With all these facts in mind, can one rightly say of David, "He was never really saved to begin with" because he committed the sins of ADULTERY and MURDER? Obviously not! WHY then does this flawed and Scripturally-inconsistent defense of the present-day MYTHICAL teaching of eternal security continue to be regularly uttered as an airtight, irrefutable answer by those who have been eye-witnesses of a Bible-defined Christian of our day who died spiritually right before their eternal security eyes? The answer is obvious -- for logically, if there can be found just one example of a saved person who later lost his salvation, then their beloved teaching is nothing more than a FALSE SECURITY taught under the banner of grace and the finished work of Christ!
It must also be cited that, WITH NO EXCEPTION, ALL the sexually immoral and murderers will NOT inherit the kingdom of God, according to 1 Cor. 6:9,10 and Rev. 21:8, that is, unless they repent. This former passage reads:
Or do you not know that the unrighteous will not inherit the kingdom of God? Do not be deceived; neither fornicators, nor idolaters, nor adulterers, nor effeminate, nor homosexuals, nor thieves, nor the covetous, nor drunkards, nor revilers, nor swindlers, will inherit the kingdom of God. Such were some of you; but you were washed, but you were sanctified, but you were justified in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ and in the Spirit of our God. (1 Cor. 6:9-11, NASB)Remember also that we should always interpret the Old Testament in the light of the New Testament. Therefore, King David's acts of adultery and murder would certainly have excluded him from the Kingdom of God, if he had not repented, according to the Apostle Paul! To believe otherwise is to reject the Biblical evidence regarding this. Furthermore, true GRACE teaching is best described in Titus 2:12:
It teaches us to say NO to ungodliness and worldly passions and to live self-controlled, upright and godly lives in this present age.Besides David, there are other Biblical examples which sheds spiritual light on the phrase, "He/She was never really saved to begin with." Another example is 1 Tim. 5:14,15 which read,
So I counsel younger widows to marry, to have children, to manage their homes and to give the enemy no opportunity for slander. Some have in fact already turned away to follow Satan.Please note that one can NOT "turn away to follow Satan" unless he/she was first following someone else! Since there is only one other possibility, the widows Paul wrote of must have been following Jesus before they turned to start to follow Satan! Also, verse 11 declares that these same widows originally had a "dedication to Christ." Clearly, then, their "dedication to Christ" came to an end or died. Then they started to "follow Satan." This is the Biblical record -- like it or not!
In contrast to Paul, many eternal security proponents of our day, if present then, would have been forced to comment that those same widows were "never really saved to begin with" or forfeit their beloved doctrine! Paul, however, clears this up for all time for those of us that have "ears to hear."
Another refutation is Jam. 4:4b which reads,
Anyone who chooses to be a friend of the world BECOMES an enemy of God.Notice how James declares that one can "become" an enemy of God. One is either saved or unsaved; with Jesus or against Him; a child of God or an enemy of God. Now, for one to "become an enemy of God" must imply he was, just before that spiritual condition, a child of God. There is no other spiritual condition to be in! Furthermore, RAGING FIRE will consume all the ENEMIES of God (Heb. 10:27)! So if one "becomes" an enemy of God from his former spiritual condition of being saved, then he can't be saved any more, especially since RAGING FIRE will consume him! Also, the argument "once a son, always a son" is refuted by the possibility of a saved person becoming an "enemy of God!" In other words, James cites in condensed form that a Christian can come to love the world and show himself no longer saved. He also described what happened to Demas (2 Tim. 4:10)! This, too, is the answer for those who say, based on the Old Testament, that "Christ is married to the backslider," but fail to say, "I gave faithless Israel her CERTIFICATE of DIVORCE and sent her away because of all her ADULTERIES," Jer. 3:8!
To cite another similar Scriptural proof which refutes this eternal security answer, please consider the following:
The Parable of the Sower declares there are four different types of people who hear the Word of God. The second type mentioned "believe for a while but in time of testing fall away," Lk. 8:13. In Matt. 13:21, the explanation of this type of person is given: "But since he has no root, he lasts only a short time. When trouble or persectuion comes because of the word, he quickly falls away." This type of person does not continue to live spiritually, though there was once LIFE produced by the Word of God and personal faith, as the context shows. Also, the Scriptural meaning of "fall away" in context is DIE as evidenced by the "WITHERED" plants. To "fall away" is equated here with ceasing to "believe." In review, such people after believing through the Word of God in such a way as to produce life, CEASED BELIEVING (which is likened unto 'withering'). For someone to say of such "They were never really saved to begin with" is to contradict the plain teaching of Jesus Christ!
Moreover, regarding this same parable, the eternal security teachers are also wrong to say it was "a false faith" that such people had, since it didn't endure. Friend, how could a false faith produce spiritual life? Obviously it can't!
Finally, sometimes 1 Jn. 2:19 is misapplied to teach, "He was never really saved to begin with." This verse says: "They went out from us, but they did not really belong to us. For if they had belonged to us, they would have remained with us; but their going showed that none of them belonged to us." Regarding that passage, please consider the following:
1. If the unconditional eternal security (UES) interpretation of 1 Jn. 2:19 was correct, then we could NEVER know at this moment if someone was REALLY saved or just a professing Christian, who might NOT be saved.
2. If the UES interpretation of this key verse is correct, then how could there be at least fourteen clear, Biblical examples of people and types of people who did indeed experience genuine salvation, then afterwards turned away from Christ to the point where they experienced spiritual death? This too would be an impossibility! Therefore, by allowing the immediate context of 1 Jn. 2:19 and these other Scriptures to interpret this Scripture in question, we must reject the UES view of this verse. Without a doubt, King Saul, King Solomon and the unnamed disciples of Jn. 6:66 were all saved then later turned from God and never came back! With all of the aforementioned in mind, 1 Jn. 2:19 cannot, therefore, be a spiritual principle as so many use it, but a specific example.
[Excerpts are taken from our book, The Believer's Security, Conditional or Unconditional?, which is now out of print. It has been replaced by our much more exhaustive book, The Believer's Conditional Security, which is 801 pages. This newer book, which deals with this important issue, also names, quotes and refutes the present-day eternal security teachers; answers over 110 OSAS arguments; cites important spiritual safeguards to help assure that you and your loved ones will be ready to meet the Lord when He comes; and contains much, much more.]
The true plan of salvation is repentance towards God and faith in Christ Jesus (Acts 20:21). We prove our repentance by our deeds (Acts 26:20). The Lord Jesus taught the road to life is "hard" and only a "few" will find it (Mt. 7:13,14, NKJV). Many get saved, but afterwards fall away (Lk. 8:13; Jn. 6:66; 1 Tim. 1:19; etc.). In other words, after initial salvation we must endure to the "end" to enter the kingdom of God and escape the lake of fire (Mt. 10:22; Heb. 3:14; Rev. 2:10,11). Eternal life comes to the repentant the moment such believe on Jesus for salvation (Jn. 3:16; 6:47; 1 Jn. 5:12,13), but there is another important aspect of eternal life that many are totally unware of in our day because of the false teaching of eternal security. According to true grace teaching, eternal life is also a HOPE (Titus 3:7), yet to be REAPED (Gal. 6:8,9) in the AGE TO COME (Mk. 10:30) for only the ones who PERSIST IN DOING GOOD (Rom. 2:7) and DO NOT GROW WEARY AND GIVE UP (Gal. 6:9).
If a saved person sows to please his sinful nature he'll die spiritually (Rom. 8:13; Gal. 6:8,9). The prodigal is a clear example of this (Lk. 15:24,32). The end result of sin is spiritual death, so DO NOT BE DECEIVED (James 1:14-16). For more information regarding the believer's security, see our what's new page. Our 801 page book, The Believer's Conditional Security, is the most exhaustive and comprehensive refutation to eternal security ever written. It will not be refuted!
Because of the teaching of once saved always saved, grace has been taught as a license for immorality for so long, and without challenge, that when Scripture is quoted, such as 1 Cor. 6:9,10 or Rev. 21:8, it is disregarded, and the giver of God's Word is falsely accused of teaching legalism, bondage, works, etc. This reflects how truly dark are the days in which we live!
The ACID TEST question to know if a ministry or local congregation is teaching a license for immorality as condemned by Jude 3,4 is.