There are some controversial themes in the range of Christian doctrine on which each of the opposing sides seems to be able to muster an array of conclusive scripture-texts to prove its doctrine. Of course the fault does not lie with the Bible. God's word does not contradict itself; but men often do not (or perhaps will not) see the underlying harmony between seemingly conflicting scripture-statements. It is easy in such a case to take a sectarian or partisan attitude--to stress the passages that favor one's contention, and to "explain away" or set at nought the texts that seem opposed--a method too often followed, and one which can never lead to a knowledge of the truth, but only fosters faction and division. The annals of church history are full of that. But the simple faithful Christian will in regard to all such matters commit himself to the word of the Lord, and let it have its whole say, pro and con, and adjust his faith and his teaching to all its various declarations. For, as one great, good man said, "We are not right: the Bible is right."

      The doctrine of "the Eternal Security of the Believer"; or, as popularly named, [1] the "Once-in-grace-always-in-grace" doctrine, is such a theme. It is fervently held by some good and devout people; and with equal fervor it is controverted by many others who are equally true and devoted to the Lord. As always in the case of such decided difference, the advocates of the one side or the other, or both, are apt to take extreme positions; and the extreme on the one side calls forth the opposite extreme. There has been (and yet is) a teaching that stresses the Christian's eternal insecurity, an which leaves the impression that a Christian's final salvation is highly problematical and uncertain. Though one may have come to Christ for refuge, and in his acceptance of the gospel have been forgiven of all past sins--now that he has become a Christian he is "on the spot" as never before; always under test, constantly in danger of being lost--yea, lost and saved by turns. Having come to Christ, he is reminded that his responsibility is now great indeed, and the standard set for him is high, and the Lord makes great demands on him. And even when he thinks he is doing fairly well, the preacher comes along and shows him how far behind he is, how much he falls short of what he ought to be (and he has scripture, too, to back him up); and lets the poor brother know that such as he could hardly hope for acceptance; that he must do a deal better [2] if ever he expects to escape hell. Unfortunately, such a preacher is usually unable to tell him exactly how much better he must do; and so, the matter is left in uncertainty and the poor man lives in constant doubt as to the ultimate outcome of his venture; and to be honest, always feels half damned. It needs not be said that that makes for a very unhappy Christian life. Such a one can have little of joy, or peace, or true hope; and where these are lacking there is also apt to be little love and little zeal. Why should one be interested in bringing in sinners, if after they are brought in their chance of final salvation is only a small per cent?

      It must be evident that there is something wrong with that sort of teaching. When we came to Christ, we came not to be damned, but to be saved. If we understood aright, then surely we did not come because we thought we were good, but because we knew we were bad. We did not come because we were strong--we came because we were weak. We surely did not come because we felt ourselves capacitated to live a Christian life, but we came to commit ourselves, helpless into the hands of a mighty and loving Savior, and to entrust ourselves to Him forever. We sing it so:

      So I came. And now that I have come, am I at the mercy of all the adverse winds and floods that threaten my journey, and have I come to be confronted with problems and requirements which are too much for me? Yea, though I have done fairly well today, I am doubtful of what tomorrow may mean. And how about all the tomorrows? How can such a one as I be sure that I will hold out to the end? Most of the earnest preaching we hear may tend to confirm us in that hopeless prospect.

      It was no doubt the reaction to such a dark outlook that led to the doctrine of "Eternal Security"; and the comfort and relief it offered was hailed by countless poor souls. "And is it not scriptural?" Did not the Lord Jesus say that His sheep should never perish, and that no one should be able to pluck them out of His hand? And is it not written that neither life nor death nor angels nor principalities nor powers, nor things present, nor things to come, nor any other creature, shall be able to separate us from the love of God which is in Christ Jesus our Lord? Yes--all this is written, and much more along the same line; and it is all true, and we cannot but thank and praise Him from whom it comes for this good assurance. Nor shall anything be said here to contradict, or to [4] detract from, these exceeding good and precious promises.

      But we are such one-sided and short-sighted folk. No sooner do we get hold of a truth, but it is apt to blind us to some other equally important consideration. We seize upon the welcome truth and run away with it, and are off, perhaps, to some hurtful and foolish extreme which God never intended. If the doctrine of the uncertainty of the Christian's salvation has darkened the hope and weakened the hands of many, the doctrine of God's keeping of us has been so set forth by some of its advocates as to tend to make men careless of their lives and conduct, and actually to give them encouragement to sin. This will perhaps be disputed by the "once-in-grace, always-in-grace teachers; but cases are many and too well known to be denied. Also the advocates of this doctrine have too often ignored the warnings of God, and have taken the edge off His solemn cautions, and by exegetical leger-de-main have explained away God's danger-signals; forgetting that one way God has of keeping us is by making us careful. It would be hard to say which of the two extremes is the more harmful. May God give us vision to see and believe all His truth, and to walk in the light thereof; that on the one hand we may not live under the curse of the law (Galatians 3:10) nor, on the other, commit [5] ourselves to any fatalistic confidence, and fall into "careless ease of fools" (Proverbs 1:32).

      In discussing this question I thought good to follow the argument presented in a pamphlet entitled "The Eternal Security of the Believer," very ably written by a nationally known Bible teacher;^a and that not with intention of nullifying any truth or scripture he presents, but to set the whole subject in the light of the whole word of God, in so far as God may grant me ability and wisdom to do this.

      The first, and one of the chief arguments for the Eternal Security teaching is that drawn from Romans 8:38, 39--"For I am persuaded, 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 creature, shall be able to separate us from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord."

      Here is indeed a blessed assurance for God's people; and it has been our strength in utmost need, and a comfort in trying hours: that love of God, true and stedfast, which never changes, which does not fluctuate with our condition or our frame. Is this declaration to be depended on? May I rest my heart and soul on it? If those who hold the Eternal Security position would expect here a negative answer to [6] these questions, it would only show how far they have misunderstood the faithful, non-partisan attitude of a simple Christian toward the word of God. The present writer does not only "admit" the teaching of this great passage, but he glories in it, and thanks and praises God for it. Nevertheless, when he comes to such a statement as Jude 20--"But ye beloved, building up yourselves on your most holy faith, praying in the Holy Spirit, keep yourselves in the love of God"--he will understand this, not as a contradiction of Romans 8:38, 39, but as showing that God expects this much of co-operation on our part. It is as if He had said, "Nothing can separate you from my love--therefore keep yourselves in my love. Do not forsake it, do not leave it, but abide in it." If we ask how we are to keep ourselves in His love--this is the answer: "Building up yourselves on your most holy faith" (which certainly points to a faithful use of the Word, by which faith is originated and sustained) and "praying in the Holy Spirit." Thus you abide in that love. But does it also mean that a Christian may neglect the Word and cease to pray, and yet be kept in the love of God? Surely not. That indeed would be a contradiction. If "building up yourselves on your most holy faith," and "praying in the Holy Spirit" is the way to "keep yourselves in the love of God," [7] it certainly means that by forsaking the Word and ceasing to pray one drifts away from the love of God.

      But--and here comes the unanswerable reply--"if a man is truly regenerated and a child of God, he will not do that." Now, of course, there would be no way to disprove that kind of statement. In fact this would be a plain begging of the question. Moreover it simply shifts the doubt and uncertainty from one end of the line to the other, or, rather, from the end to the beginning. "You can be absolutely sure that you will be saved at last, if you are truly a regenerated soul, a child of God," it means. The next question that would naturally come to mind would be--"Am I such a one?" As the old-time folk used to sing it,

      Now in every case when one who once had seemed to be a faithful Christian abandons his faith and the church, and dies in unbelief and disobedience, the matter is dismissed by saying "He never was a true believer"; and "He never was a child of God." Of course that would settle that. But one would like to know how that really helps in the matter. As the old-time evangelist, Sam Jones,^b tersely put it: "There's not so much difference between you Methodists and Baptists: the [8]

      Methodists say they have got it, but they're always afraid they're going to lose it; the Baptists say they can't lose it, but they're always afraid they haven't got it." The author of the pamphlet above referred to uses much space to show that though a man might make fair profession of faith, be baptized, become a communicant, take an interest in Christian work, he may yet not therefore be forever secure; and that though one may manifest great gifts and exercise them in Christian testimony, it would be no proof that he is eternally saved. He refers to Matthew 7:21-23 with this comment:

      "You remember how He speaks of His own in John 10:27-30: 'My sheep hear My voice, and I know them, and they follow Me: and I give unto them eternal life; and they shall never perish, neither shall any man pluck them out of My hand. My [9] Father, which gave them Me, is greater than all; and no man is able to pluck them out of My Father's hand. I and My Father are one.' Of His own He says, 'I know them.' Of these others, in spite of all their activity, in spite of all their accomplishments, He says in the day of judgment, 'I never knew you.' That is a very solemn thing. That answers a question that is frequently put to us. I do not know how many times I have had individuals come to me with a hypothetical case like this: 'Suppose a man who joined the church, who professed to be saved, who for a number of years was a very active Christian worker, perhaps a Sunday School teacher, perhaps an elder or a deacon in the church, maybe a minister; but after some years of apparent consistent Christian living and helpfulness in testimony he turns his back on it all, returns to the world, and utterly repudiates Christianity and now denies in toto the gospel he once professed. How does that square with your doctrine of the eternal security of the believer?' That does not touch the matter at all. The apostle John tells us how we are to understand a case like that. He says in the second chapter of the nineteenth verse of his first Epistle, 'They went out from us, but they were not of us; for if they had been of us, they would no doubt have continued with us: but they went out, that they might be made manifest that they were not all of us,' or literally, 'that they were not altogether of us.' That is, it is possible to do all the things that I have spoken of and yet never be regenerated.^* It is quite possible to join a church, to make a Christian profession; it is quite possible to observe [10] the Christian ordinances, to teach and to preach, and yet never be born again. If one teaches and preaches the truth, it will produce good results, and will do men good whether the teacher or the preacher be real or not, for it is truth that God uses. Of course He can use the truth to better advantage when it is proclaimed by a holy man living to the glory of God than when it is proclaimed by a hypocrite. Nevertheless, God uses His truth regardless of who may proclaim it, and that explains how people may do mighty works in the name of Christ and yet never be born again."^c

      I have quoted this at length, because the question really hinges there. The author of the above (and probably no other man could have made a better, or perhaps so good, a defense of the Eternal Security position) has simply changed his ground. He started out supposedly to prove the "final perseverance" of the regenerate; he wound up by proving the regeneration of those who finally persevere. He does not hold out the hope of eternal security to the regenerate, as he proposed to do, but reasons back from eternal security to regeneration. Now a Christian who is aware of his weaknesses and deficiencies would as readily doubt the validity of his original conversion (as many indeed do) as to doubt his final salvation. How then could this make for better assurance? Surely there must be something better. Someone has well said, "I do not believe in the 'perseverance of the saints' so much as I do in the perseverance of the [11] Savior."^d Quite good. There I am willing and ready to stand, and therein lies my hope and comfort. But that implies a continued trust in that Savior. The just do live by faith; but if any man shrink back my soul shall have no pleasure in him (Hebrews 10:38). "But," replies my friend, "even your faith is in His hands. Didn't He make intercession for Simon Peter that his faith fail not"? Yea; and for that, too, I am glad to trust Him. I trust Him to keep me trusting And that is quite different from any fatalistic "once-in-grace-always-in-grace" theory.

      It remains to look over a few special arguments--some based on scripture, some "philosophical," i. e. based on human reasonings and conclusion. To the latter we should not give too much weight; but all scripture statements are worthy of our reverent and unbiased consideration. There is the well known, beautiful passage from John 10, already touched upon, which is considered one of the chief proofs of the "Eternal Security" position.

      "My sheep hear my voice and I know them and they follow me, and I give unto them eternal life; and they shall never perish, neither shall any man snatch them out of my hand. My Father who gave them to me is greater than all, and no one is able to snatch them out of the Father's hand. I and the Father are one." [12] (John 10:27-30.)

      Again let me state that a true, simple Christian can have no desire to detract from these precious words. As for myself I can say that from my heart I rejoice in them. I find my peace and hope and assurance in them. I would want nothing better. I only would want to be just such a "sheep" as the Lord here describes--namely, one that hears His voice and follows Him. For certainly one that disregards the Savior's voice, and who follows another master could not be classified as one of Christ's sheep. It might be said however that one of His sheep might forget and wander away; but that if he is really one of His sheep the good Shepherd will seek and find him, and he will come back before he dies; for it is not thinkable that one of His sheep should perish. But then, immediately, the question arises, "Am I truly one of His sheep?" As the old-time brethren used to sing:

      And that leaves us where we were before. But one thing is certain--no man can know that he is one of Christ's sheep during what time he may be walking in disobedience. (This the pamphlet itself declares.) He can get no comfort from its precious promises while he is in such a state. [13] Though he persuade himself that he was once soundly converted and regenerated, and that therefore he will be sure to straighten out before he dies there is always some room for doubt as to the former fact (as shown in this pamphlet); and the hope of the latter might be the most fatal delusion to a man who lives in sin. The fact is you can't know that you are a sheep unless you have the marks of the sheep (John 10:27) and do as the Lord says His sheep do. "Wherefore my brethren give heed to make your calling and election sure; for if you do these things you shall never stumble." (II Peter 1:10.)

      But, again, it is argued that if it is eternal life that the Lord gives to His own, how could they ever lose it? If it is eternal it is eternal; and if it can pass away it is not eternal. This argument is an example of the "reasonings" of which I spoke above; and as such it is of little worth. But those who reason so confuse between the nature of that life and the duration of our possession of it. One simple answer is enough. "The life is in his Son." (I John 5:11.) Hence we have the constant admonition to "abide in Him." "Abide in me and I in you," said the Savior. "If a man abide not in me he is cast forth as a branch, and is withered, and men gather them and cast them into the fire, and they are burned." The branch in this Vine evidently shares [14] the life that is in the Vine; and that is, of course, "eternal life." Now if the branch is cut off from the vine it is cut off from the life, that is all. Some advocates of the Eternal Security doctrine seek to change the plain meaning of this scripture (and of several other passages, Hebrews 6:4-8; Revelation 3:5, for example). When in support of any doctrine such efforts have to be made, it is sufficient proof that something is wrong with the teaching which they seek to establish and defend. The simple Christian is put to no such necessity. He has nothing to "prove," nothing to "put over," no axes to grind. Whatever God says is welcome to him. In case of conflicting passages--if he can harmonize them without doing violence to either, good; if not, he lets them stand and speak for themselves. He would feel no necessity of wresting any of God's words in order to save His good cause. This, in my judgment, is the only fair and right way to deal with the word of God; and we shall not be misled if we follow that course.

      In the course of the argument for "Eternal Security," another supposed proof is given--namely that of "Christ's One Offering." From Hebrews 10:14 ("For by one offering he hath perfected for ever them that are sanctified") it is argued that this must include the atonement for all the [15] believers future sins for ever. Now again this statement of God's word will be joyfully received by every true believer. But one is somewhat shocked to find the following comment:

      "Perfected for how long? 'Oh,' says somebody, 'as long as they are faithful.' No, that is not what it says. 'He hath perfected for ever.' Why? Because the sacrifice is all-efficacious."^e

      Did the good man who wrote that really mean to say that, whether faithful or not, the Christian's sins, past, present, and future, are all forever forgiven? Now, to be sure, there is that ever-ready answer--that "if he is not faithful he never really was a Christian." We have already pointed out the fallacy of that. But what does our friend mean here? No Christian would dispute that in Christ's one Sacrifice all forgiveness is provided for. It is the completeness of the provision rather than the duration of time, that is stressed by the word "for ever" in Hebrews 10:14. Of course that Sacrifice accounts for all future sins that are forgiven, as well as the past. How one original sacrifice can have a perpetual efficacy is shown by the type of Numbers 19---where one sacrifice (the sacrifice of the red heifer) suffices for many cleansings for many days. For the application of the water of purification (which contained the virtue of the original sin-offering), could be made again and again. But that [16] application was necessary and had to be made in each and every case; otherwise the defiled ones would go uncleansed. John in his first epistle sets forth the same truth and principle: "If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness"; and, "My little children, these things I write unto you that ye may not sin. And if any man sin, we have an Advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous: and he is the propitiation for our sins; and not for ours only but also for the whole world." (I John 1:9; 2:1, 2.) Here is the all-sufficient original sacrifice, and its perpetual efficacy. But the children of God must avail themselves of it. It does not automatically remove the sins of the believer, but only as those sins are confessed, and, of course, repented of. It is in this way that application of the original atonement is made and the believer's sins are forgiven.

      But constantly and again and again the question is asked and re-iterated--"Can a child of God be lost?" If one has been "born of God," how could such a one be lost? The question then is whether one who was once born again can at last be lost and perish. The Eternal Security teaching, of course, contends that he cannot. But all the argument over and over is to the effect that if a man falls away he was never really born again. It would [17] follow from this line of reasoning that the only way by which any man can know that be is really a child of God is by his godly walk and continuance therein to the end. Which leaves little to argue about, for according to this, after all, a man's assurance of his new birth depends on his faithfulness. But this argument (namely, that if a man has truly been born again he cannot fall away) appears in one form or another again and again throughout that pamphlet on Eternal Security. But to whom are the apostles talking when they warn Christians against drifting, against an evil heart of unbelief, against shrinking back unto perdition, against fruitlessness, against their hearts being hardened by the deceitfulness of sin? Were the epistles addressed to a lot of unregenerate men? But if to regenerate men, did the apostles warn them so solemnly against imaginary perils--against something that could never really happen? When Paul wrote to the Roman brethren, "If ye walk after the flesh ye must die"--what did he mean? The Prodigal Son in the far country was indeed a son--but a lost son and a dead son to his father; and if he had not returned would he not have remained such? The fatalistic "once-in-grace-always-in-grace" position seems to confound and confute itself. There is surely something better than that set forth for us in God's word. [18]

      The Christian's final salvation is neither an unalterably foregone conclusion an the one hand, nor on the other hand is it a gamble. On the one hand Christians are represented as "rejoicing in hope" (and hope must be definite and sure before one can rejoice in it); and their ultimate salvation is spoken of in no uncertain terms. On the other hand that apostle of Christ who is the preacher above all of the grace of God, Paul, goes about admonishing and warning the brethren night and day with tears (Acts 20:31) and tells the faithful ones to "work out their own salvation with fear and trembling," seeing it is God that "worketh in you both to will and to do of his good pleasure." (Philippians 2:12, 13.)

      In all the promises there is always that either expressed or implied. Shall we blind ourselves to one side or the other of these Divine teachings? We would be very foolish to do so. On the one side we need that sure and stedfast hope. It is the anchor of the soul; it is the helmet of our protection in the conflict with the principalities and powers. On the other side we need all the solemn cautions and warnings, lest in fancied security we slip into carelessness and sin, unawares, or lest, if we have slipped, we should fail to see the danger of our condition, as indeed is the case with many today.

      But is there any guarantee then or [19] assurance of a Christian's final salvation? In answer let me point to three things. There is:

      1. The Promise of God--and that confirmed by an oath, "that by two immutable things in which it is impossible for God to lie, we might have a strong consolation, who have fled for refuge to lay hold upon the hope set before us." (Hebrews 6:18.) The promises are clean-cut and clear, and we trust in the faithfulness of Him who gave them.

      2. The Grace of God. By grace were we saved (Ephesians 2:8). And where sin abounded grace did abound more exceedingly, that as sin reigned in death, so grace might reign through righteousness unto eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord (Romans 5:20, 21). Like Simon Peter (speaking of the Christians' future, final salvation) we can say that "we believe that through the grace of the Lord Jesus Christ we shall be saved." (Acts 15:11.)

      3. The Love of God. "God commendeth his love toward us in that, while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us." From this follows a conclusion: "Much more then, being now justified by his blood shall we be saved from wrath through him. For if, when we were enemies, we were reconciled to God by the death of his Son"--(that is, if He loved us that much before we were reconciled and before we had become His [20] children)--"much more being [now] reconciled, shall we be saved by his life." (Romans 5:8-10.)

      Here then is all the hope and security we could desire. But of all this we can avail ourselves in only one way: it is all summed up in the one word faith. The promise of God demands faith on our part. When God made promise to Joshua He said to him, "There shall not any man be able to stand before thee all the days of thy life." (Joshua 1:5.) Now Joshua did not take that for an invitation to settle down in contentment and ease: he rose up in the strength of this promise and fought with all his might and zeal, and so obtained the afore-promised victory. The Christian, like Joshua, is not out on his own to achieve a victory: he does not work to obtain something that is not yet his, but he labors and strives to possess what is his by foregone gift, that which God has given him. But if Joshua had said, "Well, I have God's promise, and God is faithful: I need not trouble myself too much"--would he have conquered the land? The promise of God is not given to put us at ease, but to spur us on to endeavor; and faith is a principle of action. By faith we lay hold on God's grace, and by faith we realize and appropriate the love of God. "Now the just shall live by faith; but if any man draw back, my soul shall have no [21] pleasure in him. But we are not of them who draw back unto perdition; but of them that believe to the saving of the soul." (Hebrews 10:38, 39.) And if I trust Him to keep me trusting. I shall walk all the more circumspectly, taking special care not to neglect that Word by which faith comes and grows.

      All this is far different from any mechanical and fatalistic "Once-in-grace" doctrine. The teaching of the Book, faithfully conceived sets our confidence in God alone and fills our hearts with joy and hope; while not nullifying the necessary response on our part, nor ignoring our responsibility in the matter.

      Finally, instead of taking up the matter of the Eternal Security as an abstract and speculative question, let us be realistic. We need not decide such questions as whether one who has once been a true child of God could finally be lost. Such theoretical problems (like that of God's sovereignty and man's free agency) tend to confuse our minds and take our thoughts off the practical aim and end of God's teaching. If I see my brother sinning a sin not unto death, let me pray for him (I John 5:16) and let one who is spiritual restore him (Galatians 6:1); for if one of us "err from the truth," I shall not stop to speculate whether he could or couldn't be lost. Let me seek to win him back. For "he [22] which converteth a sinner [i. e. a sinning Christian] from the error of his way shall save a soul from death, and shall hide a multitude of sins." (James 5:19, 20.) If I see a brother walking after the world, the flesh, and the devil, I would tell him he is on the way to perdition; for that road cannot lead home. I would neither tell him that he never was a child of God, nor would I tell him if he had ever been one he couldn't fall from grace. The one word he needs is the call to return to the Shepherd and Bishop of his soul; and the solemn warning that except he repents he must perish. That is the point of it, plain and simple. But as to those who are in the way, yet discouraged and despondent (as all of us are prone to be sometimes)--them I would point to God's exceeding great and precious promise, and assure them on Christ's behalf that underneath them are the Everlasting Arms, and that by the grace of God they will get home despite weakness and obstacles and all malice of the enemy. [23]

[TQES 1-23.]

      The electronic version of R. H. Boll's The Question of Eternal Security (Louisville, KY: Word and Work, [1948]) has been produced from a copy of the tract in the Alex V. Wilson Collection. Thanks to Mr. Wilson for supplying a photocopy of the printed text. The tract was first advertised in "News and Notes" in Word and Work 42 (July 1948): 78.

      Pagination in the electronic version has been represented by placing the page number in brackets following the last complete word on the printed page. Inconsistencies in spelling, capitalization, punctuation, and typography have been retained; however, corrections have been offered for misspellings and other accidental corruptions. Emendations are as follows:

            Printed Text [ Electronic Text
 -----------------------------------------------------------------------
 p. 7:      Jude 21-- [ Jude 20--
 p. 16:     believers future sins [ believers' future sins
 

      Addenda and corrigenda are earnestly solicited.

Ernie Stefanik
Derry, PA

Created 7 January 2001.
Updated 20 June 2003.