The Security of the Believer

(The purpose of this page is to provide evidence from the Bible to support the truth of the security of the believer. Once an individual is truly saved, he or she will never lose that salvation.)

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The following Scriptures are offered with brief comments to encourage believers who might be struggling with thoughts that perhaps they have “fallen out of grace” or lost their salvation. Others may be living their lives in anxiety and fears that something might happen someday that would cause them to miss out on Eternal Life. The Bible plainly teaches (as you will see from these verses) that once you truly become a child of God, nothing can ever change that! He will keep you forever! When we finally get this wonderful truth internalized, we find that it gives us tremendous confidence in facing the battles of life!

I suppose that I should hasten to add that there are many who claim to be children of God who are not! Just because one claims to know Jesus does not mean he really knows Jesus.

This doctrine has often been perverted by unbelievers to justify their continuing in sin. (Hey, it’s o.k. for me to continue in this sin! Remember, “Once saved always saved!”) A true believer has no desire to continue in any sin (even though through the weakness of the flesh he may often fall into sin in spite of his deepest desire to stay out of it).

You will learn from these verses that our Loving Father wants us to have a deep assurance, peace, and sense of security that comes from knowing that He will keep us as His own, forever! You will find yourself to be a far more effective spiritual warrior when you know, in the depths of your being, that God has made you “invulnerable.” Your body may be destroyed, but your inner man is eternally indestructible. One can fight an enemy with complete boldness when one knows that he is ultimately doomed and we are ultimately safe! On the other hand, if the enemy can talk us out of this important doctrine, it becomes easy for him to intimidate us with fears that he might one day pull one over on us and cause us to lose our salvation after all. The assurance that comes from this doctrine is critical for effective warfare!

"For the Lord loves justice, And does not forsake His godly ones; They are preserved forever; But the descendants of the wicked will be cut off." (Psalm 37:28)

Will He forsake us if we are "bad?" No! "He does not forsake His saints!" For how long will He keep us? Forever!

For the Lord will not abandon His people, Nor will He forsake His inheritance." (Psalm 94:14) "

Will the Lord ever decide to let us go? No! Will He forsake us? No!

"Lift up your eyes to the sky, Then look to the earth beneath; For the sky will vanish like smoke, And the earth will wear out like a garment, And its inhabitants will die in like manner, But My salvation shall be forever, And My righteousness shall not wane." (Isaiah 51:6)

How long can we depend on God's salvation lasting? Forever! To underscore the fact that God will not change his mind about our salvation, He stresses that even after "the heavens vanish away like smoke" and "the earth waxes old like a garment", His salvation remains! And it remains forever.

"He who believes in the Son has eternal life; but he who does not obey the Son shall not see life, but the wrath of God abides on him." (John 3:36)

What kind of life do you have if you believe on Jesus? Everlasting! Can you "lose your salvation?" Not unless "eternal" means something other than "eternal"!

"Truly, truly, I say to you, he who hears My word, and believes Him who sent Me, has eternal life, and does not come into judgment, but has passed out of death into life." (John 5:24)

When can a true believer fall back into condemnation? Never! The life He gives is eternal. If, after 10 or 15 years of living a Christian life, you were able to do something that caused you to lose the life He gave you, it would not have been eternal! It would have been "10 or 15 year life".

"All that the Father gives Me shall come to Me, and the one who comes to Me I will certainly not cast out. " (John 6:37)

How many of the ones called by God and given to Jesus actually come to Him? All of us! And how many of us who come to Him will he keep? All of us! Are there certain circumstances that might cause Him to change His mind about us and "cast us out"? No, "certainly not!" The Greek here indicates that there is "absolutely no way" that He would be cast out!

"For I have come down from heaven, not to do My own will, but the will of Him who sent Me. And this is the will of Him who sent Me, that of all that He has given Me I lose nothing, but raise it up on the last day." (John 6:38-39)

How many of us who have been given by the Father to the Son can expect to be lost again at some later date? None!

"For this is the will of My Father, that everyone who beholds the Son and believes in Him, may have eternal life; and I Myself will raise him up on the last day." (John 6:40)

What is God's will regarding the number of people who believe on Jesus who actually end up with Eternal Life? Every one. He is willing, but is He able? See 2 Timothy 1:12; Hebrews 7:25; and Jude 24:

"For this reason I also suffer these things, but I am not ashamed; for I know whom I have believed and I am convinced that He is able to guard what I have entrusted to Him until that day." (2 Timothy 1:12)

"Hence, also, He is able to save forever those who draw near to God through Him, since He always lives to make intercession for them." (Hebrews 7:25)

"Now to Him who is able to keep you from stumbling, and to make you stand in the presence of His glory blameless with great joy," (Jude 1:24)

"Truly, truly, I say to you, he who believes has eternal life." (John 6:47)

Is eternal life something that we have now, or will have someday? We have it now. If the life we have now is "eternal," can we lose it? Not unless "eternal" means something other than "eternal."

"My sheep hear My voice, and I know them, and they follow Me; and I give eternal life to them, and they shall never perish; and no one shall snatch them out of My hand." (John 10:27-28)

At what point might one of Christ's sheep lose their salvation and perish? Never! Who can snatch you away from Jesus' hand? Another man? You, yourself? A demon? Satan himself? No one!

(By the way, the KJV word "man" is not in the Greek. Literally it is "neither shall anyone (i.e., it could refer to a man or demon) pluck them out of my hand.")

"My Father, who has given them to Me, is greater than all; and no one is able to snatch them out of the Father's hand." (John 10:29)

In order to underline and make the truth of our security emphatic, Jesus adds, in effect, "And if, by some inconceivable manner, someone was able to get through MY hand to My sheep, they certainly cannot get through the Father's hand!" If someone wanted to (foolishly) argue that there might be someone greater than Jesus who could take us from Him, no one could argue that there was anyone greater than God the Father Himself! This is awesome security!

"And I am no more in the world; and yet they themselves are in the world, and I come to Thee. Holy Father, keep them in Thy name, the name which Thou hast given Me, that they may be one, even as We are." (John 17:11)

Any one who has confidence in the prayers of Jesus has to be confident of our security in Him. Jesus asked the Father to keep us. Do you think the Father will refuse to do it?

"But God demonstrates His own love toward us, in that while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us. Much more then, having now been justified by His blood, we shall be saved from the wrath of God through Him. For if while 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 5:8-10)

This is a powerful "from the greater to the lesser" argument for the security of the believer! (i.e., If God has done this one thing that is so amazingly great, certainly He will do this other thing which, by comparison, is much less.)

There was a time when we were enemies of God (v. 10). We were sinners (v.8). Back in v. 6 he characterizes us as weak, helpless, and ungodly. We were in rebellion against God.

Now what did God do for us while we were in that state? He sent His only begotten Son to DIE for us. (v.8)

We were "justified" (v.9), i.e. "declared to be righteous," even though we were enemies and helpless to do anything for ourselves. So now we have been reconciled to God (v.10). God's wrath was upon us before, but now He looks upon us in mercy and grace. Remember that there was nothing at all we could have done in that state to make ourselves more acceptable to God. He did it unilaterally and without any of our help! In light of this truth, verse 9 packs an incredibly powerful punch. Do you see His logic? He's done the hard part already! He has made righteous sons out of His enemies! IF HE LOVED HIS ENEMIES ENOUGH TO DO THAT, WILL HE NOT LOVE HIS SONS ENOUGH TO KEEP THEM? If He loved ungodly enemies enough to make them His sons, will he now change His mind about us now that we are sons? Such a thing is unthinkable! This is a powerful argument for our security!

"For whom He foreknew, He also predestined to become conformed to the image of His Son, that He might be the first-born among many brethren; and whom He predestined, these He also called; and whom He called, these He also justified; and whom He justified, these He also glorified." (Romans 8:29-30)

Note the word "He." Our security depends on God, not us! Notice also the inexorable sequence: If we were foreknown, we were predestined, called, justified, and even GLORIFIED. Our experiential glorification is yet to occur, even so, it is so certain that it is referred to in the past tense, as if it had already occurred!

"What then shall we say to these things? If God is for us, who is against us?" (Romans 8:31 )

He, in effect, asks doubters of eternal security, "So what do you have to say about that?" He asks the rhetorical question, the answer to which can only be a shout of "Hallelujah! No one!!!"

"He who did not spare His own Son, but delivered Him up for us all, how will He not also with Him freely give us all things?" (Romans 8:32)

Here the truth of Rom 5:6-11 is reinforced. "If God was willing to send Jesus to die for us, surely He will give us all things. If He sacrificed that much to gain us as children, surely He will now do whatever it takes to retain us as His children!

"Who will bring a charge against God's elect? God is the one who justifies; who is the one who condemns? Christ Jesus is He who died, yes, rather who was raised, who is at the right hand of God, who also intercedes for us." (Romans 8:33-34)

Once again He demands an answer: "If God is the One Who justifies, and Jesus is the One Who died for us, who can possibly bring a charge against us or condemn us?" Once again the only answer can be a shout of "Hallelujah! No One!"

"Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or peril, or sword? Just as it is written, "For Thy sake we are being put to death all day long, we were considered as sheep to be slaughtered." But in all these things we overwhelmingly conquer through Him who loved us. For I am convinced that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor things present, nor things to come, nor powers, nor height, nor depth, nor any other created thing, shall be able to separate us from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord." (Romans 8:35-39)

We are asked, "Can you come up with anything that might be able to separate us from God's love?" Then, in vv. 38-39, the answer comes as a resounding, powerful, "NO, THERE IS NOTHING!" If Christians could end up in hell, they would indeed be separated from the love of God. It is as impossible as it is unthinkable.

"For the gifts and the calling of God are irrevocable." (Romans 11:29)

Once God has called us, it is irrevocable. He never changes His mind and "uncalls" us.

Our security is bound together with the doctrine of the Immutability of God. Malachi 3:6 speaks powerfully here. Israel by rights should have been destroyed. But because God does not change, they were not.

"For I, the Lord, do not change; therefore you, O sons of Jacob, are not consumed." (Malachi 3:6)

Note that the doctrine of security is also bound together with the doctrine of the omniscience of God. (If God knows all things, do you think that He would save somebody whom He knew would later lose it and go to hell after all? Would He waste the blood of Jesus on one who would eventually end up in hell? NO! His calling is irrevocable!)

"You foolish Galatians, who has bewitched you, before whose eyes Jesus Christ was publicly portrayed as crucified? This is the only thing I want to find out from you: did you receive the Spirit by the works of the Law, or by hearing with faith?" (Galatians 3:1-2)

This rhetorical question assumes the answer: "By Faith, of course!"

"Are you so foolish? Having begun by the Spirit, are you now being perfected by the flesh?" (Galatians 3:3)

Note how he chides those who did not accept their own security! i.e., "What kind of thinking is this? Do you think that you start by faith, but continue by works? That's foolish!" If you believe that you can lose your salvation, you must believe that your own works enable you to stay saved. (i.e., that it depends on you!) But it is not we who keep ourselves saved, it is God Who keeps His children!

"For I am confident of this very thing, that He who began a good work in you will perfect it until the day of Christ Jesus." (Philippians 1:6)

This is Security! God started it. God (not we) will complete it! We are saved by grace and kept by grace. It isn't up to us, it is up to God!

"But the Lord is faithful, and He will strengthen and protect you from the evil one." (2 Thessalonians 3:3)

The Lord is faithful. We depend on His faithfulness, not our own. He is the One who will protect us from Satan's attempts to get at us!

Notice Paul's certitude! ("I know...") God is able to keep us! (And, He is willing! see Mt.18:14 & John.6:39-40) God is able to keep what we have entrusted to Him. And what have we entrusted to Him? Our salvation! Our souls! Our lives!

"Hence, also, He is able to save forever those who draw near to God through Him, since He always lives to make intercession for them." (Hebrews 7:25)

How far does God's ability to save us extend? For a few years? No! Forever!

We may stumble and even fail some testings as God prepares us for eternity. We may go down,... but never out!

Jesus forever intercedes for us. How can our salvation not be secure?

"Who are protected by the power of God through faith for a salvation ready to be revealed in the last time." (1 Peter 1:5)

How are we kept? By our ability to hang on, hold out, persevere? No, we are kept by the power of God!

"They went out from us, but they were not really of us; for if they had been of us, they would have remained with us; but they went out, in order that it might be shown that they all are not of us." (1 John 2:19)

This verse answers the often asked question, "What about the guy who once professed Jesus, got baptized, served actively in the church, then later renounces it all and goes headlong back into the world and sin?"

Those who do not continue were not really saved in the first place, regardless of appearances to the contrary.

Those who are truly saved continue. Not by their staying power, but by God's “keeping” power. (2 Tim 1:12; 1 Pet 1:5)

"And the witness is this, that God has given us eternal life, and this life is in His Son. He who has the Son has the life; he who does not have the Son of God does not have the life. These things I have written to you who believe in the name of the Son of God, in order that you may know that you have eternal life." (1 John 5:11-13)

Here we are given one of the reasons that God gave us 1 John—in order that we might know that we have eternal life! Notice these three key words: "know," "have," and "eternal." He wants us to know that we have eternal life, not have a vague, "hope it all works out" attitude about it. He wants us to know we have eternal life, now, not "someday, if we behave ourselves well." He also wants us to know that this life He gives is "eternal", not "temporary." Think about this. Even as sin-proned humans, we may say to our children, "Son, I want you to know that I'll never stop loving you. If you rebel against me, I may have to get tough with you. I may have to exercise stern discipline. But when you come to your senses I'll be there to love you. I'll never disown you." That's what God is saying to us. Only far more emphatically and with infinite trustworthiness!

"Now to Him who is able to keep you from stumbling, and to make you stand in the presence of His glory blameless with great joy," (Jude 1:24)

Once again God emphasizes that He is the one who enables us. He makes us to stand in the presence of His glory blameless with great joy!

The Greek for “make to stand” is very strong. God does not just “encourage” us to stand, He “makes” us to stand.

"Thus it is not the will of your Father who is in heaven that one of these little ones perish." (Matthew 18:14)

Put this verse with Jude 24. Jude 24 says He is able. Matthew 18:14 says He is willing.

Remember Charles Spurgeon's words, "You can't drown the feet as long as the Head is above water!" Jesus Christ is our head. If He doesn't sink, we won't sink!

Jesus won't sink!

Steve Hall
July 1997
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