Greetings.

How many here believe in Eternal Security?

I go to a church that definitely believes that your name can be blotted out of the Lambs Book of Life.

Yet, as for me, all the things that I am learning and experiencing cause me to believe that if a person is Born Again, a new creature, an adopted child of God that can not be snatched out of Jesus' Hands, etc., ....

Or what about those elderly faithful to the Lord -- people that suddenly start losing their minds? Does that mean God rejected them because they cannot endure to the end mentally? A life without that trust that I am saved every day due to my neglect or making mistakes (sins) makes for a very troubled life.

So, how did those of you who believe in Eternal Security come to this realization? I would like to know more about real life stories that I can relate to to better understand what is the Truth here.

Thank you so very, very kindly.

Those who believe that they can lose their salvation don’t truly have a proper understanding of what salvation is.
The first thing you have to ask yourself is, Did you do anything to GET saved?
No, of course not!
Christ did it all!

So why would you think you would have to do anything to STAY SAVED?

The same one who BEGAN the work in you (Jesus Christ) will PERFORM that work until He comes back (the day of Jesus Christ).

“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:” Phil. 1:6

“…for I know whom I have believed, and am persuaded that he is able to keep that which I have committed unto him against that day.” 2 Tim. 1:12b

The basis of your salvation is the grace of God.
“For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God”

You could never save yourself.
God saved you by His grace.
Only God’s grace could save you from your sins.
And it is only God’s grace that KEEPS you saved from your sins.
It is not possible for you to be good enough to keep yourself save because all it takes is one little sin to put you in Hell.
It HAS to be God’s grace that keeps your salvation.
You don’t have the ABILITY to keep your own salvation.

When you were saved, God did a number of things for you that can never be undone.

-- First of all, God GAVE you HIS RIGHTEOUSNESS.

“For he hath made him to be sin for us, who knew no sin; that we might be made the righteousness of God in him”
II Cor. 5:21

Jesus Christ was MADE sin so that when you were saved, you were MADE the righteousness of God.

When God the Father looks at you, he sees the RIGHTEOUSNESS of Jesus Christ.
He sees His Son. Perfect and Holy!

You may fail.
But the Righteousness of Christ NEVER fails, and it NEVER leaves you.

-- Next, when you were saved, the Holy Spirit SEALED you until the day of redemption.

“And grieve not the holy Spirit of God, whereby ye are sealed unto the day of redemption.” Eph. 4:30

When a King set his seal upon something it could never be revoked.

The Holy Spirit has SEALED you until the day of redemption. That can NEVER be revoked by ANYBODY, not even yourself!

-- Next, when you were saved, you were born again.

Can a baby be unbirthed?
No, of course not.

Once you are born again, it is impossible for you to be “unbirthed.”
You may become a wayward child and turn your back on the Father, but you will ALWAYS be His child - just like in the story of the Prodigal Son.

-- Next, when you were saved you were put into the love of God in Christ Jesus.

The Bible says that there is NOTHING that can separate you from that love.

“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.”Rom. 8:38, 39

Notice how those verses mention “things to come.”
That means that NOTHING in the future that YOU DO or ANYBODY ELSE DOES is able to separate your from God’s love in Christ Jesus.

-- Next, when you were saved, you were actually PLACED IN HEAVEN.

Believe it or not, you are ALREADY in HEAVEN.
You were SEATED in Heaven when you got saved.

“Even when we were dead in sins, hath quickened us together with Christ, (by grace ye are saved
And hath raised us up together, and made us sit together in heavenly places in Christ Jesus:” Eph 2:5, 6

When you got saved, God SAT YOU DOWN in Heaven!

You don’t have to worry about whether you might lose going to heaven.
Spiritually, you are ALREADY THERE!

-- Next, when you were saved, you were given the Holy Spirit as the earnest of your inheritance.

“In whom ye also trusted, after that ye heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation: in whom also after that ye believed, ye were sealed with that holy Spirit of promise,
Which is the earnest of our inheritance until the redemption of the purchased possession, unto the praise of his glory.” Eph. 1:12, 13

In Real Estate, earnest money is money that is given to show that you are “earnest” or serious about buying a house. If you decide not to buy the house, the seller gets to keep the earnest money.

The Holy Spirit is your earnest. You get to keep him no matter what.
That means if you could lose your salvation and go to hell, the Holy Spirit would have to go to hell with you!
Not only that, but Christ also came to reside in you at salvation. He said that He would NEVER leave you nor forsake you, so He would have to go to hell with you too!

There is a lot more I can list, but I hope this gives you a better understanding of what happened to you when you got saved.

Salvation was not just something you received. It was something you BECAME.
You BECAME a child of God.
You BECAME a new creature.
You BECAME a temple of God.
You BECAME a King and a Priest.
YOU BECAME SAVED.

There is no going back on these things!
AMEN!

Now, having said all that, there ARE verses in the Bible that indicate “losing salvation.”
THAT’S when “rightly dividing” comes in to play.
You’ve got to know WHO those verses are written to.

It IS possible for other people in other dispensations to lose the salvation track God gave them.

But after the grace-work of Christ was completed at the cross, a WHOLE NEW SYSTEM was enacted and the born again child of God got into something NOBODY was EVER able to get into before that.

[Luke]

Brother, you'd do well to get out of that church.

A Church like that does nothing but fearmongering, and cast seeds of doubt. Sooner or later, it will affect you.

I did nothing to earn my salvation, and I can do nothing to lose it.

I give unto them eternal life, and they shall never perish - Thank you Jesus.

[Diligent]

Just FYI, Doxa, there is a pretty long thread on this topic here: http://av1611.com/forums/showthread.php?t=123

[atlas]

Luke and Doxa,


Thank God we can not get lost again, if we could we would all go to hell. All of our good works are as filthy rags. Not one person could keep them self saved or get themselves saved.

We are saved and kept that way by the blood of Jesus Christ I am now a child of God. ( after salvation ) I am his son, I was born his son and will die his son. Just like on earth your dad is dad. You can not be unborn Smith if your were born a Smith. The same holds for God. If you are born of him ( born again ) you will forever be his child. Eternal life starts with your new birth and never ends. John 3:16 proves this.


Try to find a good church that teaches eternal life or eternal security if you can, it will be a batter church for you.


Atlas

Thank you everyone for the messages and link, I spent some time looking at it.

This is something that I have been contemplating for a while; actually, from time to time I need a dose of Charles Stanley for that topic.

But I know the reality is that I believe in it as I believe that the Lord Jesus is ever bringing me there by the things that HE is showing me and the experiences that I have had.

For example, Jesus told us in the Gospels that we are to go to those offended, leave our gift at the altar and go (Matthew 5:23). Through the years I have tried to do such to the point of excess. But one day our former church started having troubles and it ended very badly. I could not figure out why no one was attempting reconciliation and I was at a loss. Time went by and nothing really was restored. However, certain events happened much later where people attended something else and I was there, and it really hit me, nothing was really fixed.

Thereby, by God's Divine Goodness the next day I was talking with an older spiritual lady and I was contemplating this thing...time does not necessarily heal, sometimes we cannot fix things, and actually sometimes things are never fixed. It hit me really hard that my efforts (all though I could not do much and it was totally out of my league--yet my heart was right), but my efforts and my heart could not fix this. And it hit me, this strange reality, that I saw in the Gospels that we could not fix everything, yet Jesus told us to go to those offended.

I never had such a huge reality check in this matter, and this woman started telling me over and over that it was under the Blood of Jesus.

I told her that it sounded right, but give me Scriptural support.

And I tell you the truth for days after this conversation, I thought about "Under the Blood of Jesus" 24/7, until God showed me in His Word that it was true, and not a catch phrase that people just say.

I saw that when we realize and pray and perceive and acknowledge that this issue of the church matter was truly under the Blood of Jesus, I had real peace.

Also regarding Eternal Security--I noticed in the other topic that Diligent linked to, the topic of Election kept coming into the discussion.
And I see that Election has been a no win discussion for centuries because it really boils down to Free Will that God gave us and God Who knows it All.
It is an amazing discussion but kind of pointless because it is a great mystery how this can be. And people will find themselves just going around and around and around.
Just like asking if God can die on the cross. I think Paul when he spoke of the mystery of Godliness; I believe these kinds of things he was referring to as well.

And as far as Eternal Security, it is so personal--is what I am perceiving.
Until it is embraced as truth, no one will accept it. It is a heart thing.

For example, here is an extreme example to make a point.
Let's say there is a small community of believers living in a remote area who are seeking after God. Let's say one person there decides that he is not going to love this world at all and decides to sleep on sticks to not make himself comfortable in this life and world. He has weird ideas but he is determined to do this. He just wants to serve God and not be a part of this world.
So others see him and one of them, says to himself, oh, I'm doing it too. And he puts down sticks and does the same and thinks to himself, wow, Lord look how spiritual I am.
Another does the same and says, Look Lord how holy I am.
Another says wow, I am saved now I am torturing myself and God is watching.
And on and on, each having their own take on doing this thing.

POINT???? In the topic of Eternal Security...some people may be just like me.
They realize that God's Word is true. And the thought of thinking I could lose my Salvation because of my neglect makes God kind of ugly, like He would toss me out for this, instead of keeping me in His Hands as He said that no one could snatch them out.
Yet, another person can find Eternal Security quite convenient. Wow, I am saved and I could do whatever I want.
Another person also finds this quite convenient and thinks okay Lord I believe this and I am going to test the limits of your Salvation.
Or whatever.

It really is a heart issue and GOD wants our heart and trust and belief in Him.

No, Eternal Security cannot be for everybody because I think it is only reserved for those who really believe.

It is a heart thing.

Also, I just have to thank you again for your Scriptures.
I'm still going over them...again.
Thanks so very kindly.

If the doctrine of eternal security is not true, then I am not a saved man.

I have quenched and grieved the Spirit so many times in my Christian life that it is a marvel and a wonder that God didn't kick me into Hell years ago.

I'm not "glorying in my shame:" but I am certainly glorying in my wondrously patient, magnificently longsuffering Savior, Who has sealed me unto the day of redemption, and promised to complete His perfect work in me.

It's like a Presbyterian preacher once said, when asked, "Do you believe in the Perseverence of the Saints?" He replied, "No, but I believe in the perseverence of the Savior."

HOORAY FOR JESUS!

[peopleoftheway]

I'm not "glorying in my shame:" but I am certainly glorying in my wondrously patient, magnificently longsuffering Savior, Who has sealed me unto the day of redemption, and promised to complete His perfect work in me.

Amen to that Brother!

[Forrest]

Originally Posted by Vendetta Ride

If the doctrine of eternal security is not true, then I am not a saved man.

I have quenched and grieved the Spirit so many times in my Christian life that it is a marvel and a wonder that God didn't kick me into Hell years ago.

I'm not "glorying in my shame:" but I am certainly glorying in my wondrously patient, magnificently longsuffering Savior, Who has sealed me unto the day of redemption, and promised to complete His perfect work in me.

It's like a Presbyterian preacher once said, when asked, "Do you believe in the Perseverence of the Saints?" He replied, "No, but I believe in the perseverence of the Savior."

HOORAY FOR JESUS!

Amen, Brother. What a Saviour!