I.
Introduction.
A.
This doctrine addresses the surety of salvation Ph1 i.e.,
salvation from eternal condemnation. See the Doctrine of the Salvation Adjustment
to the Justice of God/Salvation Ph1.
B.
It stands upon the cornerstone that salvation Ph1 is
provided through the mechanic of faith in the Person and work of Jesus Christ,
apart from any human works, genetics, rituals or other systems devised by
men. Joh.1:12-13; 3:16; Rom.3:19-20;
Gal.2:16; 3:10-12; Eph.2:8-9; Heb.10:1-8; 1Pet.3:21
C.
This doctrine allows Scripture to dictate what is proclaimed with
regard to salvation Ph1 and the approach taken to it.
II.
The logical approach:
A.
Paul was constantly battling the Judaizers/legalists of his time who
were contending that salvation Ph1 was not only a faith proposition,
but needed “works” added to it as seen in his apologetics to the church at
B.
Paul also used logic to denote that salvation Ph1 has no
type of work added to it as seen in his example of the timing of Abraham’s
salvation compared to when he was circumcised.
Rom.4:9-10
C.
Since salvation is by grace through faith, works are ruled out both as
a means of salvation or maintenance of it i.e., works have no place in its
surety/guarantee. Eph.2:8-9
D.
Its security is seen in the fact that the new birth constitutes us as
“sons”, therefore our failings cannot change who our “Parent” is. Joh.1:12,13; Rom.8:14-17; Gal.3:26
E.
The believer’s failings in life do not change their status as His
children; rather it only brings about Divine discipline in time. Heb.12:7-13 cp. Eccl.7:20
F.
Therefore, as works are not an issue in salvation Ph1,
neither does sin in the life affect our status of salvation.
G.
That reality lies in the fact that Christ was judged for all sins of
all men. 1Joh.2:2
H.
The a fortiori argument (all the more/greater {saving} to the lesser
{staying saved}) points to once saved, always saved.
I.
Since God did the most for us when we were His enemies and saved us,
how will He do less (all the more) to keep us saved as sons. Rom.5:9,10,15,17,20
J.
It is illogical to think that God would save us as enemies and then
cast us off as His own children.
K.
Salvation equates with the term “eternal life”, which logically points
to eternal security. Joh.3:16,36; 5:24;
1Tim.1:16
L.
The very word “eternal/forever” eliminates the possibility that the
life imparted is anything less than forever, hence there is no depreciation,
interference or loss/destruction that can be associated with it.
III.
The principle of union/positional truth in Him approach:
A.
At the point of salvation by faith, a union is created between all
believers and Christ. Joh.6:56
B.
This union places a believer in the position of being “in Christ” as a
result of their exercise of faith “into/eivj Him”. Joh.1:12; 3:16; 3:36; 20:31; et al. Cp. Gen.15:6 Abraham’s faith was placed in
the sphere of Yahweh and +R was accounted to him. A union/position was created.
Cp. Rom.4:3
C.
Scripture directly states that there is no condemnation for any that is
“in Christ Jesus”. Rom.8:1
D.
Because of our position in Him, we already share Christ’s
resurrection. Rom.8:29-30; Eph.1:5-8,
13-14; 2:4-6
E.
God the Father loves the Son with maximum love, therefore because of
our union with Christ God loves the believer with that same love. Rom.8:38-39
F.
As Church Age saints, our position in Him constitutes His body. Rom.12:5; Eph.3:6; 4:6; Col.3:15
G.
At the point of faith in Christ we are all baptized into one body
called the Church by God the Holy Spirit.
1Cor.12:13; Col.1:24
H.
Christ is the Head of the church/body and therefore cannot repudiate
members of the body and continue to have a complete body. Eph.5:23; Col.1:18 cp. 1Cor.12:14-27
IV.
The metaphorical teaching approach:
A.
As seen in the bread and water and eating and drinking metaphors. Joh.4:13-14; 6:35,41, 47-51, 53-58
B.
As seen in the new birth.
Joh.3:1-6; 1Pet.1:3,23
C.
As seen in the Good Shepherd analogy.
Joh.10:27-30
D.
As seen in the bath of regeneration.
Joh.13:5-11; Ti.3:-5
V.
The Greek tense approach:
A.
Act.16:31 – “Believe (aorist
active imperative; the imperative is a command and the aorist denotes one
action at a point of time) in the Lord
Jesus Christ and you will be saved (future passive indicative; the future
of salvation is guaranteed as noted by the indicative mood of reality
indicating a statement of fact; the passive voice indicates the salvation is
dependent upon an outside source)”. Cp. Act.2:21; Rom.5:9-10
B.
The perfect tense of “believe/pisteu,w”, which denotes that the
act of faith in time carries with it existing results. Joh.11:27; 16:27; 2Tim.1:12
C.
The perfect tense of “saved/sw,zw”, which denotes that an
action in the past carries with it continuous and never ending results. Luk.7:48-50; Eph.2:5,8 (Both verses are
perfect passive participles denoting in strongest of terms a continuous action
that is being performed by an outside agent.)
VI.
The typological approach:
A.
Typology in the OT taught the principle of eternal security.
B.
Noah and his family surviving the great flood in the ark. 1Pet.3:20-21
C.
The
D.
The priestly garb of the breastplate attached to the ephod pictures
eternal security. Exo.28:22-28
1.
The breastplate = +R. Eph.6:14
2.
The elaborate procedure for tying the uniform together notes:
a.
The gold rings and chains = that it is Deity that is the power of the
security of the believing priest’s +R.
b.
The blue cord = that the security of possessing +R is of heavenly
origin and not dependent upon man.
VII.
The family approach as noted in point II. that declares faith as the mechanics to become a member of
God’s family. Gal.3:26
VIII.
The Mediatorship and intercessory work of Christ approach:
A.
He is now seated at the right hand of the Father. Luk.20:42; Act.2:34
B.
He is the one and only mediator between God and men. 1Tim.2:5; Gal.3:20
C.
Mediatorship indicates a “go-between”, which is based on Christ’s work
on the cross. 1Tim.2:6
D.
As Christ is perfect and represents both parties, He secures a
settlement equally suitable to both parties.
E.
He is our advocate/defender/vindicator with the Father. 1Joh.2:1,2
F.
His intercessory work covers us for Ph2 sins. Rom.8:31-34; Heb.7:23-25 cp. Luk.22:31-34 for
Peter.
IX.
The experiential reality approach:
A.
It is through His work on the cross that provides eternal life
(Positional Truth). 2Tim.2:11
B.
We can deny Him through reversionism in which He will deny us SG3. 2Tim.2:12
C.
However, even our faithlessness in Him does not invalidate His work on
the cross/forgiveness of sins and therefore He cannot deny our Ph1
salvation, since He can’t deny Himself.
2Tim.2:13
D.
Even though believers can produce worthless “works” before God and
these things will be destroyed, their salvation still remains intact. 1Cor.3:10-15 esp. vs.15 “...but he himself shall be saved/sw,zw – future passive indicative, yet so as by fire.”
X.
The ministry of God the Holy Spirit approach:
A.
The Holy Spirit’s ministry in regeneration is to produce in the
believer a seed that is incorruptible (the gospel, which is imputed as +R via
the human spirit; Eph.4:24) and therefore our new birth is not subject to
death. 1Pet.1:23 cp. 1:3,5; Joh.3:5
B.
His indwelling and sealing ministry is the down payment or earnest on
our resurrection body. Rom.8:9;
2Cor.1:22; Eph.1:13,14; 4:30
C.
He baptizes all believers into the body of Christ. 1Cor.12:13; see pt. III.
XI.
The essence of God approach:
A.
Sovereignty: It is not God’s will that men perish. 2Pet.3:9; Eph.1:5-8; Rom.8:28-30
B.
Love: Is the motivation behind
our security. Joh.3:16; Rom.8:38-39
C.
Immutability: That His plan
cannot change in this regard secures our salvation. 2Tim.2:13; Joh.3:16; 5:24; 6:37; 10:28
D.
Veracity: God cannot lie. Ti.1:2
E.
Omnipotence: Our salvation rests
on His power. Joh.10:28; 6:39; 1Pet.1:5;
Jud.1
F.
Omniscience: God knows men’s
hearts/souls. Act.15:8 cp. Joh.10:14
G.
Omnipresence: It was the
omnipresence and omniscience of God that acted in behalf of the positive
Ethiopian eunuch. Act.8:25-40; cp.
Psa.139
H.
Righteousness: The +R of Jesus
Christ is imputed to every believer at the point of saving faith and is
forensic/legal and irreversible.
Rom.4:3-8; Gal.3:3-8
I.
Eternal life: This is the result
of our salvation and demands eternality.
Joh.3:15,16; 4:13,14; 5:24,39; 6:29,40,47,54; 10:28; 17:2,3
J.
Justice: Christ died for all
sins for all people, which satisfies God’s demand that the penalty has been
paid for. 1Joh.2:2; cp. Rom.3:25;
1Tim.4:10
XII.
The Doctrine of Soteriology (salvation Ph1) approach:
A.
Since all sins were judged at the cross, sins cannot undo our
salvation. Psa.103:12; Isa.1:18; Isa.53
B.
Since OT saints had +R by faith (Gen.15:6 cp. Rom.4:3), their unbelief
was not imputed to them. Psa.32:2 cp.
Rom.4:6-8
C.
Belief in Christ is/was/will be all that is/was/will be necessary for
salvation. Gen.15:6; Isa.28:16;
Joh.3:16; 1Pet.2:6
D.
All who take refuge in Him will not be ashamed. Psa.34:22
XIII.
Christ in His high Priestly prayer, prayed for the believer’s eternal
security. Joh.17:2,6,9,11,12,24 cp.
Jud.24,25
XIV.
Even the believer himself can do nothing to negate the salvation
adjustment to the justice of God because our faith has placed us “in” Him. Rom.8:39 “...nor
any other created thing, shall be able to separate us from the love of God,
which is in Christ Jesus our
Lord.”
XV.
Problem passages can be explained due to the confusion of interpreters
who approach salvation Ph1 grace with Ph2 and Ph3
grace applications.
A.
Just as Paul faced the Judaizers of his time who advocated works plus
faith as necessary for salvation Ph1 (Act.15:5 cp. vss.10-11), many
modern Judaizers exist today.
B.
These modern day legalists who advocate adding to the Ph1
gospel requisite performance of “keeping the Law” are advocates of the heresy
of “limited atonement” or “conditional security (C/S)”. See
Doctrine of Unlimited Atonement.
C.
Scripture makes it clear that justification/salvation is through an act
of faith apart from works lest any man should boast. Eph.2:8-9 cp. Rom.3:28; 4:5; Gal.2:16
D.
Jesus Himself taught that there is only one work (the work – singular
noun of to. e;rgon) necessary to secure eternal life and that is through an action of
faith. Joh.6:27-29
E.
The proponents of C/S claim that there are certain sins that aren’t
forgiven, which implies that Christ did not bear those sins on the cross.
F.
It is their stand that Christ’s work only provided forgiveness of our
past sins and hence we can loose our salvation in the future because of sin.
G.
One such exponent, Dan Corner of Evangelical Outreach,
H.
This quote serves as an example of the mentality of C/S proponents’
i.e., Christ’s work on the cross did not cover certain sins and therefore we
are liable to refrain from certain activities to secure our salvation.
I.
This is obviously in total contradiction to Jesus own statement of
Mar.3:28-29, “Truly I say to you, all
sins shall be forgiven the sons of men, and whatever blasphemies they utter;
but whoever blasphemes against the Holy Spirit never has forgiveness, but is
guilty of an eternal sin”. Cp.
Heb.10:12
J.
As these verses make clear, all
sins are forgivable and were covered by the sacrifice of Jesus Christ, except
one, which is calling God the Holy Spirit a liar when He convicts men for their
need of salvation and they reject the gospel i.e., refuse to believe, which has
eternal consequences. Cp. Joh.16:8-9
K.
The very fact that these legalists declare that you must refrain from
certain activity (sin or otherwise) in order to have salvation, in reality
places anyone who does so under a “work” requirement and therefore they would
have something to boast about before God.
Ex. God, I fought the temptation in front of me
and did not succumb to it and therefore I should get credit for a good work. Cp. Ti.3:5
L.
Proponents who say you have to abstain from certain sins, such as
adultery (grounds for divorce), are declaring that you have to keep the Law
that says you will not commit adultery.
Exo.20:14; Deu.5:18
M.
Again, this is in total contradiction to Paul’s and the other Apostle’s
view regarding the Law in its role in salvation. Act.15:5,6,10,11
N.
It is Jesus Christ our Lord who receives the glory for man’s salvation,
and men only receive glory through Him.
Jud.1:25; Cp. 1Pet.4:11; 5:10
O.
The irony is that the only ones who have “fallen from grace” are those
who are seeking to be justified by works.
Gal.5:4-5
P.
These types categorize sins stating some are “the big sins” and will
cause you to loose your salvation while the other “lesser sins” will not.
Q.
They then turn right around and even though they don’t understand the
verse in toto, quote Rom.8:13 to say that living according to the flesh you die
spiritually (this is temporal spiritual death, not eternal death).
R.
Scripture is clear that all
sins are of the flesh (Rom.7:14,25; 13:14; Gal.5:16; cp. Rom.8:3) and
hence there own documentation judges their erroneous view that only some sins
are considered “lethal”.
S.
In reality, these people are saying it’s OK to engage in any sin that
is not listed in three or four passages, which will be mentioned in point X.
4., and thus disregard sins such as jealousy, quarreling, fear,
adulterating the Word of God, mental attitude lusts, etc.
T.
They disregard that all sin is unrighteousness and that all unrighteousness demands
God’s act of justice with wrath.
Rom.1:18
U.
To logically follow through with their claim that one can loose
salvation, then it is incumbent upon them by Scripture to recognize that any sin you commit after initial
faith therefore, damns you to hell.
V.
If any proponent of C/S claims that they do not sin they are liars and
the truth is not in them. 1Joh.1:8 cp.
Ecc.7:20
W.
Their distorted theology and rationalization of sins are Biblically
heretical/ freethinking/worldly/godless and should be rebuked as such. Pro.17:10; Ecc.7:5; 2Tim.4:2
X.
Other passages these proponents distort to push their doctrine of
demons:
1.
The prodigal son of Luk.15:11-32:
a.
Heretics: They claim that the
phrase in vs.32, “...was dead and has
begun to live and was lost and has been found”, is stating that the
prodigal son lost his salvation Ph1 and has been saved again.
b.
Refutation: That this is
obviously dealing with temporal death (not eternal) and reversionism recovery
is seen in the fact that the son never
ceased to be the father’s son even when he was away. Cp.vss.17-18
c.
The distortion is caused by not understanding the context of the term
death as it applies to: physical death
(Luk.16:22; et al.); eternal death/condemnation/the second death (Joh.11:26;
Rev.2:11; 20:11-15 etc.); spiritual death (Jud.19; Gen.2:17;
Rom.5:12,14,15,17-19; 1Cor.15:22; Col.2:13; et al.); temporal death (Luk.15:24, 32; Rom.6:13; 7:9-11;
8:6,10,13a; etc.); Operational death/failure to produce divine good (Jms.2:26
cp. 14-17, 23 hearer only, 24 no application of BD; Jud.12 [doubly
dead/temporal death + operational death]); sexual death (Rom.4:19; Luk.1:7;
positional death/identifying with Christ’s death on the cross (2Tim.2:11;
Rom.6:3 cp. 2,4,5,6,8; Col.3:3; etc. See Doctrine of Deaths.
d.
The C/S proponents try to waffle out of this by declaring that our
parental standing can be changed at any time, since Satan was once our father
and now as believers God has adopted us.
e.
This shows their failure to recognize that as believers, our adoption
has now set up two potential rulers/parents in life: our flesh, which chooses
to do the works of Satan, and God, which are in constant conflict throughout
the believer’s life. Rom.7:22-23 See the
Doctrine of the Old Sin Nature.
f.
The flesh/sin still is of Satan, but the human spirit/inner man, whom
only believers have through adoption, is of God.
g.
This proves that the “parents” do not change since sin is still part of
the Christian life as even Paul understood (Rom.7:1—21), therefore once a
parent, always a parent.
h.
But, since God is our new parent through adoption, He has secured all
legal rights and custody to us, no matter whether we go visit or stay with our
old parent/old man or not. Rom.8:15-17;
Eph.1:5
i.
This legal right comes under the terms of adoption in connection with
our redemption Ph1 from a condition as slaves to keeping the
requirements of the Law. Gal.4:5
j.
It was Christ’s work on the cross that purchased us and therefore our
salvation, security of it and status as God’s children hinges on Him, not
us. Act.20:28
k.
Scripture is clear on how we become children of God i.e., through
belief/faith in Jesus Christ. Joh.1:12;
Gal.3:26
2.
Joh.15:6; Mat.7:19 – “Bear fruit or get thrown into the fire”.
a.
Heretics: They mix these two
passages together and claim that both are referring to the “lake of fire”.
b.
Refutation: Mat.7:19 passage is
dealing with communicators of BD who are unbelievers and do not produce
“fruit/believers” in there ministries by proclaiming the known will of God for
salvation Ph1, belief in Christ.
1Tim.2:4 cp. Act.16:31
c.
Joh.15:6 is dealing with all believers in bearing fruit/divine good
production and the fire in view is the fire at the Bema seat in which all “dead
works” will be burned, though the individual remains saved. 1Cor.3:12-15; Heb.6:7-8
d.
That this is indeed talking of believers is stated in vs.3 and is an
expose of the necessity of the believer being in FHS and applying BD in order
to reap divine good production and eternal rewards. See the
Doctrine of Surpassing Grace
3.
Gal.6:8 – “Sow to please the Spirit or reap destruction instead of
eternal life”.
a.
Heretics: They interpret eternal
life as only having one meaning i.e., salvation from eternal damnation.
b.
Refutation: Scripture is clear
that there is more to eternal life than a resurrection body and eternal
relationship with God and that there is a better resurrection to those
believers who do it right in time.
Heb.11:35; cp. 1Cor.15:58; 2Cor.4:18; Col.3:1-2; Rom.8:18; et al.
4.
Verses that claim certain sin activity deny one inheriting the
a.
Heretics: They claim that
inheritance means you will not reside or live in the kingdom rather than its
true meaning i.e., those who fail to isolate their STA’s/OSN’s will be
comparatively poor to those who do it right in time. 2Cor.8:9; Jms.2:5
b.
Jesus tells us what is required to physically “see/ participate” in the
kingdom, and that is through regeneration, which is by faith. Joh.3:3,5; cp. Ti.3:5
c.
It is Christ that inherits all things and He is willing to share His
inheritance with believers. Joh.3:35 cp.
Eph.1:18; 3:8 cp. Col.1:10-13; 3:23-24
5.
Jam.2:17,26 is dealing with works necessary for the believer to fulfill
their Ph2 niche and grow in the grace and knowledge of Christ
(2Pet.3:18) in order not to lose over and beyond rewards of eternal life i.e.,
you can’t be just a hearer, but must be a doer of BD.
6.
1Joh.3:9-10: The present tense
of the verb “practices” in vs.9 is linear action and “sin” is reference to the
sin nature. Vs.9a is true because when
one believes for salvation they have broken the continuous rulership of the sin
nature in their lives and therefore the linear action has been broken. Vs.10 denotes the overt evidence of
believers, but does not mean that one can’t hide this evidence.
7.
Joh.10:26-29 – The sheep of Christ:
a.
Heretics: They attack the
eternal security taught in these verses by saying that the one who is a sheep
will always follow Christ in vs.28.
b.
Refutation: Christ has already
designated who are sheep and who are not in vs.26, “But you do not believe,
because you are not of My sheep”.
c.
The mentioned unbelievers are Jews who do not accept Him as the Christ,
God-man.
Y.
There are other verses and passages that modern day Judaizers will want
to throw at you, but be rest assured that these verses when interpreted in
context and with other scripture can be harmonized by applying them to Ph2
or Ph3 grace.
Z.
Only by understanding Ph2
and Ph3 principles can one truly harmonize the clear statements of
salvation being truly faith apart from works.
AA.
The modern Judaizers cannot effectively harmonize with these verses and
therefore leave Scripture contradicting itself through their fallacious
doctrines.
BB.
Their lack of understanding of the original languages and hermeneutics
are glaring as seen in:
1.
Their requirement that the present participle such as in Joh.5:24,
demands that one interpret that verse as saying one “must continuously believe”.
2.
Any first year Greek student should recognize that the time relations
of the participle do not belong to its tense, but to the sense of the
context. Cf. Dana and Mantey’s “A Manual
Grammar of the Greek New Testament”
3.
Therefore by context of salvation as an act of faith, the participle is
rendered as saying “who believes at any time over the course of time/human
history”.
4.
The same is true when they demand that the present tense of any verb has to be continuous action such as
Joh.10:27 “they keep on hearing and following (present active indicatives) me”
in the sense of one continuous individual action.
5.
Again, any respectable Greek scholar knows that there is no
“aorist (a point of time action) tense” for present time and thus the present
tense is representative of both punctilear (point of/single) and linear
(continuous) action. Cf. Dana and Mantey
p.181
6.
That is, in dealing with the present tense we must consider not only
the fundamental force of the tense, but also the meaning of the verb root, and
the significance of the context.
7.
This verse by context is stating that those who believe and are my
sheep (compared to those who don’t believe in vs.26), hear Jesus’ voice in time
(calling), Jesus knows who they are in time and they follow Him in time
(respond to the gospel; the verb “follow/ avkolouqe,w” has the nuance to “obey”
cp. Mat.9:9, which is a corresponding action to “believe”), which is a
consistent present reality for all sheep throughout time. Cp. Joh.6:37-40; Rom.8:29-30; See the Doctrine of Election and Calling.
8.
A hermeneutical principal for interpretation that they disregard is
that the clearest and simplest reading regarding any principle of doctrine
takes precedence over and governs all other articles of fact concerning the
doctrine.
9.
The clearest, most straightforward and obvious declarations of
salvation is that it is by faith apart from works.
10.
This is a constant that can’t be changed and has to be in the formula
of all aspects pertaining to salvation.
11.
Any other principle regarding salvation has to be taken within this
context and cannot violate or contradict this clearest of proclamations.
12.
Because the C/S proponents disregard this one principal, they in turn
are remiss in their word studies (ex. “deaths, life, sin, etc.”) and
harmonizing all that Scripture has to say concerning the Christian life.
CC.
Be prepared for the attack of these types of legalist against your
salvation, just as Paul was prepared for the Judaizers of his time.
DD.
Understand that those who adhere to this C/S BS are those who have no
real faith in the work of their Lord and Savior pertaining to their salvation
and are so arrogant as to think they can “help Him out”.
EE.
These people are the ones loosing salvation and that is because their
emphasis is only trying to get to heaven and hence are robbing their
congregations of salvation from loss of reward for Christians who function
based on a sound understanding of their salvation.
FF.
These deny or skewer the doctrines of Surpassing Grace, Unlimited
Atonement, Rebound, Deaths, STA/OSN, Salvation Ph1, Divine
Discipline, Election and Calling, Regeneration, etc.
GG.
They will attack those confident in their salvation with innuendoes
such as, “we condone sinning and give people a license to sin”.
HH.
Just remember that this shows their ignorance to principals of divine
discipline/DD, the continued existence of the sin nature/flesh in Christians
and reflects their attempt to remove glory from Christ and place it upon themselves.
II.
A clue as to the agenda of the Dan Corner types can be seen by visiting
their web site and realize that it is going to cost you money if you want the
hogwash they are dispersing. 2Cor.2:17
JJ.
Paul has established this precedence of warning the sheep of false
teachers. Rom.16:17 cp. 2Tim.4:14-15;
The book of Galatians cp. 1:6-7
“who are
protected by the power of God through faith (saving)
for a deliverance (rapture) ready to
be revealed in the last time.”