Eternal (Unconditional) Security is a False Promise
By Steven Berg
The following essay is a point by point response to Brent Knox’s article on Eternal Security contained in the GCLI foundations manual pp. 7.87 – 7.108. In this article, Knox defends his position of what is commonly called “eternal security” which, as I will argue below, is a misnomer and should more accurately be labeled, “unconditional security.” It is my contention that those who hold to this position are operating under false assumptions of their opponents’ position. And while I whole-heartedly agree that this is not a divisive issue separating brothers, I do believe it is important since it carries with it serious ramifications depending on what a Christian believes about it. The following responses to Knox’s arguments are not written out of disrespect or to discredit his position as a pastor since many, many sincere and much more educated Christians than I would take his position. Much of the material I am presenting is based upon an excellent book by Dr. Robert Shank entitled, Life in The Son.
1) “In the Great Commission Association of Churches, we have always taught the biblical truth that all genuine believers in Christ are eternally secure.”
Eternal security is not synonymous with unconditional security. One can hold to the belief that a believer’s security is eternal, but only as long as they remain believers. The real issue is not whether this security is eternal, but whether it’s conditional. The Bible is clear that a believer’s security is eternal, but never says that it is unconditional. Robert Shank says, “It is abundantly evident from the Scriptures that the believer is secure. But only the believer. Many who have debated ‘the security of the believer’ have missed the issue. The question is not, Is the believer secure? but rather, What is a believer?” (p. 55).
2) “There are so many Christians who suffer needlessly because they lack assurance of their salvation. They lack the confidence that their sins are completely forgiven and their place in Heaven is eternally secure. Their lives are filled with doubt, guilt, fear, anxiety, and intense self-introspection. There is a better way to live. That is why God wants us to know for certain that we have eternal life. In fact, this is one of the reasons why the book of 1st John was written, “I write these things to you who believe in the name of the Son of God so that you may know that you have eternal life” (I John 5:13, NIV).
This is a straw man argument, assuming that one’s opponent’s position means something when it really means something else. Those who hold to conditional security don’t doubt that a believer’s salvation is assured. It’s not as if those against the unconditional security viewpoint have never seen I John 5:13 or even interpret it differently than those who do hold to the doctrine. Knox has misrepresented his opponent’s true position here. Those who hold to conditional security believe that a believer’s security is a matter of one’s will not ability. Therefore, there is no reason for someone to fear “losing” his or her salvation; to be filled with doubt, guilt, fear, and anxiety. A believer who continues in his faith, has complete assurance.
3) “Eternal life is freely given as a gift – not as a result of any human effort. If we admit that human merit cannot save us, how can we say that human merit can preserve us? We did not earn it by our merit; we cannot lose it by demerit. Maintaining our salvation must not become a matter of works.”
Again, this is a straw man. Those who hold to conditional security do not believe that it is by works that we hold onto our salvation. It is strictly a matter of faith. We gain eternal life by faith, and we maintain it by faith as well. This is an act of a person’s will, not his ability.
4) “There is no power that is able to separate us from the love of God…No event, no power, no person can destroy the bond of love that God has for us. There is no person or demonic power that can destroy Christ’s love for us. There is no time in which we are ever separated from His love. There is nothing in Heaven or Hell that can pry us from His love – not even we ourselves. As believers, we are not powerful enough to loosen God’s love for us. We cannot sin enough to diminish God’s love for us.”
Those who believe that a person’s security is conditional do not deny this either. Does not God love even those who are going to hell? (John 3:16). Those who have known God and walked away from Him are no exception. He still loves them even though they may have chosen to abandon Him. This argument assumes that God only loves those who are believers when the Bible does not affirm that. On the other hand, it also assumes that all whom God loves (i.e. the world) would be saved. Since God loves everyone, does this mean everyone is eternally secure?
5) “When Christ died, all our sins were yet future. How then can commission of sin(s) cause us to lose our salvation?) All of our sins were blotted out and forgotten. There is no sin that is more costly than the death of Jesus Christ.”
This is another straw man, assuming that those who hold to conditional security believe that it is a matter of a person’s ability that they are secure in their salvation. Adherents of this belief do not believe that sin would sever his relationship with God. The issue is belief. A believer who sins is still a believer. A believer who no longer believes, is no longer a believer.
The argument that Knox puts forward here is faulty since it fails to explain why God doesn’t save even those who haven’t asked for forgiveness in the first place. Knox would not deny that it takes an act of a person’s will to become a believer; yet he refuses to acknowledge that it takes an act of the same person’s will to remain a believer.
6) “The answer is the same: nothing and nobody. In face, we cannot even do it ourselves. We cannot bring any condemnation on ourselves. There is no condemnation for those who are in Christ (Romans 8:1).”
Amen!!
7) “There are problems of logic that arise if a person believes that it is possible to lose salvation. What or how many sins can cause a believer to lose his salvation? Ho many doubts can cause a believer to lose his salvation? Where do we draw the line? Remember, Jesus taught that sin was not in the act, but in the thought. If loss of salvation is possible, then we would have all lost our salvation long ago, and most likely shortly after we acquired it!”
This is another gross misrepresentation! Knox is again assuming that adherents of conditional security believe that it is SIN that separates a believer from Christ. The only thing the Bible says prevents a person from being a believer is, simply . . . unbelief.
8) “When we believed, we gained eternal life . . . Eternal life is eternal. It lasts forever. And we have it NOW!”
First, commenting on John 5:24, “I tell you the truth, whoever hears my word and believes him who sent me has eternal life and will not be condemned; he has crossed over from death to life,” advocates of unconditional security make much ado about the phrase “has eternal life.” But we must not also forget who it is that has eternal life, those who hear and those who believe. Note that the text does not say that once one has heard and believed, they have eternal life. Rather, the meaning of the Greek verbs akouon and pisteuon have a durative quality which is more properly translated, “He who is hearing my word and is believing Him who sent me…”
Secondly, Shank says that the Bible does not support the view that it simply requires a single act in history to determine the state of affairs in the future.
“But not all agree as to the essential circumstance of repentance and saving faith. Many believe that saving faith is the act of a moment – one great moment in which the sinner humbly acknowledges his sin in repentance toward God and accepts Jesus Christ as his personal Saviour. They believe that one grand and holy moment of decision ushers one into an irrevocable state of grace in which he is unconditionally secure. But others are persuaded that the moment of holy decision is but the beginning, and that the state of grace is not irrevocable in our present earthly sojourn in God’s moral universe in which ‘the just shall live by faith.’ They are persuaded that saving faith is not the act of a moment, but the attitude of a life; the initial decision must be perpetually implemented throughout the life of the believer, and such is not inevitable.”
He also addresses the commonly asked question that Knox would also ask, “If eternal life can be terminated, how then is it eternal? Such a question proceeds from a fundamental misapprehension. It rests upon the erroneous assumption that, at conversion, God somehow implants a bit of eternal life within the soul of the individual in such a way that it becomes his inalienable personal possession ipso facto. Certainly eternal life is eternal. But the Bible declares that eternal life-the very life of God Himself-can only be shared with men. It cannot be possessed by men apart from a living union with Christ, in and through whom that life is available to men.” (p. 52)
Considering I John 2:24, 25 which says, “Let that therefore remain in you which ye have heard from the beginning. If that which ye have heard from the beginning shall remain in you, ye also shall remain in the Son and in the Father. And this is the promise that he hat promised us, even the eternal life.” Shank goes on to say,
“There can be no question whether eternal life will endure. It cannot cease. But the point of many solemn warnings in the New Testament is that our privilege of participating in that eternal life is directly dependent on our continuing to abide in Him in whom, alone, that life is available to men. If we fail to abide in Him, the eternal life continues; but our participation in that life ceases. We share that life only as we continue to abide in Him ‘who is our life.’” (p. 54).
9) “How many times can a person be born? Can a baby be born, then re-enter his mother’s womb and be born again? No. Just as Christ’s death on the cross was definitive, so the work that the Holy Spirit performs in bringing about a spiritual ‘birth’ to the person who believes is definitive. It is not possible for a person who has been spiritually reborn to become ‘unborn.’ We have entered into a new state that cannot be reversed.”
Ironically, the Scripture that Knox quotes prior to this statement, John 3:3 (“’I tell you the truth, no one can see the kingdom of God unless he is born again”) contradicts his own assertion. It is clear that Jesus is declaring that a person can be born again, and, in fact, must be born again in order to see heaven. The real issues is not whether a person can be “born again” but whether he can be “born again” again, which is simply a restatement of “born again.” Such a simplistic view misses the thrust of the phrase that Jesus here coined, which was to indicate the regenerative state of one who has regained fellowship with God. It is very anachronistic to impose this “once and for all” language upon the text.
Again, Shank offers the following warning,
“Ye must be born again!” The necessity of the new birth for the salvation of men is a powerful keynote of evangelism which we dare not neglect. But let us take care that our preaching and teaching be Scriptural, lest our emphasis be merely upon an overt experience rather than upon a holy relationship. Let us beware lest we convey the impression that the new birth is somehow an agent of salvation, rather than merely a circumstance. It is Jesus who saves, rather than the new birth.” (p. 88).
In other words, the new birth experience is simply the mark of a transition from the old life into the new. And, it is not this singular, static event in history which seals a person’s fate, it is Jesus Himself. True perseverance is marked by a dynamic relationship, not a one-dimensional, impersonal formula.
And, regarding Knox’s statement, “It is not possible for a person who has been spiritually reborn to become ‘unborn’” Shank comments:
“A popular and serious error is the assumption that an equation somehow exists between physical birth and spiritual birth: whatever is intrinsic in physical birth is equally intrinsic in spiritual birth; whatever may be predicated of one may likewise be predicated of the other. Laboring under such erroneous assumption, many have concluded that spiritual birth, like physical birth, is necessarily irrevocable. ‘If one has been born,’ they ask, ‘how can he possibly become unborn?’ ‘I may be a wayward, disobedient son,’ say they, ‘but I must forever remain my father’s own son.’ In defense of what seems to them to be an obviously logical conclusion, they have proceeded in good conscience to impose unwarranted and fanciful interpretations upon many simple discourses of Jesus and upon many plain, explicit warning passages in the New Testament. After all, the Scriptures must agree! But consider three essential differences between physical birth and spiritual birth.
- Physical birth effects the inception of the life of the subject in toto, whereas spiritual birth involves only a transition from one mode of life to another…
- In physical birth, the subject has no prior knowledge and gives no consent, whereas in spiritual birth, the subject must have a prior knowledge of the Gospel and must give consent…
- In physical birth, the individual receives a life independent of his parents. They may die, but he lives on. But in spiritual birth, the subject receives no independent life. He becomes a partaker of the life and nature of Him who begets – a participant, by faith, in the eternal life of God in Christ ‘who is our life.’
10) “When we believed, our old sin nature was crucified, and we were given a new nature. We are now a new creature . . . Our sinful nature was removed, cut away. We were given a new nature. We are not the same old people anymore. Something far more dramatic than just gaining a ‘ticket to Heaven’ happened to when we believed. A dramatic change occurred on the inside. We are different people. Our natures have changed. We were united with Christ. We have experienced a crucifixion of our sinful nature and we have experienced a resurrection of a new nature. Can this ever be reversed? NO. Once circumcision cuts away the flesh, can the flesh ever be reattached? NO. In the same way, once our sinful nature has been cut away, it can never be re-attached.”
This argument is based on Knox’ quotation of 2 Corinthians 5:17 which says, “Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; the old has gone, the new has come.” This means that if someone is “in Christ” he is a new creature. This necessarily means that those who are not “in Christ” are not new creatures. John 15:1-6 makes it clear that those who were once “in Christ” can be severed.
11) “When we believed, we were adopted into God’s family as sons and daughters. . . Can a child adopted by God become ‘un-adopted?’ No. Once a son, always a son. At times, my sons may rebel or dishonor me, but they will always be my sons.”
Do we lose our free will once we become Christians? WHY would God force someone to spend eternity with Him when he has decided not to? The point of “sonship” is inheritance. While God will never disown His sons (and daughters) Himself, they can forfeit their inheritance if they so choose.
12) “When we believed, we were raised up with Christ, glorified, and seated with Christ in Heaven. We have been justified, redeemed and reconciled. In fact, every word used to describe our salvation is used in the past tense.”
This is only partially true. We do not attain our glorified bodies until we reach heaven. Also, while it is true that we are, “justified, redeemed and reconciled” in the past tense, this only applies to those who believe. Again, the Bible never says that once a person has believed (but may no longer), that they are will always be justified, redeemed and reconciled. Salvation is reserved strictly for believers. If a person does not believe, (whether they used to or not), they are not saved. There have been no Scriptural references offered which contradict this very basic truth.
13) “Just like a deposit made on a purchase agreement when buying a house, so God has made a deposit guaranteeing our eternal destiny. If we have the Spirit, we WILL gain our eternal inheritance”
This quote by John MacArthur only serves to reaffirm conditional security. IF a person has the Spirit, then he will have eternal life. Who is it that does not have the Spirit? Obviously, it is those who do not believe and who therefore do not have eternal life.
14) “All that the Father gives me will come to me, and whoever comes to me I will never drive away. For I have come down from heaven not to do my will but to do the will of him who sent me. And this is the will of him who sent me, that I shall lose none of all that he has given me, but raise them up at the last day. For my Father’s will is that everyone who looks to the Son and believes in him shall have eternal life, and I will raise him up at the last day.” (John 6:37 – 40, NIV)”
ONLY those who come to him, who are given to him, and who looks to the Son and believes “shall have eternal life. If someone is not coming to him, looking to him, and believing in him, shall NOT have eternal life.
15) “My sheep listen to my voice; I know them, and they follow me. I give them eternal life, and they shall never perish; no one can snatch them out of my hand. My Father, who has given them to me, is greater than all; no one can snatch them out of my Father’s hand” (John 10:27-29, NIV).”
Those who are given eternal life and who will never perish are His sheep. So, the question is, “WHO are His sheep?”
16) “To him who is able to keep you from falling and to present you before his glorious presence without fault and with great joy.” (Jude 24, NIV).
It is evident that Jude is speaking to believers who trust in Christ. Those who do not believe, He does not keep.
17) “It [eternal security] will lead to license. Those who object to the teaching of eternal security believe if people know they can never lose their salvation they will sin with abandon.”
First, this is not an argument I have ever heard. Anyone who would use this as an argument is misguided. Knox’s rebuttal is accurate.
18) “The Bible indicates that true believers will not renounce their faith. If someone does renounce their faith and turn their back on God, it indicates the person was never a real believer in the first place.”
First, Knox fails to provide a single verse to support this point. In fact, there are numerous verses which, on the surface, demonstrate that those who once participated in eternal life, have rejected Christ and are no longer believers. John 15:6 is a perfect example of this, “If anyone does not remain in me, he is like a branch that is thrown away and withers; such branches are picked up, thrown into the fire and burned.” The word “remain” definitely indicates an existing relationship. The conditional nature of the text indicates 1) that it is possible for the relationship to be severed and 2) that it is up to the will of the believer to remain in the relationship or not.
Another text indicating the possibility of a believer renouncing his faith is Galatians 5:4, “You who are trying to be justified by law have been alienated (katargeo) from Christ; you have fallen away from grace.” Katargeo can also be rendered as “severed” in other translations (such as the AV). Paul says that these believers who “began in the Spirit” (3:3), are now following a counterfeit gospel (1:6), and, consequently, have separated themselves from Christ. Knox quotes Wiersbe’s response to this passage which is simply to water down what Paul cites as the consequence of living according to the law. The text says nothing about the Galatians facing the danger of robbing “themselves of the blessings Christ had purchased for them” or that “Christ cannot profit the saint who seeks to live by law instead of grace.” It clearly says that they have alienated or severed themselves from Christ Himself– not just “Christ’s blessings.”
Logically, there is a problem with the view that those who later renounce their faith never actually had faith to start with. Ironically, those who hold to unconditional security are in an even more precarious position than those who believe in conditional security. While the former erroneously maintain that the latter have no assurance, the opposite is actually the case. Ultimately, one can never be sure whether he truly is a Christian. Many of those who formerly professed faith and seemed to exhibit fruit of the Spirit for a while had also been convinced of their relationship with Christ and their eternal destiny. Therefore, if it is possible for someone to profess belief in Christ, fully believe that they are saved and yet not truly be saved, then only those who actually persevere to the end can know that they had been Christians.
The second chapter of 2 Peter is also telling and should be read entirely:
“But there were also false prophets among the people, just as there will be false teachers among you. They will secretly introduce destructive heresies, even denying the sovereign Lord who bought them – bringing swift destruction on themselves. Many will follow their shameful ways and will bring the way of truth into disrepute. In their greed these teachers will exploit you with stories they have made up. Their condemnation has long been hanging over them, and their destruction has not been sleeping.
For if God did not spare angels when they sinned, but sent them to hell, putting them into gloomy dungeons to be held for judgment; if he did not spare the ancient world when he brought the flood on its ungodly people, but protected Noah, a preacher of reighteousness, and seven others; if he condemned the cities of Sodom and Gomorrah by burning them to ashes, and made them an example of what is going to happen to the ungodly; and if he rescued Lot, a righteous man, who was distressed by the filthy lives of lawless men (for that righteous man, living among them day after day, was tormented in his righteous soul by the lawless deeds he saw and heard) – if this is so, then the Lord knows how to rescue godly men from trials and to hold the unrighteous for the day of judgment, while continuing their punishment. This is especially true of those who follow the corrupt desire of the sinful nature and despise authority.
Bold and arrogant, these men are not afraid to slander celestial beings; yet even angels, although they are stronger and more powerful, do not bring slanderous accusations against such beings in the presence of the Lord. But these men blaspheme in matters they do not understand. They are like brute beasts, creatures of instinct, born only to be caught and destroyed, and like beasts they too will perish.
They will be paid back with harm for the harm they have done. Their idea of pleasure is to carouse in broad daylight. They are blots and blemishes, reveling in their pleasures while they feast with you. With eyes full of adultery, they never stop sinning; they seduce the unstable; they are experts in greed – an accursed brood! They have left the straight way and wandered off to follow the way of Balaam son of Beor, who loved the wages of wickedness. But he was rebuked for his wrongdoing by a donkey-a beast without speech-who spoke with a man’s voice and restrained the prophet’s madness.
These men are springs without water and mists driven by a storm. Blackest darkness is reserved for them. For they mouth empty, boastful words and, by appealing to the lustful desires of sinful human nature, they entice people who are just escaping from those who live in error. They promise them freedom, while they themselves are slaves of depravity-for a man is a slave to whatever has mastered him. If they have escaped the corruption of the world by knowing our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ and are again entangled in it and overcome, they are worse off at the end than they were at the beginning. It would have been better for them not to have known the way of righteousness than to have known it and then to turn their backs on the sacred command that was passed on to them. Of them the proverbs are true; ‘A dog returns to its vomit,’ and, ‘A sow that is washed goes back to her wallowing in the mud’” (Emphasis added)
For the most part, this passage speaks for itself. Clearly, these false teachers are apostates, who were “bought” by the sovereign Lord (v1), and who had once escaped the corruption of the world through “knowing our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ”. Peter indicates that their fate will be worse than if they had never “known the way of righteousness.”
19) “There are indeed about 20 passages in the Bible which, taken at face value, could be interpreted to teach that a person could lose their salvation. But there are also many passages and theological concepts that clearly teach the security of the believer. Both cannot be true or we have a logical absurdity!”
First, there are not just 20 passages, but dozens which, taken at face value, demonstrate the very real possibility of abandoning the faith. Serious consideration should be taken regarding the following passages.
Secondly, the passages which clearly teach the security of the believer, again, are not directed against those who hold to conditional security. The doctrine of conditional security affirms that believers are eternally secure. Again, the question is not the nature of one’s security, but whether one is a believer. Thus, the verses which advocates of unconditional security promote only apply to those who have persevered to the end.
20) “Hymanaeus and Alexander defected from the faith, and were leading others away. Here Paul seems to be saying that they were never saved in the first place. Note his comment in verse 19: ‘nevertheless, God’s solid foundation stands firm, sealed with this inscription: “The Lord knows those who are his,’ and ‘everyone who confesses the name of the Lord must turn away from wickedness.”’”
First, the phrase “defected from the faith” that Knox uses here contradicts his own interpretation. To “defect” means to have once been a member of something and then to abandon it. How can one defect from a country he has never been a citizen of? Likewise, how can a person defect from the kingdom of God, if he never belonged to it in the first place?
Secondly, regarding Paul’s comments in verse 19, this verse only identifies those who will spend eternity with Him; i.e. those who persevere. (The Bible knows nothing of believers who do not persevere.)
21) “I am the true vine, and my Father is the gardener. He cuts off every branch in me that bears no fruit, while every branch that does bear fruit he prunes so that it will be even more fruitful. Remain in me, and I will remain in you. No branch can bear fruit by itself; it must remain in the vine. Neither can you bear fruit unless you remain in me. If anyone does not remain in me, he is like a branch that is thrown away and withers; such branches are picked up, thrown into the fire and burned.”
Warren Wiersbe writes: ‘It is important to remember that not everything ina parable must mean something. A parable teaches one main truth, and to try to make a parable ‘stand on all four legs’ is often the first step toward misinterpretation.”
First of all, this passage from John 15 is not a parable. It is a metaphor. A parable is a fictional story with fictional characters designed to teach a theological principle. A metaphor is the usage of common objects that represent more abstract realities in order to convey a corresponding idea. In this case, Christ is comparing Himself to a vine on which several branches are deriving their sustenance in order to produce fruit. These branches are believers who have a relationship with Christ. The fruit produced by the branches represent the fruit of the Spirit that result from remaining in Christ.
22) “The main truth Christ is teaching in this parable is the importance of abiding in Him in order to bear fruit.”
Wiersbe is only partially right here. In his attempt to downplay what Christ specifically says are the consequences of failing to abide in Christ, he neglects a vital point that Christ is making here. The reason it is so important for believers to “abide” in Him is because failure to do so will result in their being severed from the vine, thrown out and burned. It’s difficult to imagine how Jesus could have made a more lurid description of hell.
23) “To abide in Christ does not mean to keep ourselves saved. It means to live in His Word and pray (v. 7), obey His commandments (v. 10), and keep our lives clean through His Word (vv. 3-4).”
We cannot forget what it means to be “saved.” Salvation is the result of the restoration of a broken relationship with God. It is not simply something to attain. In order for any relationship to exist, it must be maintained. It is a mutual and dynamic entity that withers and dies if neglected. This is precisely what Christianity is. If we fail to abide in Christ, we no longer have a relationship with Him. The doctrine of unconditional security portrays an alien concept of a relationship that is more akin to a mechanical process. Instead of personal, it is more in line with a formulaic religion. Thus, what Jesus is saying here, is that “abiding in Christ” is not optional. For Wiersbe to suggest that a Christian can remain “saved” and yet not abide, is absurd.
24) “The Christian who fails to abide in Christ becomes like a useless branch, like the salt that loses its taste and is good for nothing.”
This common interpretation of Jesus’ metaphor is an unwarranted stretch motivated by theological bias and is simply a very weak argument against conditional security. It waters down the thrust of the text by suggesting that a Christian who does not abide is simply useless for the cause of Christ. Jesus says nothing about the usefulness of the branch. He is addressing the state of the branch, not its function.
25) “First Corinthians 3:15 teaches that our works will be tested by fire. The Christian who fails to use the gifts and opportunities God gives him will lose them.”
This is an even worse stretch than the interpretation above and totally ignores the immediate context of Jesus’ words. Jesus is saying absolutely nothing about our works here. The failure of a Christian to abide in Christ is not synonymous with failing to “use the gifts and opportunities God gives.” The object is the believer himself, not his works. It is not the believer’s gifts which will be lost. The text says that the believer (i.e. the branch), is what is
26) “Salvation is totally a work of God by His grace through faith.”
While this is true in the sense that our salvation is not attained through any human effort, we do participate in the salvific work of Christ. We don’t want to make the Calvinist mistake of associating the sinner’s responsibility to exercise faith in Christ with works.
27) “The writer in Hebrews is simply saying that these believers have become sharers in Christ – and that this will be demonstrated by their holding firmly till the end the [sic] confidence they had when they first believed in Christ . . . God works to bring about the ‘perseverance of the saints,’ at least in part, through encouragements and exhortations like the ones given in Hebrews 3:6-14. But this does not deny in any way the glorious truth that those who are truly born again will have an enduring faith.”
In commenting on Hebrews 6:12 which says, “See to it, brothers, that none of you has a sinful, unbelieving heart that turns away from the living God”, Knox again minimizes the thrust of the passage to fit his theology.
Scriptural Support:
The following passages represent a sampling of the New Testament writer’s genuine concern that those who have come to know Christ, maintain their relationship with Him, or else they will lose their inheritance. Many of these are called “warning passages” and the typical rationale provided by adherents of unconditional security is that while there is no real danger of losing one’s salvation, human beings need to be motivated or else become complacent in their faith. But, if the warning passages are merely designed to motivate us, then what is the real danger? Would they not be somewhat deceptive if the consequences of falling away that they mention were not real?
“Once you were alienated from God and were enemies in your minds because of your evil behavior. But now he has reconciled you by Christ’s physical body through death to present you holy in his sight, without blemish and free from accusation – if you continue in your faith, established and firm, not moved from the hope held out in the gospel.” (Colossians 1:22-23).
“Do not let anyone who delights in false humility and the worship of angels disqualify you for the prize. Such a person goes into great detail about what he has seen, and his unspiritual mind puffs him up with idle notions. He has lost connection with the Head, from whom the whole body, supported and held together by its ligaments and sinews, grows as God causes it to grow.” (Colossians 2:18-19).
“The Spirit clearly says that in later times some will abandon the faith and follow deceiving spirits and things taught by demons….Watch your life and doctrine closely. Persevere in them, because if you do, you will save both yourself and your hearers.” (I Timothy 4:1, 16).
“For the love of money is a root of all kinds of evil. Some people, eager for money, have wandered from the faith and pierced themselves with many griefs. But you, man of God, flee from all this, and pursue righteousness, godliness, faith, love, endurance and gentleness. Fight the good fight of the faith. Take hold of the eternal life t which you were called when you made your confession in the presence of many witnesses.” (I Timothy 6:10-12).
“No one who denies the Son has the Father; whoever acknowledges the Son has the Father also. See that what you have heard from the beginning remains in you. If it does, you also will remain in the Son and in the Father. And this is what he promised us – even eternal life.” (I John 23-25).
“We must pay more careful attention, therefore, to what we have heard, so that we do not drift away. For if the message spoken by angels was binding, and every violation and disobedience received its just punishment, how shall we escape if we ignore such a great salvation? This salvation, which was first announced by the Lord, was confirmed to us by those who heard him.” (Hebrews 2:1-3).
“Therefore, holy brothers, who share in the heavenly calling, fix your thoughts on Jesus, the apostle and high priest whom we confess…But Christ is faithful as a son over God’s house. And we are his house, if we hold on to our courage and the hope of which we boast. So, as the Holy Spirit says: ‘Today, if you hear his voice, do not harden your hearts as you did in the rebellion, during the time of testing in the desert, where your fathers tested and tried me and for forty years saw what I did. That is why I was angry with that generation, and I said, ‘Their hearts are always going astray, and they have not known my ways,’ So I declared on oath in my anger, “They shall never enter my rest”’ See to it, brothers, that none of you has a sinful, unbelieving heart that turns away from the living God. But encourage one another daily, as long as it is called Today, so that none of you may be hardened by sin’s deceitfulness. We have come to share in Christ if we hold firmly till the end the confidence we had at first.” (Hebrews 3:1, 6-8, 12-14).
“If we deliberately keep on sinning after we have received the knowledge of the truth, no sacrifice for sins is left, but only a fearful expectation of judgment and of raging fire that will consume the enemies of God….So do not throw away your confidence; it will be richly rewarded. You need to persevere so that when you have done the will of God, you will receive what he has promised. For in just a very little while, ‘He who is coming will come and will not delay. But my righteous one will live by faith. And if he shrinks back, I will not be pleased with him. But we are not of those who shrink back and are destroyed, but of those who believe and are saved.” (Hebrews 10:26-27, 35-39)
Conclusion:
I would like to conclude by commenting on Knox’s conclusion. He uses the analogy of a child resting in the safety of his father’s grip. No matter how weak the child’s grip may become, the father will simply hold tighter. He therefore, concludes, “We are eternally secure because God has a strong grip. He will never let go. The focus is on God’s ability and our inability. There is an extraordinary amount of comfort realizing that God is responsible for maintaining the grip!”
This analogy is somewhat short-sighted. The emphasis should not be on our ability, but our will. There is a difference between being able to persevere and choosing to do so. Surely, there is great comfort that God will never let us go; but for the same reason that He doesn’t force us to love Him before we became Christians, so too, He won’t force us to continue loving Him. However, it’s not as though we need to be afraid of losing our salvation. One extremely important aspect that has not been addressed in this discussion is the sanctifying work of the Spirit, who plays an extremely important part in changing our desires such that, as we grow in our love for the Lord, the less likely we will be inclined to turn away from Him. So, while it is not impossible for the child to writhe his hand away from his father, if he is insistent and stubborn enough, even to the point of denying him, the father will eventually grant him his desire.