Lordship Salvation, Eternal Security
Galatians 5:4
The doctrine of eternal security (cont.)
7. When we understand the dynamics and complexities of what God must do to save even one unbeliever then we realise the complexities of salvation. The active sin that plunged the human race into depravity was not some heinous sin. With Adam it was eating fruit. The issue wasn't the degree of sinfulness, the issue was obedience; submission to the will and plan of God. The instant of Adam's sin had consequences that reverberated throughout all of nature, not just his own biological structure. (See the Doctrine of the Barrier)
8. Jesus Christ prays continuously for us to be kept in salvation. He is our high priest. He uttered the model high-priestly prayer in John 17:11-16.
9. Christ is the head of the body. That is the imagery of 1 Corinthians 12:13, 21. To say that we can lose our salvation is to say that we can be severed from the body of Christ.
10. The character of God means that God keeps His promises. God is faithful, immutable; He never changes; He always keeps His Word. Therefore He cannot cancel or take back something once He has given it. 2 Timothy 2:11-13 NASB "It is a trustworthy statement: For if we died with Him, we will also live with Him; If we endure, we will also reign with Him; If we deny Him, He also will deny us; If we are faithless, He remains faithful, for He cannot deny Himself."
11. The Holy Spirit seals us at the moment of redemption. This is our guarantee of protection in salvation. Ephesians 4:30 NASB "Do not grieve the Holy Spirit of God, by whom you were sealed for the day of redemption."
12. Ephesians 2:8, 9 NASB "For by grace you have been saved through faith; and that not of yourselves, {it is} the gift of God; not as a result of works, so that no one may boast." In the Greek the main verb is eimi [e)imi] which is a present active indicative. It is the "to be" verb, is or are. But the participle for saved is a perfect participle from sozo [swzw]. Whenever there is a main verb linked with a participle that is called a periphrastic construction. The reason they did that was to intensify the participle. Whenever a present tense is combined with a present tense main verb with a perfect participle the meaning is like a perfect verb. The perfect verb means the emphasis of a present reality of a past act. So it is translated in the NASB "you have been saved (in the past with results that go on). So it is emphasising the present reality of their salvation on the basis of a past act, a past completed act; it is not a process.
13. Our position in Christ protects us. Romans 8:38, 39 NASB " For I am convinced that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor things present, nor things to come, nor powers, nor height, nor depth, nor any other created thing, will be able to separate us from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord."
14. Retroactive positional truth means that at the moment of salvation through the ministry of God the Holy Spirit (the baptism by means of the Holy Spirit) we are identified with Jesus Christ. It is irreversible. The issue is understanding faith. Faith is non-meritorious; all the merit is in the work of Christ.