Category security of the believer

Dec 11 2009

Are Believers Secure? …more from Edward Fudge


True believers may know that they are securely in God’s care and keeping, and that no person, circumstance or unforeseen set of events can ever snatch them away to destruction (John 10:27-30; 1 Pet. 1:3-5). According to Jesus, those who believe in him have been given to him by the Father, and he will not lose one of them (John 6:37-40). This certainty is grounded in God’s faithfulness (1 Cor. 1:8-9; 1 Thess. 5:23-24; 2 Thes. 3:3-5), power (Jude 24-25) and love (Rom. 8:35-39). He will finish what he has started (Phil. 1:6). Our source of this knowledge is not Calvin, Luther or Augustine, but Peter, John, Paul, Jude and, ultimately, Jesus himself.

We learn from Romans 8:28ff that those whom God foreknew, he predestined to become like Jesus. And those he predestined, he called. Those he called, he justified. And those he justified, he glorified. We were not there when God foreknew and predestined. We are not yet glorified, though it is so certain that Paul speaks in the past tense. But we do know if we have been called by the gospel. We do know if we responded in faith and were justified. We do know whether we are being changed into Christ’s likeness. Since the same people occupy all these scenes of divine grace, if we see ourselves in some of the scenes we may know that we are in the other scenes as well (1 Thes. 1:4,5, 9-10).

The basis of our confidence is not anything that we learn, experience or do. We do not trust in our baptism, in our good works, or in our praying a ‘sinner’s prayer.’ Our confidence rests, always and only, in God’s faithfulness, power and love. We are secure because of the accomplishments of Jesus our representative, and because of God’s estimation of what Jesus has done (Rom. 4:25-5:1). Each new day we need to ask: “Do I acknowledge that apart from Christ, I am a sinner? Do I trust his atonement for peace and right standing with God? Am I sorry for my sins and determined to turn from them? Do I cling to the cross of Jesus as my only hope of forgiveness? If I sincerely answer “Yes” to these questions, I belong to Christ, and God will keep me to the end. Nothing can thwart God’s purpose. Nothing can defeat God’s power. Nothing can separate me from God’s love.

(more can be found on this subject and more at EdwardFudge.com)

Saved by Christ alone,

Royce

Dec 9 2009

Eternally Secure? Edward Fudge answers


A gracEmail subscriber in Africa asks for biblical insight regarding his present and future security as a believer in Jesus Christ, while a subscriber in China inquires about the scripture passages that warn Christians against falling away.

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Scripture contains many warnings and admonitions, and we must take them all very seriously. “He who has ears, let him hear” (Matt. 13:9). “Not everyone who says to me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter the kingdom of heaven, but the one who does the will of my Father who is in heaven” (Matt. 7:21). “Let anyone who thinks that he stands take heed lest he fall” (1 Cor. 10:12). “Examine yourselves, to see whether you are in the faith” (2 Cor. 13:5). “You are severed from Christ, you who would be justified by the law; you have fallen away from grace” (Gal. 5:4). “Be all the more diligent to make your calling and election sure” (2 Pet. 1:10).

In reading these statements and others like them, it is easy to miss the forest for the trees unless we keep the following larger picture in view. The books of the New Testament were written for the church on earth, not for the church in heaven. The church on earth includes two kinds of people: (1) believers, and (2) unbelievers who claim to be believers (Matt. 13:24-30, 36-43). This is why many will claim at the Judgment to know Jesus, only to be told that he has never known them (Matt. 7:21-23). Jesus told the parable of the wheat and tares to teach this very lesson (Matt. 13:24-30, 36-43).

Faith that is real is faith that endures. We are God’s household “if we hold fast” to the end (Heb. 3:6). Holding fast does not make us God’s household — it manifests our true identity. In the same way, a “faith” that is not genuine but is only superficial is sometimes demonstrated by permanently leaving Christ (Heb. 6:4-12; 10:26-31,39). Some scripture warnings do not concern final salvation but involve discipline, maturity or reward. Most, if not all, of the rest are telling us in different ways to be sure that our confession is genuine and our faith is real. The best evidence of all that, we will see in the next gracEmail, is that we keep our eyes on Jesus and entrust ourselves to him.

(to be continued)

_________________

I received this teaching in today’s email from Bro’ Edward Fudge.

I agree completely and Edward, as usual, stated these truths in such a succinct and powerful way I felt compelled to share what he wrote.

Agree or disagree and why?

Thanks for reading,

Royce