What do Christians base their security in Christ on?

Question

Is it based on a decision they made when they were 8 yrs. old, or is it based on where they are today?This doctrine of once saved always saved, and if your lost you never were saved baffles me.I was born again at age 25.I backslide 9 years latter and lived in sin for 10 yrs.,had I died during this time I would have been lost.Jesus tells the church at Sardis to "Be watchful,and strengthen the things which remain,that are (ready to die)..." Rev 3:2a, and in verse 5 they are told that if they fail to not overcome this, that their names will be blotted out of the book of life.Having your name in the book of life is being saved.Having it blotted out means you were saved and now your lost.1 John 5:16-17 tells us that sin is sin, but even in this New Testament time there still remains a sin that leads to death.Willful presumptious sins are not covered by the blood, Numbers 15:30-31,Hebrews 6:1-8,10:29,2 Peter 2:20-22.

Craig R, If your drownind and I throw you a rope you will drown unless you grab it.Just because I throw you a rope doesn't mean you have to be saved.

Esther you didn't read the scriptures that I gave did you? Read 1 John 5:16-17.

robert p, had you looked at the verses you wouldn't be wondering.Preconceived ideas quench ones ability to receive the truth.God Bless!

fuzz, your thoughts on Noah are often used by those who believe in eternal security.To bad they don't read on.When they got off the ark you will find that Noahs son Ham, the father of Canaan was cursed for looking upon his fathers nakedness.He was to become a servant to his brothers, Shem/Abrahams seed and Japheth/father to the gentiles Gen.9:21-27. You see he was once saved,but now he is cursed.If you don't know what happens to the cursed read Matthew 25:41.

P , I so much appreciated your scriptures,nothing better can supply are needs when there are questions that need answers.
I believe in eternal security.But my security is based upon my decission to live in Christ.That is not saying that my salvation is based upon my works.My salvation is only in Christ,but if I have Christ in me then Christ should be coming out of me.When Christ no longer comes out of me then His Spirit is no longer with me for He tells us, My Spirit will not always strive with man Gen 6:3. Paul had to die daily.Jesus said it was not His will that any should perish,but we know there will be those who go lost.Just because its His will doesn't mean everyone is going to be saved.We all have free will.Salvation is free but it cost everything to keep it,Matthew 19:21.

The father of the prodical son said, ''For this my son was (dead,and is alive again); he (was lost, and is found). And they began to be merry Luke 15:24. Was he not the fathers son before he left home? Yet he became "dead" and "lost". It was not until he repented and became willing to come home that his situation changed. Had he died while feeding the pigs he would never have been found again.

MARANATHA132, You defined "impossible" but failed to define "fall away".
Also in order for someones name to be put in the book of life they would need to have excepted Jesus.You might consider the fact that He was speaking to the church at Sardis and not to the lost as well. Please try to open up your heart to the scripture here. Allow the Holy Spirit to speak to you rather than what you have been indoctrinated into believing.Paul died daily the scripture tells us.This tells me that there is a work for us to do.

DAVID F, I based this theory on the Holy Scripture. Not on calvin or wesley.

Answer 1

i agree .. a person cant reject it and be covered by it ...

Answer 2

A lot of Christians are what I call "Sunday Christians". They believe in G-d on Sunday while they are going to church and in church, and then G-d starts to become some vague idea while they wander over to coffee and donuts.

I do agree with you - the once saved always saved, and if you left the faith you never believed anyway - baffles me too.

I was Christian myself. I am a Noahide now. I get the same line from Christians a lot - since I left the faith I never knew G-d. I never knew Jesus. I never had a relationship with either of them. And of course, no Christian ever loses their salvation. The verse of no one snatching you out of the hand of G-d is quoted a lot. They think this means they can't lose their salvation.

Personally, from an outsiders perspective, I see it as meaning that no one can take you from G-d, but you. You can chose to leave G-d, regardless if you are Christian or Jew. You aren't forced to be with G-d, if you were which is what they are implying, then there goes free will.

You are also the first Christian I have met that makes a clear difference between unintentional and willful sins. Which is very true.

Answer 3

While you can give up your salvation, it is very difficult to do, because once you're saved, God holds on tight. He'll make you miserable when you backslide, in a way that's worse than life circumstances making you miserable. I speak from experience. The Bible teaches that salvation is very secure. Two examples are the story of Noah's ark, where God had Noah build a boat in order to be saved from the flood. The boat was designed very well, so that Noah and his family would be spared. They didn't have to hold on to the side of the ship while the waves rocked them. And John 10:27-31 talk about when Jesus has someone, no one can pluck them out of His hand or the Father's hand. Salvation, if it's sincere, is very secure. If you were truly saved before you backslid, I don't know if you would've been lost or not, had you died. I'm glad you didn't die. One guy at my Bible college was a drug addict who got saved and off the drugs. He then went on a missions trip to NYC. He got back into the drugs while on the trip, but he overdosed and died on that trip. Many people I've talked to at that college after that think that God made him die before he could backslide beyond where he could come back to the faith and before he could ruin Christ's reputation too much so he's in heaven now. I really don't know the answer. I never met the guy. He died the semester before I got there. I suppose he could be in hell too. I just don't know. But if a Christian is truly saved, they shouldn't worry too much about losing their salvation. Righteousness, which is right standing with God, is a gift that Christ gives to us. It comes apart from following the works of the law (Romans 3:21-22a and chapter 4, when it talks about Abraham; Ephesians 2:8-9 make it clear that salvation isn't based on our works). This is balanced by the book of James, which says that faith without works is dead. It will not save you. That's in chapter 2. But overall, if you're truly saved, you shouldn't really fear losing your salvation. It's very secure.

Answer 4

You are right. There is nothing scripturally that supports "once saved, always saved". That would actually go against God's gift of free will, would it not? I do believe that people have the potential to leave God and thus return to a lost state.

I got saved when I was 14. I made this decision based on information I received concerning God's love and Jesus' purpose for dying and rising again. I knew that Jesus died for me, so I decided to live for Him.

My security lies in the fact that I have a Savior Whom I need every day. It also says in scripture to "work out our salvation", that is, that we should stay on our toes as the enemy seeks to lure us away - he can't take away our salvation, but he can lure us to things which might become gods instead of the God of the universe.

Answer 5

I can only speak for myself and not for "Christians" that is why it is called a "personal relationship" with Christ. I was raised once saved always saved. Do I believe it today? No. I agree with the fact that we can have our name blotted out. But it also talks about a hardened heart and there comes a time when we have been away so long our heart hardens to anything that the Holy Spirit brings us. I was away for 35 years and if I died would I have gone to Hell? I say no. I was a sinner living in sin but my cries to God never ceased. The prodigal son has come home. God was there looking for me and came running to greet me. God is always faithful.

Answer 6

You know...when I first became a Christian, truly I thought much the same as you do. However, since now I have been in the Lord since 1997..& I have been continually studying, there is one verse that truly "convinces" me that "once saved, ALWAYS saved"...that would be in Hebrews. Heb 6:4 For it is IMPOSSIBLE for those who were once enlightened, and have tasted the heavenly gift, and have become partakers of the Holy Spirit, 5 and have tasted the good word of God and the powers of the age to come, 6 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.
Note the word "impossible" ...meaning that ONCE you have chosen that "gift" of salvation (with all your being) you CANNOT go back...it is impossible, for as Paul proclaims "Romans 8:38 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 created thing, shall be able to separate us from the love of God which is in Christ Jesus our Lord.
Meaning not any other created thing...NOTHING!! not even ourselves can cause that separation.
You speak about being "blotted out" ..yes..that is true, because if the statement in Ro 6:10 - For the death that He died, He died to sin once for all; but the life that He lives, He lives to God. Christ died ONCE FOR ALL MEN. They (the people) that do not accept this FREE GIFT...those are blotted out. But once you have truly accepted the GIFT of Salvation, you cannot go back. (and as one that has been saved...I would have to ask..who on Earth would WANT to go back to that "pigsty" of a lifesyle? When heaven awaits!!

Answer 7

I base my security in Christ upon God and His character. If my salvation depends upon me, I will end up in hell. I was saved by Jesus Christ's atoning death, not by my works. Salvation is much more than me making a decision for Christ. By God's will I am regenerated. My salvation means that:
"God has transformed me from darkness to light. (I Corinthians 4:4; Colossians 1:13) It means I have been transformed from death to life (John 5:24) from a child of the Devil to a son of God (Romans 8:14-17) It is a completed, regenerating work (Hebrews 10:24; Ephesians 2:8....'You are saved,' or "You have been saved and stand saved"...Greek perfect tense)"
2 Peter 2:20-22 is talking about apostasy, as is Hebrews 6:1-8...a true turning away from Christ...saying No to Christ.

Don, please explain these following verses in reference to your question. Hebrews 6:18-20; Hebrews 7:24-25; Hebrews 10:10-14; John 10:28-30; Romans 8:28-39; Ephesians 1:13-14; Ephesians 4:30; Philippians 1:6; I John 5:13; John 1:13

And then I ask you, who makes the determination of when you die? Please consider that answer as you reread your question and comments.

Addition: Don, how can your eternity be secure when it is based upon your actions? If you are saved, then God has the responsibility to complete His good work in you. Phillipians 1:6 You are saying you are stronger than God. In Romans 8:38-39 Paul says, "For I am persuaded that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor powers nor things present, nor things to come, 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." So not even angels can separate us from the love of God. But you are saying, you can. To me, what you are saying is that you have salvation, but you can lose it. That is not a secure eternity. I know that I need a secure anchor in Christ. I know that in and of myself, I cannot abide in Christ. It MUST be the work of the Holy Spirit. And the Holy Spirit doesn't leave a Christian. That is why it is possible to quench and grieve the Holy Spirit because He indwells the believer. He doesn't come and leave like in the Old Testament. He comes, stays with the believer, and seals the believer. To me, you are saying the Holy Spirit has no power to keep me. You see, this whole question you have brought up, is important to me. I have lived long enough to know that if my salvation depends upon me working things out, depends upon me working to abide in Christ, I am doomed. It is like you are trying to put me under the law again. Tell me, did you receive the Spirit by the works of the law, or by the hearing of faith?

Answer 8

I was saved at the age of 16, after 20 years of searching to find my own way, I am closer to Christ than I have ever been. My heart and soul tell me that I am on the right track, the road never ends, you have to keep it moving.......study and live the life of Jesus.....now let's get started on the next level!

Answer 9

I get the impression (as a skeptical Christian) that those close to Jesus did their best to document his teachings in the Gospels, but later the theologians came onto the scene with a lot of "legalistic" doctrine that confuses the message.

I agree, focus on his commandments and help those less than you, then you're saved.
.

Answer 10

Jesus said it's up to him to keep his sheep and no one can take them from him. He said they're in his father's hand and no one is able to take them from him.

The problem with the doctrine that says you can lose your salvation is that it presumes that salvation is of your own doing. I didn't do *anything* to get myself saved. God did it. That means I can neither keep myself saved nor get myself unsaved. I simply don't have the power to do it. My salvation was a decision that God made and he said that I *have* (not will have) eternal life.

If you are unable to do a good enough thing to save yourself, then you're unable to do a bad enough thing to get yourself unsaved.

The reason you didn't die while you were backslidden is that God was finished teaching you what he had for you to learn during that time.

Answer 11

Being the only begotten son of God, Jesus has the authority to save us and the authority to provide us with the ultimate security.

The security of a Christian lies in the fact that his faith and his beliefs are based on truth and historical reality. In addition, the Christians is given the Holy Spirit of God to bring peace, love, and joy to the Christian heart and mind.