Eternal Security in the Old Testament:
When we look at Sodom and Gomorrah and Abraham's nephew Lot in Genesis 18 and 2 Peter 2 we find that God's character of mercy and grace is the basis of Eternal Security.
In Genesis 18 Abraham is interceding for the city of Sodom and Gomorrah when the LORD (Christophany) reveals “Shall I hide from Abraham what I am about to do? I will go down and see if what they have done is as bad as the outcry that has reached me."
Abraham pleads: “Will you sweep away the righteous with the wicked?" He knows God's character and says "Far be it from you to do such a thing—to kill the righteous with the wicked, treating the righteous and the wicked alike. Far be it from you! Will not the Judge of all the earth do right?”
So God's mercy and grace will not sweep away the righteous with the wicked because the Judge of all the earth do right.
To be "righteous" in the Old Testament meant you had to believe in God, receive the proto-gospel of the coming seed (Genesis 3:15) and to offer animal scarifies for atonement to cover sin (Genesis 4:4, Psalm 32:1,2), then God would impute his righteousness to them (Romans 4:1). So Old Testament saints salvation was secured by faith in this life and in the life to come. They could not loose the righteousness God imputed to them based on their behavior or on whether they obeyed in offering animal sacrifices. The only things they could loose when they sinned is God's fellowship and the righteousness that came after the atonement by blood. (Ezekiel 18:24)
Then Abraham said to the Lord:
What if there are fifty righteous people in the city? Will you really sweep it away and not spare the place for the sake of the fifty righteous people in it?
Evangelist John R. Rice pointed out that the number of 50, 45, 40, 30, 20, and 10 were not just random numbers. Abraham knew his nephew Lot was saved. He knew that if Lot shared the proto-gospel in the city of Sodom, there potentially could be between ten to fifty righteous that could be there. If that is the case, these righteous Old Testament saints could cause God to show mercy and grace that would spare the city.
The fact that Lot was rescued from Sodom means that he was saved and regarded by the Lord and righteous.
The we come to 2 Peter 2:6-8 we have New Testament revelation concerning Lot that we do not find in Genesis.
By the Spirit, Peter says:
[God] rescued Lot, a righteous man.
For Lot to be an Old Testament saint, like Noah and Abraham, he had to be saved by faith and God would impute righteousness to him. He could not loose this salvation because of his behavior or his lack of obedience to God.
Peter goes on to say:
(Lot) was distressed by the depraved conduct of the lawless (for that righteous man, living among them day after day, was tormented in his righteous soul by the lawless deeds he saw and heard).
Lot's reaction to the conduct of the citizen's of Sodom and Gomorrah was due to the law written on his conscience. (Romans 2:15)
Peter concludes:
...if this is so, then the Lord knows how to rescue the godly from trials and to hold the unrighteous for punishment on the day of judgment.
The basis of Eternal security is that the Judge of all the earth do right and He will not treat the righteous and the wicked alike in this life and in the life to come.
Who was Lot in the Bible?
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