| Eternal
Security! "Are Christians
eternally secure? Can one be saved and then lost? Do some
people go through a continuous cycle of being saved and lost, saved and
lost over and over again? Is it possible for the Christian to live
in the grossest sin and still have eternal life? These are some of
the questions people have concerning the doctrine of eternal
security. The answers are found in the Bible.
There is no question we are eternally secure as long as we remain in
Christ. God has a strong grip on each of us and has no desire to
let any go back into our former status of being dead in sin and cut off
from Him.
This is just a sample, abbreviated
Outline.
You can download the entire Outline by clicking on the links below in
either
PDF or Word formats:
Bible Study Outline - PDF - Word
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The Bible Warns Against Falling Away.
The Bible is clear that some shall depart from the Christian
faith. They shall leave their secure position in Christ and return
to their original position of being lost.
The fact is that one cannot "fall from" a position he has not occupied
anymore than one can come back from a place he has not been.
The word "apostasia" found in 2 Thessalonians 2:3 means ones who have
defected from the truth of the Christian faith. It is a strong
word implying revolt. It comes from a root word meaning to incite
to revolt, to detest and depart.
There Are A Number
Of "Ifs" In The Bible Concerning Eternal Life.
if you hold fast that word - 1 Corinthians 15:2
if indeed you continue - Colossians 1:21-23
if we hold the beginning of our confidence steadfast to the end -
Hebrews 3:14
if we disown him, he will also disown us; 2 Timothy 2:12 (NIV)
It says, "If we disown Him, He will also disown us." It is a
simple truth that you must first be owned by Jesus before He can disown
you. To be owned by Him means you are saved.
There Is A Point
Where God Cuts Off Those Who Turn From Him.
If God did not spare natural Israel when they committed apostasy, what
makes us think that God will spare us if we fall away. We must
continue in His goodness otherwise we too will be cut off.
Hebrews
10:31,38-39 It is a fearful thing to fall into the
hands of the living God.. Now the just shall live by faith; but if
anyone draws back, my soul has no pleasure in him." But we are not of
those who draw back to perdition, but of those who believe to the
saving of the soul.
This drawing back "unto perdition" or waste and destruction is a
possibility or it would not have been written to warn us. The word
perdition indicates loss of well-being, not of being. The
destruction then is everlasting without annihilation.
The Bible Warns It
Is Possible to Fall Away Never to be Saved Again
There is a point where the once saved are completely reprobate in their
minds and actions. Hebrews 6 speaks of the once Spirit-filled
Christians falling away to never be saved again.
Hebrews 6:4-9 For it is impossible
for those who were once enlightened, and have tasted the heavenly gift,
and have become partakers of the Holy Spirit, and have tasted the good
word of God and the powers of the age to come, if they fall away, to
renew them again to repentance, since they crucify again for themselves
the Son of God, and put Him to an open shame.
The
Greek word for fall away is parapipto, which means to fall aside or to
apostatize (Strongs 3895).
This person has given up his birthright in the same way that Esaul
did. This place is where backsliding has led to the ultimate place
of disowning Christ as Paul warned Timothy of in 2 Timothy
2:12.
This "falling away" does not mean to fall into sin. A person may
fall into sin without "falling away". Many of God's people are
backslidden and out of fellowship with God and His people yet they are
still His children, i.e. their relationship has not been severed, only
their fellowship. However, the one who "falls away" will, of
course, go back into sin.
The person who
commits apostasy becomes twice dead
When apostasy is committed they have committed the unpardonable sin of
blaspheming the Holy Spirit by "crucifying to themselves the Son of God
afresh". This means they consider themselves as dead to Christ
once more. They are now twice dead as described in the epistle of
Jude. When we were unsaved, we were dead to Christ and when we are
saved, we are dead with Christ and dead to the world.
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