Salvation and Eternal Security
By Andy Woods
Question: Are you on divine probation?
Are believers in Jesus Christ on divine probation with their eternal destiny uncertain?
Or, does God’s grace and power keep them saved forever.
That is the issue with eternal security. Are we on probation or does the grace of God that brought us to Christ, does that keep us saved?
Arminius basically taught that we’re on divine probation. There’s always some kind of sin you’d better stay away from and they never define what sin it is, it’s just whatever it is that’s bad, or you can actually lose your salvation.
Now the very strong Reformed view, which does not deny security but it denies assurance, basically says that you must persevere to the end of your life in good works. Now they never tell you how many good works you have to do or how fast they have to come, but you must persevere to the end of your life in good works to see if you really were saved to begin with.
So both the Arminian view and the very strong Calvinist view, I believe, have brought damage to people emotionally and psychologically because they fear, constantly, that they’re going to go to hell even though they are Christians.
The strong Calvinist view says, “or must one wait until he dies to see if he has persevered in the faith and godliness to prove he’s one of the elect.”
Arminius says you can have salvation and lose it;
The very strong Reformed view basically says maybe you never had it to begin with.
And both of these views get you to the introspective, always looking at yourself. Isn’t that a depressing subject, looking at yourself all the time. You’re not looking at Christ and His promises, you’re always looking at yourself.
So take a look at Ephesians 4:14, and I’m just trying to show you my heart and why I’m wanting to get into this subject. Ephesians 4:14 is just describing the ungrounded believer. And Ephesians 4:14 says, “As a result,” that’s of the maturity process, “we are no longer to be children, tossed here and there by waves and carried about by every wind of doctrine, by the trickery of men, by craftiness in deceitful scheming,” So that’s what this reminds me of, this debate and looking at the state of the church. People are just kind of blown about one direction or the next, they don’t really have any real certainty about what the Bible teaches. They go to one church, they learn one thing, they go to another church, they learn something else, they hear someone on radio, watch someone on TV and they get a different idea in their mind and so what’s happening is it’s the Bible is like a kaleidoscope in their heads, it’s just a bunch of contradictory data.
And I’d like to show you in this series that that’s not what God intended. And according to the Ephesians 4 passage it’s the job of the pastors, particular those with the gift of pastor-teacher, to ground God’s people in truth so they won’t be blown about, tossed do and fro. So the only book we’re going to be using for this is the Bible; I’ll make some references to some authors that I think are helpful, but all of our time is going to be spent looking at Bible passages, because we basically believe that the Bible, when understood correctly, answers this question of eternal security.
19 / Part 1 (John 3:18)
Are believers in Jesus Christ on divine probation with their eternal destiny uncertain? Or, does God's grace and power keep them saved forever. That is the issue with eternal security. Are we on probation or does the grace of God that brought us to Christ keep us saved?
20 / Part 2 (John 10:28)
Are believers in Jesus Christ on divine probation with their eternal destiny uncertain? Or, does God's grace and power keep them saved forever. That is the issue with eternal security. Are we on probation or does the grace of God that brought us to Christ keep us saved?
21 / Part 3 (1 John 5:13)
Upon believing in Jesus, we can be confident that they have (past tense) eternal life and will never lose it.
22 / Part 4 (Romans 8:29-30)
Believers are predestined to be conformed to the image of Jesus Christ.
23 / Part 5 (John 17:11-12)
Believers are kept by the power of God.
24 / Part 6 (1 Corinthians 12:13)
All believers are baptized into the body of Christ when they trust in Jesus.
25 / Part 7 (1 Corinthians 3:1-3)
What is the cost of sin in the life of the believer?
26 / Part 8 (John 15:1-6)
What does it mean to abide in Christ?
27 / Part 9 (1 Corinthians 9:24-27)
What does Paul mean when he mentions the possibility of becoming disqualified?
28 / Part 10 (Joshua 24:20)
An examination of passages which, at first glance, appear to teach a believer can lose their salvation.
29 / Part 11 (Psalm 51:11)
An examination of passages which, at first glance, appear to teach a believer can lose their salvation.
30 / Part 12 (Matthew 7:21-23)
Did those whom Jesus told to depart from Him ever believe by faith?
31 / Part 13 (Matthew 24:13)
An understanding of the context helps us to understand passages which, at first glance, may appear to teach it is possible to lose one’s salvation.
32 / Part 14 (Matthew 12:31-32; John 6:66)
This presentation clarifies what Jesus meant by the "unpardonable sin," its historical application, and relationship to sins committed in our day.
33 / Part 15 (John 6:66)
If we are secure in Christ, what do we make of passages which indicate that some disciples of Jesus "walked with Him no more"?
34 / Part 16 (Acts 5:1-5)
Passages which many interpret as indicating insincere belief or a loss of faith actually reveal the divine discipline of true believers.
35 / Part 17 (Galatians 5:4)
Have believers who've become estranged from Christ lost their salvation?
36 / Part 18 (Romans 8:13)
How should believers understand passages which, at first glance, appear to teach they can lose their salvation?
37 / Part 19 (2 Corinthians 13:5)
What does it mean to test yourself to see if you are in the faith?
38 / Part 20 (Philippians 2:12)
What does it mean to work out your salvation with fear and trembling?
39 / Part 21 (2 Timothy 2:11-13)
Is it possible for a believer to deny Christ and still be saved?
40 / Part 22 (James 5:19:20)
Can a believer wander from the truth and lose their salvation?
41 / Part 23 (Hebrews 6:4-6)
How does the context of chapter 6 of Hebrews help in understanding the warning found therein?
42 / Part 24 (Hebrews 6:4-6)
How does the context of chapter 6 of Hebrews help in understanding the warning found therein?
43 / Part 25 (Hebrews 6:4-6)
How does the context of chapter 6 of Hebrews help in understanding the warning found therein?
44 / Part 26 (Hebrews 2:1-4)
How does the context of the book of Hebrews help in understanding this warning found in chapter 2?
45 / Part 27 (Hebrews 10:26-39)
Can believers insult the Spirit of Grace and, if so, what is the result?
46 / Part 28 (2 Peter 2:20-22)
Diligence in the Christian life does not make the believer less secure or more secure.
47 / Part 29 (Jude 11)
Korah's rebellion and God’s response to it is an example of maximum divine discipline.
48 / Part 30 (1 John 2:3)
Is keeping God’s commandments a reliable measure of whether we know Him?
49 / Part 31 (1 John 3:9)
If we sin after having believed, are we still born of God?
50 / Part 32 (1 John 3:15)
What does John mean when he refers to eternal life abiding within a believer?
51 / Part 33 (Revelation 22:18-19)
Is Jesus' warning about adding or subtracting from God's Word for believers or unbelievers?
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