The Wonderful Doctrine of Eternal Security

There is something deeply assuring about the doctrine of eternal security. It teaches the believer to understand that salvation is absolutely certain. It teaches the believer that he possesses Heaven as sure as He possesses Christ. It teaches the believer that salvation is wholly based on God’s grace and not on a single ounce of works.

All that being said, many deny the doctrine of eternal security based on what we call the warning passages of Scripture (John 15:6; Heb 6:4-6; etc.). As the apostle John states, these passages do not describe the true Christian but the superficial professor. The person who says that they are a Christian but is not born again (John 3:3-8). John says in 1 John 2:19:

[19] They went out from us, but they were not of us; for if they had been of us, they would have continued with us. But they went out, that it might become plain that they all are not of us.

As John clearly states in the inspiration of the Holy Spirit, those who depart from the faith were “not of us” to begin with. True faith always continues until the end in John’s clear teaching.

The locus classicus text in the Bible for understanding the doctrine of eternal security is our Lord’s statement in John 10:28-30. He says:

[28] I give them eternal life, and they will never perish, and no one will snatch them out of my hand. [29] 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. [30] I and the Father are one.

Here our Lord presents four distinct arguments for the doctrine of eternal security.

The Nature of the Gift

Jesus describes salvation in terms of a gift. “I give them eternal life.” By definition, a gift is not earned. It is by grace. I once heard S. Lewis Johnson say, “Many believe in the principle of free will; I believe in the principle of free grace.” He was absolutely right. And that distinction is pivotal to understanding salvation. The operative understanding of salvation is not in man’s free will but in God’s divine grace. Indeed, that’s the Pauline emphasis! “For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God” (Eph 2:8). Understanding that salvation is a gift is vital to understanding its permanency. God never repossesses the gift. That would be a conditional loan based on works. It is by grace. Faith is the instrument by which this grace is received.

Moreover, the nature of the gift is “eternal life.” The lexical definition of eternal (ainion) in Bauer’s Lexicon (BDAG) is a period of time without beginning or end. This is the gift which is given to the believer. The scriptural support is overwhelming (see John 3:16; 6:47; 1 John 2:25; 5:11). If one possesses eternal life, then logically, it could not be lost because it would not be “eternal.”

The Power of Christ

Secondly, Jesus “and no one will snatch them out of my hand” (10:28b). Eternal life is certain because it depends on the power of Christ! That is a glorious reality. The Lord who can calm the storm and overcome the grave is the same Lord who keeps us!  One of the ways He keeps us is through His ministry of intercession. This ministry is the difference between Judas’s betrayal and Peter’s denial. The reason why Peter returned to the faith is because Jesus prayed for him (see Luke 22:31-34). The prayers of Christ accomplish their purposes. This should give the believer wonderful comfort. If Christ is praying that we will be kept, then we will be kept! Nothing can take us out of His hand. No one can get to us. Robert Murray M’Cheyne once said, “If I could hear my Savior praying for me in the next room, I need not fear a million enemies. Yet the distance makes no difference; he is praying for me.” This is, without a doubt, our Lord’s purpose. He will keep us until the end. And He will raise us on the last day.

[39] And this is the will of him who sent me, that I should lose nothing of all that he has given me, but raise it up on the last day (John 6:39).

This understanding of Christ’s preserving power sustained the Apostle Paul in his Roman death prison. As he faced the sword, he knew his salvation was assured. He says at the beginning of 2 Timothy:

[12] But I am not ashamed, for I know whom I have believed, and am convinced that he is able to guard until that day what has been entrusted to me (2 Tim 1:12). 

And then at the end of the letter:

[18] The Lord will rescue me from every evil deed and bring me safely into his heavenly kingdom.

Once, Martyn Lloyd-Jones’s grandson, Christopher Catherwood, read him a poem that depicted death as going out to sea. Catherwood asked Lloyd-Jones if he liked the poem, thinking the language was romantical. Lloyd-Jones replied that he did not because the poem was wrong! Dying is not going out to sea, but dying is coming into a safe harbor. Dying is going safely home. It is a “safe” because Christ is the one who brings us. And Heaven is “home” because Christ is there. As John Newton wrote in Amazing Grace:

Through many dangers, toils, and snares
I have already come
This grace that brought me safe thus far
And grace will lead me home.

The Power of the Father

Jesus then says it is not just the Son’s power that keeps us. It is also the power of the Father. Jesus puts it like this: 

[29] My Father, who has given them to me, is greater than all, and no one is able to snatch them out of my the Father’s hand.            

Jesus says it is also the purpose and intention of the Father to guard the sheep. And He is “greater than all.” Therefore the logical reasoning is that if he intends to keep the sheep, and no one is as powerful as God, then every believer will be kept. This is the universal teaching of the apostles. Paul says in 1 Thessalonians 5:23, 24:

[23] Now may the God of peace himself sanctify you completely, and may your whole spirit and soul and body be kept blameless at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ. [24] He who calls you is faithful; he will surely do it. 

Peter says in 1 Peter 1:3-5:

[3] Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ! According to his great mercy he has caused us to be born again to a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, [4] to an inheritance that is imperishable, undefiled, and unfading, kept in heaven for you, [5] who by God’s power are being guarded through faith for a salvation ready to be revealed in the last time. 

The apostles teach that the believer’s eternal security rests in the power of Almighty God. And His character is “faithful.”  

The Unity of the Godhead

Lastly, in one of the most profound verses in the New Testament, Jesus says, “[30] I and the Father are one” (John 10:30). This verse is one of those verses you could take to the nursing home! You could ponder it for all of eternity. That the Lord Jesus is distinct from the Father. That the Father is distinct from the Lord Jesus. Yet they are “one.” We see plurality, yet singularity. It is Trinity. The same logic applies to the Holy Spirit! Jesus’s point in reminding His hearers of this reality is to point to the unity of purpose in the Godhead. The Father keeps the believer’s salvation. The Son keeps the believer’s salvation. And the Holy Spirit keeps the believer’s salvation. There is absolute unity in the Godhead; praise be to God! Therefore, we can rest assured that our Triune God is working for our ultimate salvation, and God will not fail to bring it about.