I would lose my salvation within the hour if I were left to my own resources. Thank God, my salvation is in the hands of a mighty Saviour who has promised to remain with me forever. The Scriptures comforts God’s children – “Being confident of this very thing, that he which hath begun a good work in you will perform it until the day of Jesus Christ” (Philippians 1:6).

Having said that, I must add that a person may be truly saved though he may be troubled by many uncertainties and doubts about salvation. On the other hand, someone may not be saved at all, and yet have a false assurance. The teaching about ‘eternal security’ and ‘the perseverance of the saints’ is often misunderstood and abused. A fool may reason, “Since ‘once saved, always saved’ – sin doesn’t matter. I can live as I please, and still go to heaven at the end.” The thought is as absurd as it is disgusting. This mentality is proof positive that he is a stranger to God’s grace. “He that saith, I know him, and keepeth not his commandments, is a liar, and the truth is not in him” (1 John 2:4).

We can summarize the Bible’s teaching on “eternal security” under three headings:

1. God’s people are kept secure by the power of God
2. God’s people persevere to the end (they continue to believe)
3. Many who profess to believe are not really saved (they have a temporary faith)

1. God’s people are kept secure by the power of God

The Word of God clearly teaches that the Lord protects His people and brings them safely to glory. This blessed truth is proved by the following scriptures:

• And this is the Father’s will which hath sent me, that of all which he hath given me I should lose nothing, but should raise it up again at the last day. And this is the will of him that sent me, that everyone which seeth the Son, and believeth on him, may have everlasting life: and I will raise him up at the last day. John 6:39,40.
• 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 to me, is greater than all; and no man is able to pluck them out of my Father’s hand. John 10:27-29.
• For I am persuaded, that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor powers, nor things present, nor things to come, nor height, nor depth, nor any other creature, shall be able to separate us from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord. Romans 8:38,39.
• Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, which according to his abundant mercy hath begotten us again unto a lively hope by the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, to an inheritance incorruptible, and undefiled, and that fadeth not away, reserved in heaven for you, who are kept by the power of God through faith unto salvation ready to be revealed in the last time. 1 Peter 1:3-5.
• Now unto him that is able to keep you from falling, and to present you faultless before the presence of his glory with exceeding joy, to the only wise God our Saviour, be glory and majesty, dominion and power, both now and ever. Amen. Jude 1:24,25.

Salvation is secured by God the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit: “ye were sealed with that Holy Spirit of promise, which is the earnest (pledge) of our inheritance until the redemption of the purchased possession, unto the praise of his glory” (Ephesians 1:13,14).

2. God’s people persevere to the end (they continue to believe)

Just as it teaches God’s protection and preservation of His people, the Bible is equally emphatic that only those who endure to the end, who abide in Christ and His Word and continue in the faith, will be saved (please read Matthew 24:13; John 8:31; John 15:6; 1 Corinthians 15:1,2; Colossians 1:22,23).

Ignoring these and similar scriptures, some argue that it doesn’t matter whether you continue to believe or not, for God will keep you saved forever. That is not true. We cannot accept half the Bible and ignore the rest. The total picture is this: God protects his children and therefore they will remain faithful to the end. As Peter says, they are “kept by the power of God (that’s God’s protection) through faith (and not, as some say, with or without faith).”As Christians, we are painfully aware that our faith is often weak and faltering. We can only persevere in faith because of the intercession of Christ. Peter was bitterly beaten by Satan when he denied the Lord three times. Yet even then, Peter’s faith could not fail because His Saviour would never deny one of His own. “But I have prayed for thee, that thy faith fail not” (Luke 22:32). It’s the same with every other child of God; Jesus “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).

3. Many who profess to believe are not really saved (they have a counterfeit and temporary faith)

What about those who leave the church and deny the faith? They heard the Gospel, believed, were baptised, became active members of the church, began to live a decent moral life, and witnessed to others about Christ. But now they deny Christ and would have nothing to do with Him or the church anymore. What does the Bible say about them?

Well, they are hypocrites unmasked. They had played their part quite impressively – deceiving others and themselves that they were genuine Christians. Their apostasy uncovers their phoney faith. The apostle John writes:

They went out from us, but they were not of us; for if they had been of us, they would no doubt have continued with us: but they went out, that they might be made manifest that they were not all of us (1 John 2:19).

These people were once considered as true believers. But at one point they left the Christian church. The apostle does not conclude that genuine Christians can lose their salvation. On the contrary he judges that they were “not of us.” If they were true believers they would have continued; their departure is proof that in fact they were not true believers to start with.

There are serious warning in the Bible to such people (see Hebrews 6:4-6 and 2 Peter 2:20-22) who have heard the Gospel, and after an initial response, they turn away from Christ. Their defection reveals that their hearts were never changed – Peter compares them to a washed pig returning to the mud, and the author of Hebrews, to a field that produces thorns and thistles after it receives the rain.

Nobody is saved by saying they have faith. Only true faith saves, the kind that continues to the end. God makes certain that the believer will remain safe for time and eternity. “For the LORD loveth judgment, and forsaketh not his saints; they are preserved for ever: but the seed of the wicked shall be cut off” (Psalm 37:28).