Those who are in the truth and continue in the truth. (7) Those who continue in the word. (8) Those who remain patient and steadfast in tribulations. (9) Those who evidence the "things that accompany salvation." (10) Those who maintain their confidence in Christ. (11) Those who are led by the Spirit of God. (12) Those who are sanctified from an unrighteous way of life. (13) Those who have demonstrated their election. (14) Those who have crucified the flesh with the affections and lusts thereof. (15) Those who are looking for Christ's return. (16) Those who have the renewing of the Holy Spirit. (17) Those who depart from iniquity. (18) Those who bring forth fruit.
Such a demand upon those who could claim "eternal security" would probably isolate about 95 percent of all who profess to be a Christian. Perhaps we would not go this far in declaring which person does have security. There are often babes in Christ who would not give evidence to requirements such as #5, 8, 11, or 12 at the beginning of their Christian journey; we certainly would not call them unsecured. But I respect this dear man's presentation and his desire to "clean house" as to who truly has eternal security versus those "professing" Christians of our time. The Apostle John will do the same by establishing in his first epistle the characteristics that truly mark a person born again by God: 2:29; 3:9; 4:7; 5:1; 5:4; 5:18.
Security Is Found in Christ Alone
What is this security based upon and to whom is it given? It must be understood from the outset that the "security" of the believer is tied into the "keeping" of the believer. What or who keeps me secure? The powerful death and resurrection of Christ, His present intercessory work, and the promises of God's Word in Christ are where this security is found for the believer. Outside of Him there is no security. It is not a doctrine that keeps me, but a Person! There is no power in a doctrine if that doctrine is outside of Christ!
The believer must acknowledge Christ's ability and intrinsic worth in order to understand his security in Christ. When the first Adam failed and fell, he did so in a perfect environment. But when the Last Adam came, our Lord Jesus Christ, He came into history in a wicked environment, having to face a world of sin and religious apostasy. He had to come through it all absolutely perfect, including powerful temptations from the Devil, from the world, and the overwhelming and eternal testings of the Heavenly Father. The Lord came through it all without sin in thought, deed, word, or motive. By doing so admirably, He was the perfect sacrifice to be given for our sins, bearing them all in His body. His death was perfect, even in the receiving of the eternal, full judgment of God the Father. There is no other remedy; there is no other need.
Because of this perfect Savior who in His death fell under the full weight of the judgment of God, an individual who repents of his sins and places his trust in such a vicarious sacrifice for his sins will never have to face those sins again. Even if one backslides, the confessed sins are never brought up; only the backsliding and the sins of that season of life will have to be repented of. A precious Old Testament type and shadow from the Day of Atonement illustrates this truth. It was on that day that the blood of a goat was placed on the mercy seat in the holy of holies. The blood remained on that mercy seat after the high priest left that inner compartment; no one came in later and wiped the blood off to maintain the beauty of that golden seat. Our confessed sins are not eradicated; they are placed under the blood of Christ for all of eternity! I must always believe this! His death secured this!
When I trust in God for the provision of Christ and what He did that day for me on the Cross of Calvary, I must never doubt what I accepted by faith through the Word of God and the power of the Holy Spirit. The feeble Christian, in moments of discouragement and failure, is tempted to question his salvation. But my salvation is not contingent upon my positive or negative feelings on a given day or even the absence of feelings on another day. I am justified by faith (Romans 5:1); I must never doubt it or deny it! "If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness" (I John 1:9). Even if my heart condemns me, God is greater than my heart (I John 3:20). Christ Himself and His work on the Cross are greater than our feelings, greater than our failures, and greater than our own heart! It is not our strength or our weakness that is the security of the believer; it is the Christ!
Christ's Security Declared in Church History
Another attack upon this precious teaching is found in the powers of the apostate Roman Catholic Church. During the days of the Reformation, a large number of individuals were leaving the Roman Catholic Church. In order to instill fear and motivation to return to the mother church, the Pope began declaring excommunications and anathemas against such individuals and families along with interdicts against districts within countries. These people had been members of families whose history spanned many generations within the Romanist system. By leaving this false church system, these people experienced intense coldness towards and hatred against them; such actions produced great fears in their hearts.
The second-generation reformer John Calvin was led to bring forth from Scripture the teaching of the Sovereignty of God. This was a needed truth to strengthen the faith of those believers making an exodus from a false but powerfully dominating system of false teaching. God's people who had been oppressed in such religious bondage needed to be strengthened and encouraged in the fact that there was a greater sovereignty than kings and even popes—their greatest sovereign was God Himself. These dear people leaving this Babylonish system needed to be established in the truth that God was able to keep and secure His own through the anathemas, excommunications, and interdicts that were being declared by the so-called Church of Christ, Rome.
Some of the doctrinal beliefs of the reformer John Calvin may not be agreed upon by all, but we must believe that we are kept and secured by a sovereign God no matter what is done to us. Most importantly, Calvin included the teaching of the "perseverance of the saints" as the protection of a misguided view of security. The perseverance of God and His grace in our lives enables us to persevere in life unto the end. This is a critical truth in the biblical understanding of the eternal security of the believer: the evidence of one's perseverance to the end. Only to such believers can this provision in Christ be known.
After Christ healed the man born blind, John 9:22 states that, "the Jews had agreed already, that if any man did confess that he was Christ, he should be put out of the synagogue." Then in speaking of the healed man, verse 34 states, "they cast him out." In a weak person, such a casting out could cause doubts and fears to enter the mind and heart, thoughts of insecurity.
In the next chapter John records Christ's words:
My sheep hear my voice, and I know them, and they follow me: And I give unto them eternal life; and they shall never perish, neither shall any man pluck them out of my hand. My father, which gave them me, is greater than all; and no man is able to pluck them out of my Father's hand (John 10:27-29).
The "them" is a very important pronoun; to whom is He referring? The answer is found in the previous verse: His sheep that "hear my voice" (Gr. present tense, continue to hear), He "knows" (present tense, is knowing), and "they follow me" (present tense, are following). This passage can only be referring to the security of "them" that He has distinguished. Thank God no man can pluck us out of His hand, whether pope or priest or political power!
In Acts 27:24-25, there are the words of the angel of God to Paul amidst a storm on the sea:
Fear not, Paul; thou must be brought before Caesar: and, lo, God hath given thee all them that sail with thee. Wherefore, sirs, be of good cheer: for I believe God, that it shall be even as it was told me.
This truly is a verse for the security of the believer. But another important statement arises in 27:31 when the shipmen were planning to leave the ship: "Paul said to the centurion and to the soldiers, Except these abide in the ship, ye cannot be saved." This paradoxical truth is very important in the understanding of biblical security. This is that noteworthy "perseverance of the saints."
Modern-Day Evangelism
The contemporary message of modern-day evangelism promises a security to any individual who comes down an aisle and makes some verbal profession. The contemporary evangelist seeks to hear a mechanical formula of prayer rather than to witness a truly changed life. There is no New Birth without a life that has become the clear evidence of Christ in a believer! Today's evangelism grants security to the "one who professes" rather than to the one who truly believes and possesses Christ.
The rise of this modern-day view of security started around the 1930s and 1940s when evangelism became a pressing matter among the evangelicals. To give some incentives for people to "come forward," a number of evangelists began to tell "their" converts that once they came down the aisle and quoted the words of a prayer that no matter what happened in their life, they could "never lose their salvation." Of course, the sad thing is that they believed in the evangelist's concept of salvation: a cheap, easy-believism that did not demand a radical change of life and a commitment of that entire life unto the end. Although there was no true salvation, they were convinced that the outward confession was synonymous with the work of God. We must remember, however, that only God knows who is saved; as a minister I do not. One can judge the fruit of another, but in the final analysis, God is the only one who knows the heart.
The Question of Suicide
In recent decades a false security has been embraced concerning the matter of suicide. How far can one go in evil and still get to heaven. With the spiraling rise of suicide in the evangelical world, there are those who believe that a Christian can even commit suicide and still go to heaven. A case in point is an incident of several years ago in the John McArthur ministry. An assistant pastor promoted such a belief to the youth of his church that it prompted a young convert to take his own life. The young man left a note to his parents detailing the preached message and his personal desire to leave this world. After the tragic incident the parents sued the ministry for proposing such an idea and won the case. But this is not an isolated case. There perhaps are individuals, either acquaintances or relatives that we thought were Christians, who took their lives. Where is their soul now?
Church history has declared in every segment of Christendom (including Roman Catholicism), that suicide is an unpardonable sin, a sin without any hope. Because of the high value they had for life, even the Jews viewed this crime with abhorrence. It was held inexcusable that any but the most degraded and satanic should lay hands on their own lives. Only the remorse of the damned could drive one to it, as witnessed in Saul (I Samuel 31:4; I Chronicles 10:14), and Judas (Matthew 27:5).
Nonetheless, these past fifty years have witnessed in modern evangelism a permissive belief that professing Christians who commit suicide can enter heaven. But what true Christian would want to commit suicide? There may be some incidents where a Christian, because of a biological malfunction, hardening of the arteries, Alzheimer's or similar problems, takes his own life. However, in these contexts the human will is not involved; therefore,the blood of Christ covers that Christian. Yet, when the human will is actively a part of the suicide, such an action is the result of "fatalism," the absolute denial of any hope including God. The fatalism of suicide is a complete denial of God, His providence, and His work.
Some have speculated that Samson and Christ Himself committed passive suicide. But this is foolish thinking. Samson gave his life for his people in the judgment of the Philistines as Christ gave Himself for the ransom of sinners (Romans 5:6-8). There is no verse or example in Scripture that even implies suicide is accepted by God. More appropriately, suicide falls under the category of I John 5:16: "a sin unto death."
Yes, we must be very careful in how we use eternal security; one who would willfully take his life in suicide is not a believer! The end of a man's life is the determining factor and evidence of his election.
Christ Is the Security of the Believer
The Christian must trust in Christ's security and in His safekeeping. The great power that saves is the power that keeps. We must rest in the work of Christ, but we must also rest in the Christ of the work. He is our High Priest who provided the atoning sacrifice (the Aaronic priesthood in type); He is also our High Priest in the dispensing of that sacrifice (the Melchizedekian priesthood in type). This is why "He is able also to save them to the uttermost that come unto God by him, seeing he ever liveth to make intercession for them" (Hebrews 7:25). "For if, when we were enemies, we were reconciled to God by the death of his Son, much more, being reconciled, we shall be saved by his life" (Romans 5:10; "his life" is His resurrected life at the right hand of the Father). We see the intercessory work of Christ in His words to Peter:
Simon, Simon, behold, Satan hath desired to have you, that he may sift you as wheat: But I have prayed for thee, that thy faith fail not: and when thou art converted, strengthen thy brethren (Luke 22:31-32).
Peter did deny the Lord, but his "faith" did not fail, because Christ had prayed for Him. Even a Christian may experience a failure, sin, and even backsliding; but Christ's intercessory prayers for him will cause his "faith" not to fail, and there will be a "converting" or a returning to the Lord. Sometimes our lives are weak, but we are kept (John 17:11-12, 15) and preserved (I Thessalonians 5:23; Jude 1). Christ is able to keep us from falling, yea even from stumbling.
Conclusion
When we stand before our blessed Lord, we will have to acknowledge that we made it through life on earth and to heaven because Christ saved us and kept us all the way. Feelings come and go; but our salvation is not contingent upon our feelings. We are not even kept by our works; we are kept by the security and work of Christ for His own. Not every one that "professes" Jesus as Lord is secured (Matthew 7:21-23), but every one that "possesses" the Lord in believing and living has Christ as his security and safekeeping.