The Possibility of Apostasy (14)
Who Really Has Security?
Mike Johnson
People who believe in the doctrine of “once saved, always saved” usually take great comfort in their view, looking upon it as one of their most essential beliefs. They also tend to see any group that does not accept this position as inferior. They may ask someone who holds a different view, “Where is your security?”
The Bible does teach “security” for Christians (note Jn. 10:27-29, Rom. 8:31-39, 1 Pet. 1:3-5). However, it does not teach that we have “unconditional” security.
Consider a person (viewed as faithful by a group who holds this position) who suddenly turns to a life of sin after years in the denomination. His sinful activities may include transgressions such as fornication, drinking, and gambling. How is this explained? Has this person fallen from grace? “No,” it would be said, “the man was never really saved, to begin with.” (They state this even though the person might have been very active in the denomination, been a “Sunday School” teacher, and claimed a “salvation experience.”) They seem to be saying this regarding salvation, “If you’ve got it, you can’t lose it; if you lose it, you never really had it.” Consider H.A. Ironside (a noted defender of this position) on this subject:
I do not know how many times I have had individuals come to me with a hypothetical case like this: “Suppose a man who joined the church, who professed to be saved, who for many years was a very active Christian worker, perhaps a Sunday School teacher, perhaps an elder or a deacon in the church, maybe a minister; but after some years of apparent consistent Christian living and helpfulness in testimony he turns his back on it all, returns to the world, and utterly repudiates Christianity and now denies in toto the gospel he once professed. How does that square with your doctrine of the eternal security of the believer?” That does not touch the matter at all. The apostle John tells us how we are to understand a case like that. He says in the second chapter and the nineteenth verse of his first Epistle, “They went out from us, but they were not of us; for if they had been of us, they would no doubt have continued with us: but they went out, that they might be made manifest that they were not of us,” or literally, “that they were not altogether of us.” That is, it is possible to do all the things that I have spoken of and yet never be regenerated. It is quite possible to join a church, to make a Christian profession; it is quite possible to observe the Christian ordinances, to teach and to preach, and yet never be born again. If one teaches and preaches the truth, it will produce good results and will do men good whether the teacher or the preacher be real or not, for it is the truth that God uses.
This explanation seems convenient. However, throughout the years, I wonder how many thousands have ended up, as they would say, being only “pretenders.” In fact, what kind of security does a faith-only advocate actually have? How does a person today know whether he is one of the mere “professors?” The man described above who went astray (and who is labeled as never having been saved) may have had the same claim of a “salvation experience” as the active member. He may have seemed sincere; he may have appeared very devoted to the Lord. So, how does the active member know whether someday the same will happen to him? Is it being said that the many thousands “who went astray but were never really of us” were all dishonest, i.e., they knew the whole time they were pretending? How much security do the proponents of this position actually have?
Those who hold this doctrine will often claim salvation based on some past “salvation experience.” If people begin to doubt their salvation, they cannot repeat it. Their memories may grow dim in time. Yet, those who have complied with the plan of salvation as taught in God’s Word (Rom. 10:17; Jn. 3:16; Acts 2:38, 17:30-31; Rom. 10:10; Mk. 16:16) can, at any time, read what they did to be saved, and receive assurance about what they have done and what it takes to be a child of God.
In the series, we have examined many passages which show that the doctrine that a child of God cannot fall from grace is false. Again, Paul said that we must take heed lest we fall (1 Cor. 10:12), and Peter points out that we must do certain things to keep from falling (2 Pet. 1:6-10). I Corinthians 15:58 tells us that we are to be “…steadfast, immovable, always abounding in the work of the Lord….” A belief in the doctrine of the perseverance of the saints can also cause us to fail to “take heed;” it can result in us not adding to our faith and can result in not being steadfast as the Bible commands. This doctrine has many serious consequences. After becoming a Christian, we must remain faithful to God (Rev. 2:10b).
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