Secure In Christ

by Toms, A. F. | Category: The Disciple Life | Jan 1990

The Bible teaches that every born-again person is secure in Christ; that our eternal salvation received through faith in Him cannot be lost.

It is a main-line truth of God's Word, but one which is very often misunderstood and challenged. "Does it not encourage careless living?" some ask, and the apostle Paul deals with that very question when he asks, "Shall we continue in sin, that grace may abound?" (Rom. 6:1). His reasoned answer makes it clear that there is another main-line truth running through the Scriptures, that if our lives are to be kept for the service of God we have to work out our own salvation with fear and trembling (see Phil. 2:12).

So two aspects of salvation are in view and we have to differentiate between them. Salvation from sin's penalty comes as a gift from God apart from our works, and it is a once-for-all experience. Salvation from sin's power in our lives is an ongoing daily experience and God looks for our cooperation with the Holy Spirit in working it out. These are parallel lines of truth and as we diligently study the Scriptures we shall be able to rightly divide the word of truth as the margin of 2 Timothy 2:15 puts it. With these in mind I invite you to consider with me three strong reasons (out of many) why the born-again believer is secure in Christ.

"In Christ"

Our first reason is contained in the expression "in Christ". It frequently occurs in Paul's epistles and tells of our relationship to Christ when we believe on Him. God takes us out of the world and places us in Christ. So definitely is this the case that when Christ died God counted us to have died with Him and when He was raised again God reckoned us to have been raised with Him. And Ephesians 1:4 tells us that "He chose us in Him before the foundation of the world". Away in eternity past God knew all about us and He chose us to be eternally saved and nothing can alter that decision. The Lord Jesus said:

this is the will of Him that sent Me, that of all that which He hath given Me I should lose nothing, but should raise it up at the last day. For this is the will of My Father, that every one that beholdeth the Son, and believeth on Him, should have eternal life (John 6:39,40).

Eternal life is one of the gifts that comes to us in this great package of spiritual blessings in Christ and there is no way it can be lost, for it was "promised before times eternal" (Titus 1:2). Now to point number two.

Children of God

When a person believes in the Lord Jesus he is born-again and becomes a child of God. This new birth is the work of the Holy Spirit using the incorruptible seed of the Word of God and as a result the believer becomes a partaker of the divine nature (1 Pet. 1:23; 2 Pet. 1:4). That is why John says so plainly "Whosoever is begotten of God doeth no sin, because His seed abideth in him: and he cannot sin, because he is begotten of God" (1 John 3:9). It is the new nature in us which does not sin. It cannot sin for it is God's nature, and it follows therefore that, possessing it, we cannot be lost. There is a part of us, of course, which is very liable to sin, and John speaks about that also. "If we say we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us" (1 John 1:8). We have to understand the two lines of truth and rightly divide between them.

But we can see that having become a child of God we cannot cease to be part of God's family. When God becomes our heavenly Father and we His children it is in a relationship which cannot be broken. How we behave as His children is another matter about which the Bible has much to say. It speaks of reward for those who love Christ and serve Him faithfully; and it speaks also of loss to those whose works are burned up at the judgement seat of Christ. That is where the assessment of our works will be made and we must each stand before His judgement seat. 1 Corinthians 3:13-15 speaks about it, and please notice carefully verse 15, "if any man's work shall be burned, he shall suffer loss:

but he himself shall be saved; yet so as through fife". Notice the distinction between himself and his works. It is the works that are burned; the man

himself is saved, for a child of God cannot be lost. Reward and loss have to do with service and not with our eternal life. And now to our third reason.

Members of His Body

Another thing which happens when a person believes in Christ is that he becomes a member of the Church which is His Body, joined to Him as the Head as the members of our human body are joined to one another. And this happens to us all. "In one Spirit were we all baptized into one Body" (1 Cor. 12:13). Christ is the Baptizer and He is also the Preserver of the Body. It is safe in His keeping until He presents it to Himself a glorious Church, not having spot or wrinkle or any such thing. The very first time He spoke about it He said "the gates of Hades shall not prevail against it" (Mat. 16:18). The whole Body and every member of it are absolutely secure against any working of Satan or his hosts of evil. If one of the redeemed were to be lost, the Church, His Body would no longer be perfect, and that is impossible.

But does Scripture not speak about being severed from Christ? It does. In the Revised Version Galatians 5:4 is translated: ye are severed from Christ, ye who would be justified by the law; ye are fallen away from grace. But the margin explains the Greek word translated severed means brought to nought. The Authorised Version gets nearer to the true meaning in its translation, "Christ is become of no effect unto you". Reading the verse in its context, we understand that if the Galatians were going back to the keeping of the law they would fall away from the grace which had saved them and their lives would become ineffective in the service of God. It was not their eternal salvation Paul was referring to but their lives of service.

This question of reading scripture in its context is most important if we are to understand what God is saying. This applies to every Bible subject, and in this subject of our security in Christ we see how confused people become when they fail to do this. There are many New Testament verses which seem at first to contradict the truth of our eternal security, but when we read the passage in its context with these two main-line truths in mind, we see there is no conflict, but rather a lovely blending together of divine truth.

Secure in Christ? Yes, we must be, for when the Saviour cried "It is finished" all that was required for our Salvation was done. And our security rests on His finished work. He has obtained eternal redemption (Heb. 9:12) and how could it be eternal if it were possible to lose it? And all the redeemed are sanctified (Heb. 10:10) and perfected for ever (11eb. 10:14). God says so, and He has done it through His Son and "I know that, whatsoever God doeth, it shall be for ever" (Eccles. 3:14).

Readers may wish to read the booklet "Eternal Security" by the same author. It may be obtained from Hayes Press.

Toms, A. F. | Jan 1990
The Disciple Life