By Gene Lawley
I have always liked the interesting title of that old song from the 1920’s, “Yes, We Have No Bananas Today”. But if you apply that thought pattern to the question of eternal security of the believer, it would read like this: “Yes, we have no hope”; or, “Yes, we have no real forgiveness; or, “Yes, we have no justification;, or even, “Yes, we have no God who is faithful to His word.
If there is no assurance of salvation for the true believer, what shall
we do with this statement in Hebrews 13:5?: “…”For He Himself has
said, ‘I WILL NEVER LEAVE YOU NOR FORSAKE YOU’." (Yes,it’s in
capital letters in the New Testament.)
Does God lie? If not, then, when one who once believed then turned
away from God in disobedience goes to hell, will God be there with
him or her? Of course, one of the major attributes of the God of
eternity is that He is “omnipresent”—everywhere at all times, but this
kind of consideration has a different connotation. (As an inset, look
at the illustration, perhaps, of that scenario in chapter 3 of Daniel,
where the three Hebrew young men were thrown in the king’s fiery
furnace—not unlike the eternal flames of God’s righteous judgment,
or presence without His redemption—yet, because the Son of Man
was with the three men, they were not harmed by the intense
heat. And Jesus saves us from the intense, fiery judgment of God, the
Eternal Judge.)
It appears that one who wants to believe he can be lost, then saved,
then lost again, over and over again, has no concept of the strength of
the will of God and puts himself in the position of controlling and
directing the will of God. It begs the question of whose will is the
stronger—God’s or mine (if I were to believe that way). Look at these
words in John 6:37-40, spoken by Jesus, Himself: “All that the
Father gives Me will come to Me, and the one who comes to Me I will
by no means cast out. For I have come down from heaven, not to do
My own will, but the will of Him who sent Me. This is the will of the
Father who sent Me, that of all He has given Me I should lose nothing,
but should raise it up at the last day. And this is the will of Him who
sent Me, that everyone who sees the Son and believes in Him may
have everlasting life; and I will raise him up at the last day."
Jesus also says, in John 10:27-30, “My sheep hear My voice, and I
know them, and they follow Me. And I give them eternal life, and they
shall never perish; neither shall anyone snatch them out of My hand.
My Father, who has given them to Me, is greater than all; and no one
is able to snatch them out of My Father's hand. I and My Father are
one." So, the real question is this: When Jesus says “they shall never
perish”, does He mean “NEVER”-- really?
After I was “born again” some 57 years ago, and I was hit, “smack-dab
in the middle” of my thinker with temptations and the wiles of the
devil, I struggled for about nine months or more with assurance of
salvation. I had the promises and was memorizing the verses, but my
feelings did not want to submit to the truths of the Word of God. So
the devil had a heyday with me, yet as I began to do what Romans
12:2 says, my sub-conscious mind that had no biblical foundation laid
in place from my younger days began to grasp those truths of God’s
integrity and truthfulness, and I found my faith and confidence in
what God says begin to grow. Romans 12:2 says, “And do not be
conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your
mind, that you may prove what is that good and acceptable and
perfect will of God.” And, of course, there still is a long way to go.
One of those early verses I learned is 1 John 5:11-12, “And this is the
testimony: that God has given us eternal life, and this life is in His Son.
He who has the Son has life; he who does not have the Son of God
does not have life.” Then I realized that the next verse, verse 13, was
an integral part of that thought-line: “These things I have written to
you who believe in the name of the Son of God, that you may know
that you have eternal life, and that you may continue to believe in the
name of the Son of God.” As far as I have discovered, that is the only
place in the Bible where it tells us we may KNOW that we have
eternal life, and it comes from having the Son of God, Jesus Christ, in
our lives, in our hearts.
The last part of the verse is not in some of the translations, but it is in
the King James Version and in this New King James version. Yet, it
grasps a concept that is pertinent to growth and development of
one’s faith in God for the long haul. And that is, truthfully, if one is
not sure of his salvation, he is not likely to progress very much
further in his relationship with the Lord. On the foundation of
assurance of having a fixed and unchanging promise of eternal life
one can have the confidence to step out on faith and discover “that
good and acceptable and perfect will of God.”
Paul writes in 1 Corinthians 3:11-15 some very important points for
us: “For no other foundation can anyone lay than that which is laid,
which is Jesus Christ. Now if anyone builds on this foundation with
gold, silver, precious stones, wood, hay, straw, each one's work will
become clear; for the Day will declare it, because it will be revealed
by fire; and the fire will test each one's work, of what sort it is. If
anyone's work which he has built on it endures, he will receive a
reward. If anyone's work is burned, he will suffer loss; but he himself
will be saved, yet so as through fire.“ [Underscore is mine.]
If the foundation is Christ, as shown in 1 John 5::11-12, above, then
what happens after that does not determine a person’s eternal
destiny. It describes his rewards for what he has done or not done
during his time in his physical body (see 2 Corinthians 5:10). Note that
it says the one who has no enduring works will suffer loss, but he
himself will be saved. So the ball is in our court. Not like the animals,
who are ruled by instinct, God created man with the ability to make
choices, and , O Boy, don’t we? We make some real “doozzies”, some
of us! But let’s not forget that being created in the image of God does
not just involve allowing us to choose our own paths—which does
invariably lead to destruction, but there is an intelligence quotient in
the mix that when combined with conviction of sin by the imprinted
moral laws of God in our consciences can lead us to repentance and
into favor with God through Jesus Christ.
Mankind desperately needs a greater concept of God--that He is
eternal, unchanging, and ever loving, and just in all His ways. In
Hebrews 11:6 we can see what pleases Him: “But without faith it is
impossible to please Him, for he who comes to God must believe that
He is, and that He is a rewarder of those who diligently seek Him.” So
for those who savor eternal life and fellowship with the God of the
universe, it’s all “thumbs up” as far as God is concerned.
