Eternal Security and the 3 Salvation Doctrines Compared
What the Bible Teaches About Eternal Security
What is eternal security?
The Belief in the fact that once a person has =really= been saved, that person will never ever be lost. He is eternally secure in Christ. John 5:24.
The belief many call "Once saved, always saved" - "Once in grace, always in grace"
The belief that there is nothing a believer can ever say or do that will separate him from Christ or His salvation. Romans 8:38,39.
Upon what is eternal security based?
Upon the fact that salvation is by grace and not by works (Ephesians 2:8-10, Titus 3:5)
Upon the promises of God. (John 6:37, I John 5:11-13, John 3:16, Romans 8:1, Hebrews 13:5)
Upon the one sacrifice made for sins forever. (Hebrews 9:22-28, Hebrews 6:4-6, Hebrews 10:12-14)
Upon the intercessory work of Christ in Heaven. (Hebrews 7:25, I John 2:1,2, Romans 8:34)
Upon the language of the Bible - In speaking of salvation, the words "everlasting" and "eternal" are always used. (John 3:36, John 4:14, Hebrews 5:9, John 6:47, John 6:40, John 11:25,26)
Corinthians 1:10, Jude 1:24)
To believe in eternal security is to believe in salvation by grace.
Eternal security is not a question of how long one is saved, primarily, but one of how one is saved.
To believe in eternal salvation is to believe in salvation by grace - not to believe in it is to believe in salvation by works, or grace plus works.
All religions and denominations of the world believe that salvation is by one of these three ways:
Salvation by works alone (Muslims, Buddhists, Hindus, Taoism, Catholics, etc)
Salvation by grace plus works (alot of Protestant Christian denominations except Baptists and a few others)
Salvation by grace alone (Baptists and ?? )
Taking all three of these "kinds" of salvation, answer the following five questions with the Bible. (Which one is Biblical and which is not?)
Who is the Saviour?
Those who believe in salvation by works say that the person himself is the saviour, by living right and doing good works.
Those who believe in salvation by grace plus works say Jesus plus yourself. He saves you, you keep yourself saved.
Those who believe in salvation by grace alone say Jesus alone is the Saviour.
What does the Bible say? Acts 4:12, John 14:6, I Timothy 2:5, Hebrews 1:3
How does Jesus save us?
Those who believe in works alone say works save you.
Those who believe in grace plus works say grace and works save you.
Those who believe in grace alone say Jesus saves by grace alone.
What does the Bible say? Ephesians 2:8-9, Isaiah 64:6, Titus 3:5, Romans 3:20,28, Romans 9:16, John 1:13, Romans 4:4,5,Romans 6:23, Romans 11:6
When is one saved?
Those who believe in salvation by works say you won't know till judgment day, until your works are all added up.
Those who believe in salvation by grace plus works say you won't know until judgment day, for you might lose it if you don't work till you die and hold on to the end.
Those who believe in salvation by grace alone say you are eternally saved the moment you are born again, or converted.
What does the Bible say? (Note the tense of the verbs - all in PRESENT tense) John 3:15-18, John 5:24, Romans 8:1, John 6:37,John 3:36, John 6:47,54, I Thessalonians 1:10, John 11:25.
How long is one saved?
Those who believe in salvation by works alone say you are saved as long as you continue good works.
Those who believe in salvation by grace plus works say you are saved as long as you live right, and do good; but, if you 'backslide' you lose your salvation.
Those who believe you are saved by grace alone say you are saved eternally forever from the moment of conversion.
What does the Bible say? (Note the words "eternal" and "everlasting") John 3:16, John 10:27-29, Mark 3:27, John 11:25,26, John 6:37-40, John 6:47, John 5:24, John 4:14, I John 5:11-13, Hebrews 5:9.
Who keeps us saved?
Those who believe in salvation by works alone say we keep ourselves saved by a life of good works.
Those who believe in salvation by grace plus works say we keep ourselves saved after conversion by "holding out faithful to the end."
Those who believe in salvation by grace plus nothing say we are saved by grace and kept by grace.
What does the Bible say? II Timothy 1:12, I Peter 4:19, Philippians 1:6, Psalm 89:27-37, Hebrews 6:4-6, I Peter 1:3-6, Mark 3:27, 1John5:4-5, II Timothy 4:18, I Thessalonians 5:23,24, Jude 1:24, II Corinthians 1:10.
**This was copied and expanded upon from a posting on a forum**
What is eternal security?
The Belief in the fact that once a person has =really= been saved, that person will never ever be lost. He is eternally secure in Christ. John 5:24.
The belief many call "Once saved, always saved" - "Once in grace, always in grace"
The belief that there is nothing a believer can ever say or do that will separate him from Christ or His salvation. Romans 8:38,39.
Upon what is eternal security based?
Upon the fact that salvation is by grace and not by works (Ephesians 2:8-10, Titus 3:5)
Upon the promises of God. (John 6:37, I John 5:11-13, John 3:16, Romans 8:1, Hebrews 13:5)
Upon the one sacrifice made for sins forever. (Hebrews 9:22-28, Hebrews 6:4-6, Hebrews 10:12-14)
Upon the intercessory work of Christ in Heaven. (Hebrews 7:25, I John 2:1,2, Romans 8:34)
Upon the language of the Bible - In speaking of salvation, the words "everlasting" and "eternal" are always used. (John 3:36, John 4:14, Hebrews 5:9, John 6:47, John 6:40, John 11:25,26)
Corinthians 1:10, Jude 1:24)
To believe in eternal security is to believe in salvation by grace.
Eternal security is not a question of how long one is saved, primarily, but one of how one is saved.
To believe in eternal salvation is to believe in salvation by grace - not to believe in it is to believe in salvation by works, or grace plus works.
All religions and denominations of the world believe that salvation is by one of these three ways:
Salvation by works alone (Muslims, Buddhists, Hindus, Taoism, Catholics, etc)
Salvation by grace plus works (alot of Protestant Christian denominations except Baptists and a few others)
Salvation by grace alone (Baptists and ?? )
Taking all three of these "kinds" of salvation, answer the following five questions with the Bible. (Which one is Biblical and which is not?)
Who is the Saviour?
Those who believe in salvation by works say that the person himself is the saviour, by living right and doing good works.
Those who believe in salvation by grace plus works say Jesus plus yourself. He saves you, you keep yourself saved.
Those who believe in salvation by grace alone say Jesus alone is the Saviour.
What does the Bible say? Acts 4:12, John 14:6, I Timothy 2:5, Hebrews 1:3
How does Jesus save us?
Those who believe in works alone say works save you.
Those who believe in grace plus works say grace and works save you.
Those who believe in grace alone say Jesus saves by grace alone.
What does the Bible say? Ephesians 2:8-9, Isaiah 64:6, Titus 3:5, Romans 3:20,28, Romans 9:16, John 1:13, Romans 4:4,5,Romans 6:23, Romans 11:6
When is one saved?
Those who believe in salvation by works say you won't know till judgment day, until your works are all added up.
Those who believe in salvation by grace plus works say you won't know until judgment day, for you might lose it if you don't work till you die and hold on to the end.
Those who believe in salvation by grace alone say you are eternally saved the moment you are born again, or converted.
What does the Bible say? (Note the tense of the verbs - all in PRESENT tense) John 3:15-18, John 5:24, Romans 8:1, John 6:37,John 3:36, John 6:47,54, I Thessalonians 1:10, John 11:25.
How long is one saved?
Those who believe in salvation by works alone say you are saved as long as you continue good works.
Those who believe in salvation by grace plus works say you are saved as long as you live right, and do good; but, if you 'backslide' you lose your salvation.
Those who believe you are saved by grace alone say you are saved eternally forever from the moment of conversion.
What does the Bible say? (Note the words "eternal" and "everlasting") John 3:16, John 10:27-29, Mark 3:27, John 11:25,26, John 6:37-40, John 6:47, John 5:24, John 4:14, I John 5:11-13, Hebrews 5:9.
Who keeps us saved?
Those who believe in salvation by works alone say we keep ourselves saved by a life of good works.
Those who believe in salvation by grace plus works say we keep ourselves saved after conversion by "holding out faithful to the end."
Those who believe in salvation by grace plus nothing say we are saved by grace and kept by grace.
What does the Bible say? II Timothy 1:12, I Peter 4:19, Philippians 1:6, Psalm 89:27-37, Hebrews 6:4-6, I Peter 1:3-6, Mark 3:27, 1John5:4-5, II Timothy 4:18, I Thessalonians 5:23,24, Jude 1:24, II Corinthians 1:10.
**This was copied and expanded upon from a posting on a forum**
Obtaining the Salvation of the Bible
So how do you believe in Jesus alone as the Bible requires for salvation? Simply do not rest or count any of your own good works that you have done, even after you accepted Jesus. Why not you might ask? Because according to Isaiah are equivalent to filthy rags before a completely perfect and holy God.
So how do you believe in Jesus alone as the Bible requires for salvation? Simply do not rest or count any of your own good works that you have done, even after you accepted Jesus. Why not you might ask? Because according to Isaiah are equivalent to filthy rags before a completely perfect and holy God.
Isaiah 64:6
But we are all as an unclean thing, and all our righteousnesses are as filthy rags; and we all do fade as a leaf; and our iniquities, like the wind, have taken us away. |
Many people think that our works after accepting Jesus as our Savior is good enough. Let me put it this way those works done after we are made right by Jesus are acceptable to God as righteous works, but they are not acceptable enough to be counted upon to get us into Heaven by merit of them. So in essence we can not place those in addition to Jesus' work to save us. See the difference?
The works of a saved person is done in appreciation to our Savior for saving us in the first place. You can not use them to make yourself more worthy, because you were not worthy of grace to begin with. This is called self-righteousness and Jesus spoke against it constantly. God gave you grace of His own free will and free of charge.
As always, if you haven't accepted Jesus as your Savior, I implore you to do so. Salvation is a free gift God holds out to the whole world. To accept all you have to do is pray this wherever you are and mean it:
The works of a saved person is done in appreciation to our Savior for saving us in the first place. You can not use them to make yourself more worthy, because you were not worthy of grace to begin with. This is called self-righteousness and Jesus spoke against it constantly. God gave you grace of His own free will and free of charge.
As always, if you haven't accepted Jesus as your Savior, I implore you to do so. Salvation is a free gift God holds out to the whole world. To accept all you have to do is pray this wherever you are and mean it:
Dear Lord God. I know I am a sinner and need your gift of salvation from my sins. I BELIEVE IN JESUS, the Son of God, as my personal Savior. I believe that His death on the cross and resurrection provides forgiveness for ALL my sins past, present, & future. Please forgive all my sins and come into my heart and life. I hereby trust in Jesus FINISHED WORK alone, and NOT upon me & my "good works", as sufficient to make me right with you and fit for Heaven. Please forgive ALL my sins and come into my heart, Lord Jesus. Seal me with your Holy Spirit until the day you come to take me home. In your Son Jesus’ name. Amen.
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Philippians 2:12 'Work out your salvation' Study
Heb 10:26-29 'Sinning after receiving the truth' Study
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Study on salvation security
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James 2:17-19 'Faith without works is dead' Study
most famous backsliders the Bible says were saved
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