Secure in Jesus

The first church I attended taught that salvation was a secure gift from God, not to be lost. The second church I attended taught that you had to be walking with Christ when you died; otherwise, you would not be saved.

I’ve gone round and round on this debate in my own mind and with various people. If I were not such a ‘word’ person, or such a black and white person, it might still be giving me trouble. However, the words, by their definitions, settled this one for me, as did what the Bible says about what salvation does and who does it.

First, eternity by definition is ‘everything now’ with no relationship to time. Eternal life cannot have a beginning or end. Instead the Bible teaches that eternal life is bound up in a Person, Jesus Christ. He has always existed and is eternal (even though some argue this also). The Bible says, “He who has the Son has life.” My eternal life began when Jesus came into my life, but that life that He brought with Him and gave to me is and has always been eternal. Jesus also promised never to leave me or forsake me. If He is going to stick around, so is that life that He imparts to me.

Some say I can kick Him out, reject Him, and stop believing. They point to people like Charles Templeton as examples. That is about the same as using the upright walk of an ape to prove we are descendants of apes. I walk by faith, not by sight. A life of faith relies on and believes what God says. Anyone with faith knows that what God is doing is not often revealed in what we see. Walking by faith is not about what we see, but about what He says.

First Peter 1 starts out with a blessing to God who, according to His abundant mercy has given us new life and a “living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ to an incorruptible, undefiled inheritance reserved in heaven” for those who believe and “who are kept by the power of God through faith for salvation ready to be revealed in the last time.”

Just as I could not save myself through anything I do, I also don’t keep myself saved. Even as I write this, I can hear someone say, “But what if faith is gone? What if you stop believing?”

What if? I have at times stopped believing, at least believing some things God says. Life battered my concept of Him and His promises almost to death, but does my changing concept of God mean that God changes? If that were true, then God could not have anything true about Him, for each person alive has a continually changing view of who He is. God is God, apart from what people think of Him. The Bible says He changes not, and “Jesus Christ is the same yesterday, today, and forever.”

The point is, He said that I am saved by grace through faith, which is also a gift from Him (Ephesians 2:8-9). He sent Jesus into my life, and promises to take me through this life and into eternity to live with Him forever. Does that promise change each time I get frazzled and wonder if He has changed His mind? If salvation depended on me, it would. I would be in and out of the kingdom at every whim of doubt, one moment having eternal life and the next without it.

Back to definitions. Eternal life cannot blink on and off like a lamp with a short in the cord. If it is eternal, it stays on, even if my doubts throw a blanket over it, even if my sins stop me from enjoying its light and warmth.

The lamp stays on because God did this. He saved me in much the same way as He saved Paul, with a sudden and unexpected encounter and without any pleading on my part. He also keeps me. I make mistakes, bad choices, sinful decisions, yet the same abundant mercy that gave me forgiveness and eternal life is still in operation. I couldn’t save myself from sin and I cannot keep myself saved from sin. God does it all.

Those who disagree will point to all the warnings in the New Testament and make good arguments using their favorite apostates as illustrations. My response is to read the warnings again. Are they for those who have Jesus in their life? Or do they speak to those who would say no if He wanted to come in?

As for the apostates, only God knows if they ever believed in the first place, or if they, like Charles Templeton, weep over their decision to throw that blanket over the gift God gave them.