Eternal Security
by Terry Wane Benton
The writer of Hebrews talks about "full assurance of faith" and warns about developing "an evil heart of unbelief in departing from the living God." Therefore, a Christian can be assured of their salvation and "make their calling and election sure" (II Peter 1:5-12), while acknowledging that they can still fall away and lose their security.
There is a false doctrine of eternal security that says "once-saved-always-saved." The Bible does not teach this. A person can "fall from grace" (Galatians 5:1-4) and be worse than before (II Peter 2:20f). So, there is no automatic security that keeps you covered no matter what you decide to do. But on the other hand, we can do things that "make our calling and election sure" and "if you do these things you will never stumble" (II Peter 1:5-12).
So, if we want to be sure and secure, we can take steps to maintain our security. We can be afraid to come short of the eternal rest by being diligent to "mix" the word into our faith (Hebrews 4:1-2). If we don't keep mixing God's word into our faith, we ought to feel insecure. But combining it into our faith has a way of "building you up and giving you an inheritance" (Acts 20:32).
Mixing it into our faith makes us more aware of our duties and keeps us near to God, taking advantage of His exceeding great and precious promises. When we fall into sin, we feel a need to "confess our sins" (I John 1:7-9). He is faithful to forgive us, and our assurance level continues to grow.
The word of God is powerful (Hebrews 4:12), and incorporating it into our faith gives us the power of strong conviction and "full assurance of hope" (Hebrews 6:11) and "strong consolation" (Hebrews 6:18) in God and His promises. The New Covenant of Jesus has "surety" that He "is able to save to the uttermost" (Hebrews 7:22,25).
When we know Jesus as our High Priest we can "draw near with a true heart in full assurance of faith" (Hebrews 10:22). With all the benefits available in Christ, we should feel empowered to be "more than conquerors" and know we have victory even over death, victory over sin, and victory over doubt and fear.
We can live a life of security and have "boldness in the day of judgment" (I John 4:17). We can have confidence in Him (I John 5:14). That is the eternal security that God wants each of us to be diligent to have by daily mixing His word into our faith.
