edited: to tweak BBCode, add verses, & specify
We need to stop redirecting to articles insinuating that "Eternal Security" is sound doctrine. It's not.
The truth: we cannot be snatched/ cannot be plucked out of his hand.
- John 10:28-29 (KJV)
28 And I give unto them eternal life; and they shall never perish, neither shall any man pluck them out of my hand.
29 My Father, which gave them me, is greater than all; and no man is able to pluck them out of my Father's hand.
To "be snatched"/"plucked" suggests something external is making attempts to get at us while we're in Him. In John 10, specifically, it's other men. But nothing, external, poses a threat to God's ability to keep us. Ergo, Romans 8:35-39, listing other external things.
- Romans 8:35-39 (KJV)
35 Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? shall tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or peril, or sword?
36 As it is written, For thy sake we are killed all the day long; we are accounted as sheep for the slaughter.
37 Nay, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him that loved us.
38 For I am persuaded, that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor powers, nor things present, nor things to come,
39 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.
They can't touch us if we stay in Him. If we stay in Him, we won't be separated from Him. But we can freely walk out.
Do people forget the wilderness wandering? Balaam and Balak couldn't successfully curse the Israelites as long as they stayed in God. The moment they started committing prostitution with the Moabites, however, do you recall what happened? Forget your enemies—God Himself will fight against you (He sent plague into the camp i.e. Numbers 25). And guess what Jesus is going to do with churches (believers in His hands, who couldn't come to Him unless the Father allowed, and who decided NOT to repent of certain things/teachings)? Jesus will fight against them.
- Revelation 2:15-16 (KJV)
15 So hast thou also them that hold the doctrine of the Nicolaitanes, which thing I hate.
16 Repent; or else I will come unto thee quickly, and will fight against them with the sword of my mouth.
Revelation 2:21-23 (KJV)
21 And I gave her space to repent of her fornication; and she repented not.
22 Behold, I will cast her into a bed, and them that commit adultery with her into great tribulation, except they repent of their deeds.
23 And I will kill her children with death; and all the churches shall know that I am he which searcheth the reins and hearts: and I will give unto every one of you according to your works.
Jesus wouldn't need to instruct us with "abide in Me" if we couldn't freely decide to not abide in Him after He called us.
- John 15:4-7 (KJV)
4 Abide in me, and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit of itself, except it abide in the vine; no more can ye, except ye abide in me.
5 I am the vine, ye are the branches: He that abideth in me, and I in him, the same bringeth forth much fruit: for without me ye can do nothing.
6 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.
7 If ye abide in me, and my words abide in you, ye shall ask what ye will, and it shall be done unto you.
That certain individuals were specially appointed to wrath or to eternal life beforehand changes none of this because being called does not mean you are saved.
- Matthew 22:14 (KJV)
14 For many are called, but few are chosen.
1 Corinthians 1:26 (KJV)
26 For ye see your calling, brethren, how that not many wise men after the flesh, not many mighty, not many noble, are called:
2 Peter 1:10-11 (KJV)
10 Wherefore the rather, brethren, give diligence to make your calling and election sure: for if ye do these things, ye shall never fall:
11 For so an entrance shall be ministered unto you abundantly into the everlasting kingdom of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ.
Romans 9, like most of Paul's writings, cannot be read by itself without other verses in mind (like the ones I posted above, but quoting out the relevant parts of Romans 9 below):
- Romans 9:17-24 (KJV)
17 For the scripture saith unto Pharaoh, Even for this same purpose have I raised thee up, that I might shew my power in thee, and that my name might be declared throughout all the earth.
18 Therefore hath he mercy on whom he will have mercy, and whom he will he hardeneth.
19 Thou wilt say then unto me, Why doth he yet find fault? For who hath resisted his will?
20 Nay but, O man, who art thou that repliest against God? Shall the thing formed say to him that formed it, Why hast thou made me thus?
21 Hath not the potter power over the clay, of the same lump to make one vessel unto honour, and another unto dishonour?
22 What if God, willing to shew his wrath, and to make his power known, endured with much longsuffering the vessels of wrath fitted to destruction:
23 And that he might make known the riches of his glory on the vessels of mercy, which he had afore prepared unto glory,
24 Even us, whom he hath called, not of the Jews only, but also of the Gentiles?
Yet what do we know about the called? That many are called, but few are chosen. Otherwise, these verses wouldn't be true:
- 2 Peter 3:9 (KJV)
9 The Lord is not slack concerning his promise, as some men count slackness; but is longsuffering to us-ward, not willing that any should perish, but that all should come to repentance.
1 Timothy 2:3-4 (KJV)
3 For this is good and acceptable in the sight of God our Saviour;
4 Who will have all men to be saved, and to come unto the knowledge of the truth.
Acts 7:51 (KJV)
51 Ye stiffnecked and uncircumcised in heart and ears, ye do always resist the Holy Ghost: as your fathers did, so do ye.
Ephesians 4:30 (KJV)
30 And grieve not the holy Spirit of God, whereby ye are sealed unto the day of redemption.
Isaiah 63:10 (NIV)
10 Yet they rebelled
and grieved his Holy Spirit.
So he turned and became their enemy
and he himself fought against them.
Hebrews 2:3 (KJV)
3 How shall we escape, if we neglect so great salvation; which at the first began to be spoken by the Lord, and was confirmed unto us by them that heard him;
Man, out of his free will, can resist and grieve the Holy Spirit to the point that He rejects us even after having called us out of the world. We can neglect and reject the salvation we were given—even though God wills us ALL to be saved.
Or, on the flip side, we can be like the Canaanite woman, who wasn't called, but out of persistence her request was granted.
- Matthew 15:21-28 (KJV)
21 Then Jesus went thence, and departed into the coasts of Tyre and Sidon.
22 And, behold, a woman of Canaan came out of the same coasts, and cried unto him, saying, Have mercy on me, O Lord, thou son of David; my daughter is grievously vexed with a devil.
23 But he answered her not a word. And his disciples came and besought him, saying, Send her away; for she crieth after us.
24 But he answered and said, I am not sent but unto the lost sheep of the house of Israel.
25 Then came she and worshipped him, saying, Lord, help me.
26 But he answered and said, It is not meet to take the children's bread, and to cast it to dogs.
27 And she said, Truth, Lord: yet the dogs eat of the crumbs which fall from their masters' table.
28 Then Jesus answered and said unto her, O woman, great is thy faith: be it unto thee even as thou wilt. And her daughter was made whole from that very hour.
The doctrine that goes by the title, "Eternal Security" denies these verses of Scripture, perverts the Biblical description of what could be described as eternal security (only those who stay in Him have assurance of eternal life). Thus, "eternal security" (the church-made doctrine) is unsound because it is in disagreement with the truth (in light of the full scope of the Bible).
