InTouch Ministries Inside InTouch *Understanding Eternal Security* Experience the assurance of God's unconditional love Understanding Eternal Security The following material is a chapter from Dr. Stanley's study guide. The complete 108-page study guide from Thomas Nelson Publishers may be purchased through In Touch Ministries Bookstore . /Copyright © 1998, Thomas Nelson, Inc. Used with permission. The Bible version used is The New King James Version. Copyright 1979, 1980, 1982, Thomas Nelson, Inc., Publishers/ ------------------------------------------------------------------------ *The Nature of Your Salvation* As we begin our study of eternal security, we must keep two definitions very clearly in mind: Salvation?Deliverance from eternal death, and possession of eternal life. Eternal Security?That work of God, which guarantees God's gift of salvation, once received, is possessed forever and can never be lost. What you believe and know about these two terms is vital to your hope and confidence as a Christian, as well as to your witness for Christ/. Confusion about how you were saved leads to confusion about how a person might remain saved./ *What It Means to Be "Saved"* To be saved from sin's consequences is /not/ synonymous with: * Dropping bad behaviors and adopting good ones in order to "get right with God" * Joining a church * Deciding to call yourself a Christian * Going to the altar and saying you are sorry for your sins * Changing your bad habits * Adding Christian disciplines such as prayer or Bible reading to your daily routine All of these things are "works" of some kind. Salvation comes by /faith/. Salvation is the result of believing, not a by-product of doing. Nicodemus, a very religious man in the time of Jesus, was shocked when Jesus told him that the good works he had done as a Lawkeeping Jew were inadequate for his being born again spiritually. Read what Jesus said to Nicodemus: Most assuredly, I say to you, unless one is born of water and the Spirit, he cannot enter the kingdom of God. That which is born of the flesh is flesh, and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit. Do not marvel that I said to you, "You must be born again." The wind blows where it wishes, and you hear the sound of it, but cannot tell where it comes from and where it goes. So is everyone who is born of the Spirit. As Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, even so must the Son of Man be lifted up, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have eternal life. For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life. For God did not send His Son into the world to condemn the world, but that the world through Him might be saved. He who believes in Him is not condemned; but he who does not believe is condemned already, because he has not believed in the name of the only begotten Son of God (John 3:5-8,14-18 ). /Based upon the teaching and experience you have had in the past,what does it mean to you to be "saved" from sin?/ /What new insights do you have into this passage of Scripture from the Gospel of John?/ *The Root Problem of a Sin Nature* To believe in eternal security is not to deny the fact that man has a sin problem or that sin bears consequences, including the potential consequence of eternal death. Jesus made it very clear to Nicodemus that mankind has a sin problem. Furthermore, that sin problem puts mankind into the status of being "condemned already" (John 3:18 ). People can perish and be separated from God eternally if they do not face their sin problem and receive God's provision for it. Jesus spoke very clearly about this in Matthew 25 : * "Cast the unprofitable servant into the outer darkness. There will be weeping and gnashing of teeth" (v. 30). * "He will also say to those on the left hand, 'Depart from Me, you cursed, into the everlasting fire prepared for the devil and his angel's" (v. 41). * "These will go away into everlasting punishment, but the righteous into eternal life" (v. 46). Sin against God is going beyond the boundaries established by God. It is not only a behavioral problem, however--one rooted in attitudes, motives, actions, and patterns of conduct. It is a "nature" problem, an identity or "state of being" problem. Man's sin nature is one of pride, greed, and total self-centeredness and self-will. Every person is born with this sin nature. Behavior is learned; our natural tendency to sin is not. A sin nature is inherent, and it is inherent regardless of the spiritual condition of our parents. It is part of our inheritance as fallen human beings, the descendants of Adam and Eve. Now, a person might change his or her behavior as an act of the will. But a person cannot change his or her basic sin nature, regardless of how much "willpower" is exerted. We are incapable of transforming our spirits or of altering the core of our spiritual being. We are born with a "sin condition" that only God can correct. The good news is that while we were in this helpless, ungodly state, God sent His Son, Jesus, to die for us so we do not have to experience the consequence of our sin nature--which is separation and alienation from God. We/ can /be transformed and made new in spirit. *What the Word Says* *What the Word Says to Me* And you he made alive, who were dead in trespasses and sins, in which you once walked according to the course of this world, according to the prince of the power of the air, the spirit who now works in the sons of disobedience, among whom also we all once conducted ourselves in the lusts of our flesh, fulfilling the desires of the flesh and of the mind, and were by nature children of wrath, just as the others (Ephesians 2:1-3 ). For when we were still without strength, in due time Christ died for the ungodly....God demonstrated His own love toward us, in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us....For if when we were enemies we were reconciled to God through the death of His Son, much more, having been reconciled, we shall be saved by His life (Romans 5:6,8,10 ). *God's Provision for Man's Sin Problem* God has a "provision" for man's sin problem--a provision born of His love. Every man and woman is the object of God's love, regardless of their past or present deeds. It is wrong, however, to conclude that every person is "accepted" or has been made acceptable to God. Even though God loves each person with an immeasurable, unfathomable love, God's pure and holy nature cannot coexist with sin. In order for man and God to be fully reconciled, the nature of man must be changed from a sin (wrong) nature to a righteous (right) nature. Only when this transformation has been made and a man or woman has been "born again" in spirit by the Spirit is that person accepted as being in right standing with God. Many people in our world today wrongly conclude that because God loves everybody, surely He will save everybody--in other words, nobody will be punished for entering eternity with an untransformed sin nature. That is not what the Bible teaches. Jesus made it very clear that sin has consequences, including eternal consequences, but that just as surely, God has made a provision for the sin nature of man to be changed. Man must act on that provision if he is to avoid the punishment reserved for those who enter eternity with an unchanged sin nature. *Believing and Receiving* Jesus told Nicodemus that the "receiving" of God's provision is a simple matter of believing. Jesus said, "Whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life" (John 3:16 ). Jesus further told Nicodemus the basis on which Nicodemus must believe: "As Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, even so must the Son of Man be lifted up" (John 3:14 ). "Lifted up" was a reference to Jesus being raised upon a cross of crucifixion, on which Jesus would die for the sins of mankind. Read again the story in the Old Testament to which Jesus referred: The people spoke against God and against Moses.... So the LORD sent fiery serpents among the people, and they bit the people; and many of the people of Israel died. Therefore the people came to Moses, and said, "We have sinned, for we have spoken against the LORD and against you; pray to the LORD that He take away the serpents from us." So Moses prayed for the people. Then the LORD said to Moses, "Make a fiery serpent, and set it on a pole; and it shall be that everyone who is bitten, when he looks at it, shall live." So Moses made a bronze serpent, and put it on a pole; and so it was, if a serpent had bitten anyone, when he looked at the bronze serpent, he lived (Numbers 21:9 ). Note clearly that /all/ the Israelites had to do was to /look/ upon the serpent (with belief that this was God's provision for their deliverance) in order for the Israelites to be cured of the consequences of their sin. Jesus said this same pattern would hold true for those who "looked" upon His death on the cross. All a person needs to do today in order to be saved from the consequences of their sin nature is to look at Jesus on the cross, believing that Jesus was and is forever God's sole provision for man's sin problem. A belief in Jesus as God's Son and as God's sacrifice for the sins of man is what saves a person. /Nothing less would do, but nothing more is required./ *What Does It Mean to "Believe"?* Believing in Jesus does not mean that a person merely believes that Jesus once lived on this earth, or that He was a good man or a fine religious teacher. Believing in Jesus means to place one's trust in Jesus as the provision of God for the forgiveness of sin. It means believing Jesus was, indeed, God's only begotten Son who paid the debt for /your/ sin and who therefore qualifies to be /your/ Savior. Believing in Jesus means believing that Jesus' death on the cross was * /substitutionary/?in your place; on account of your sin. * /atoning/?for the forgiveness of your sin, making it possible for you to be restored to God and accepted by Him. * /sacrificial/?the shedding of His blood instituted a new covenant relationship between you and God. All who believe in the substitutionary, atoning, sacrificial death of Jesus are /saved/. That is what it means to be saved. /How do you feel when you read verses from the Bible related to the consequences of unforgiven sin?/ /How do you feel when you read verses from the Bible related to God's provision for the forgiveness of sin's consequences?/ *God's Promises Related to God's Provision* Any person who believes and receives fully the provision that God made in Jesus Christ's death on the cross is a person who automatically receives two "promises." One promise is related to a /quantity/ of life, the other to a new /quality /of life. *An Everlasting Quantity of Life* Jesus told Nicodemus this about His death on the cross: "Whoever believes . . . should not perish but have everlasting life" (John 3:16). In many versions of the Bible the word should in this verse is translated "will" or "shall." The intent of Jesus is that whoever believes will undeniably be given everlasting life by God. There are no qualifiers to this promise-no ifs, ands, or buts. The promise of a heavenly home was also made by Jesus in John 14: Let not your heart be troubled; you believe in God, believe also in Me. In My Father's house are many mansions; if it were not so, I would have told you. I go to prepare a place for you. And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again and receive you to Myself; that where I am, there you may be also. And where I go you know, and the way you know (w. 1-4). *A New Quality of Life* Jesus also gave a promise related to the quality of a person's life once he or she has accepted God's provision of Jesus' sacrificial death. Jesus said that upon believing in Him, a person is "birthed" by the Holy Spirit. Read again what Jesus said to Nicodemus: "That which is born of the Spirit is spirit" (John 3:6 ). When you accept Jesus as your Savior and believe in His death or cross as being /your/ provision for forgiveness, the Spirit causes spirit to be reborn or made new. Note two very important things about this rebirth by the Spirit: *1. /The Spirit does the birthing./* You cannot will for it to done. Your part is to look upon the Cross and believe in Jesus as your provision for forgiveness by God. God's part is to bring about the transformation of your spiritual nature. *2. /Once a person has received the Holy Spirit into his or her life, that person will have a desire to love God, serve God, and walk in the ways of God./* The person who has been truly born anew will want to live according to God's commandments and to follow the daily leading of the Holy Spirit. The giving of the Holy Spirit is to help us walk this new way of life. *What About Repentance?* The word /repent/ means to have a change of mind. The Holy Spirit dwelling within a person will cause a person to want to have a change of mind, and therefore, a subsequent change of behavior. Repentance comes in the wake of salvation. Let me give you an example of this. A man might have a change of mind about whether smoking is the right thing to do. He might begin to believe that smoking is harmful to his physical health and make a decision to change his behavior. In effect, he has "repented" of smoking. But this does not mean that this man is saved spiritually. Nothing about the person's sin nature has been altered...only his behavior when it comes to smoking. Many people walk down church aisles to kneel at altars repent of behaviors that they know are bad or sinful in God's eyes. They repent of adulterous affairs, selfish actions, hateful words and deeds, and countless other deeds of their past. They believe by admitting their sins and making a promise to God that they are going to do "better" in the future, they are then "saved." In reality, nothing has happened to them spiritually because they have not truly accepted and believed in Jesus as their sole means of salvation from the consequences of their sin nature. They may be confessing their sins, asking for forgiveness, and repenting, but they are not necessarily believing in and receiving Jesus Christ. A person can say, "I'm sorry, please forgive me, I don't ever want to do again," and never say with genuine belief, "I believe in and accept what Jesus Christ did on the cross as being for my sins. I receive Him as my Savior." When these people leave the altar--having repented but not having truly been saved?they attempt to change their old behavioral patterns and habits. When they slip and fall back into their old habits, they think they are no longer saved. Nothing could be farther from the truth, for indeed, they never /were/ saved. They had merely tried to change their behavior, and whether they acknowledge it to be true or not, they were hoping to get "good enough" for God to accept them. Being good enough?being free from bad habits and bad behavior, earning enough "points" on the ledger of good behavior?is not what brings about a new spiritual birth in a person. Salvation is solely a matter of believing in Jesus. The repentance and change of behavior come later as the Holy Spirit prompts it, and also as Holy Spirit helps a person to accomplish it! It is vitally important for you at this point to come to this understanding: Nothing you do /apart from believing in Jesus Christ/ causes you to be saved. When you believe, the Spirit enters into you and causes your old sin nature to be transformed into a new nature that is in the likeness of God. The transformation of your spirit is a sovereign work of God; you cannot do it on your own, achieve it through your will or behavior, force it to happen by any other means than believing. /What new insights do you have into the promises that God has made regarding your salvation?/ /In your life, have you ever had an experience in which you repented (changed your mind) about a behavior and attempted then to change that behavior, only to fall back into an old pattern? How did you feel? What did you do?/ *What the Word Says* *What the Word Says to Me* For by grace you have been saved through faith, and that not of yourselves; it is the gift of God, not of works, lest anyone should boast (Ephesians 2:8-9 ). When the kindness and the love of God our Savior toward man appeared, not by works of righteousness which we have done, but according to His mercy He saved us, through the washing of regeneration and renewing of the Holy Spirit, whom He poured out on us abundantly through Jesus Christ our Savior, that having been justified by His grace we should become heirs according to the hope of eternal life (Titus 3:4-7 ). *How Does This Relate to Eternal Security?* If you believe that your salvation came about by anything other than simply believing in what Jesus Christ did for you on the cross, then you believe that your salvation was in some way related to your own will and to your own works. If you believe that your salvation is related to your will and your works, then you will believe that your will and your works can in some way "undo" or negate your salvation. On the other hand, if you believe that your salvation was based solely on what Jesus did for you and what the Holy Spirit has done in you, then you believe that your salvation was a sovereign work of God. Your part was simply to believe and receive what God provided and what God promised. The person who believes this must therefore conclude that since he did absolutely nothing to transform his old sin nature into a new spiritual nature, he cannot do anything to cause his new spiritual nature to revert to his old nature. The critical questions are these: * Have you believed in Jesus as the sole, substitutionary, atoning sacrifice for your sin nature? * Have you received the Holy Spirit of God into your life? * Has the Holy Spirit transformed you and caused your spirit to be "reborn"? If you cannot answer "yes" with full assurance today, then I invite you to look upon the death of Jesus and to believe in Him today. Receive Him as your Savior. You may want to pray this prayer or a similar one. The words are not important. What is important is the intent of your heart?to /believe in and receive/ Jesus as Savior. I acknowledge to You, God, that I have a sin nature. No matter what I do or try, I cannot change this nature on my own. I acknowledge that my sin nature has separated me from You. Today, I look upon the cross on which Jesus Christ shed His blood, and I believe that Jesus is the provision that You have made for me to come into a right relationship with You. I believe that Jesus is the substitutionary, atoning sacrifice for my sin nature. I acknowledge Him as my Savior. And I receive, as an act of my believing, the promises that You have made: I receive Your promise of everlasting life. I receive Your promise that my spirit will be "reborn" by the Holy Spirit and that the Holy Spirit from this moment on will be resident in me to transform my nature and help me to live out a new life that is in full relationship with You and in full agreement with Your commandments. Thank You for sending Jesus to die in my place. Thank You for loving me enough to want to live with me forever. I believe that from this day forward, and throughout all eternity, what Jesus has done for me is sufficient for me to be fully acceptable to You as Your child and Your heir of all heavenly promises. / In what ways are you feeling challenged in your spirit today?/ /In what ways are you feeling challenged to change your thinking regarding your salvation?/ /What new insights do you have into eternal security?/ Congratulations! You have finished a Bible Study on understanding eternal security. 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