ONCE A PERSON IS SAVED, WILL HE/SHE ALWAYS BE SAVED?
When people come to know Christ as their Savior, they are brought into a relationship with God and that guarantees their eternal security. Jude 24 declares, “To Him who is able to keep you from falling and to present you before His glorious presence without fault and with great joy.” God’s power is able to keep the believer from falling. It is up to Him, not us, to present us before His glorious presence. Our eternal security is a result of God keeping us, not us maintaining our own salvation.
The Lord Jesus Christ proclaimed, “I give them eternal life, and they shall never perish; no one can snatch them out of my hand. My Father, who has given them to me, is greater than all, no one can snatch them out of my Father’s hand” (John 10:28-29). Both Jesus and the Father have us firmly grasped in their hand. Who could possibly separate us from the grip of both the Father and the Son?
Ephesians 4:30 tells us that believers are “sealed for the day of redemption.” If believers did not have eternal security, the sealing could not truly be unto the day of redemption, but only to the day of sinning, apostasy, backslidding or disbelief. John 3:15-16 tells us that whoever believes in Jesus Christ will “have eternal life.” If a person were to be promised eternal life, but then have it taken away, it was never “eternal” to begin with. If eternal security is not true, the promises of eternal life in the Bible would be in error.
There is much that takes place at the point of salvation, but we will consider one aspect. Paul explains that we are adopted as sons of God (Galatians 4:5). To be adopted is to be given the full rights and privileges of the family. Can we ever be un-adopted? No. We see this in the parable of the prodigal son where the son even after messing up always retained his sonship position. (Luke 15:11-32). In his broken state, the prodigal son thought to himself, “I will go back to my father and say to him: Father, I have sinned against heaven and against you. I am no longer worthy to be called your son; make me like one of your hired servants” (Luke 15:18-19). Upon his return, his father said: “Quick! Bring the best robe and put it on him. Put a ring on his finger and sandals on his feet. 23 Bring the fattened calf and kill it. Let’s have a feast and celebrate. 24 For this son of mine was dead and is alive again; he was lost and is found.’ So they began to celebrate” (Luke 15:22-24). There are many more things that take place at salvation that further give us understanding of the surety of our salvation.
A concern may be about those who are in sin. Paul helps us to understand how we are to consider those who fall in to sin. In his first letter to the Corinthians, we see Paul explaining to the church the need to disassociate with one who is sinning (1 Corinthians 5:1-5). In his second letter Paul explains the need for the church to embrace this person, as he has repented and been forgiven (2 Corinthians 2:1-11). Paul’s words also inform us that those who have believed but are not living to reflect Christ may be called home early (1 Corinthians 11:27-29,30-32,33-34). It may be true that there are some who continue in sin or depart from the faith, but these are indications that they may never have been saved (1 John 2:19, 3:6). So it is true that nothing can take us from the hand of God or separate us from His love (John 10:28-29; Romans 8:38-39
The most powerful argument for eternal security is Romans 8:38-39, “For I am convinced that neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither the present nor the future, nor any powers, neither height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord”.
Our eternal security is based on God’s love for those whom He has redeemed. Our eternal security is purchased by Christ, promised by the Father, and sealed by the Holy Spirit.