Jennifer Rothnie Supporter Housewife, Artist, Perpetually Curious

Firstly, the exact question must be clarified.

Is it "Can any sin or anything on earth make us lose the seal of the holy spirit which is our guarantee of salvation?", or "Once a believer has come to the saving knowledge of Christ, is there anything that can happen to make Jesus declare "I never knew you" on the last day?"

Secondly, the difference between God's eternal perspective and man's finite perspective must be kept in mind.

Thirdly, salvation is used in scripture at times both to speak of Jesus delivering us from sin and into life, and to refer to the verdict of eternal life handed out at the judgement. The first is a process that affects us on earth, the second will not occur until we die.

Lastly, one's particular believes about eternal security do not make one more or less of a christian. This is one of the topics of largest division in the church, yet it should not be.

With these things in mind, we can examine what scripture says on the topic of salvation.

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When we believe, we are granted the seal of the Holy Spirit. This is the arrabon (engagement ring), the earnest payment of a future inheritance of eternal life. (Eph 1:13-14) This guarantees that God will keep all terms of the covenant (which is frankly, all the terms of the new covenant) and will grant us eternal life at the time of his "redemption of the purchased possession". Nothing on earth, no power of the air, no trial of man, can break this seal and separate us from the love of God (Romans 8:31-39, John 10:27-28). Nor can any work or sin that we commit condemn us (Rom 8:1-4).

We cannot 'lose' our salvation in the sense of our sins making us ineligible, or in the sense of misplacing it, or in the sense of God arbitrarily taking it away, etc.

Yet, if we reject the covenant at some point, or break fellowship with the spirit of our own choice, what then? Just as a women breaking off her engagement, or a man who refuses to collect on his inheritance, we cannot then claim the promise of salvation at judgement day.

Here is where the difference from God's perspective and man's perspective becomes so important.

From God's perspective, he already knows who will be saved, who will endure unto the end, those who are His (II Tim 2:14-19). Jesus will say "I never knew you" (Matt 7:15-27) to false teachers who may have once known him (II Peter 2:1-22), and who did not stand the test (II Tim 3:1-9). God will blot out many names from the book of life (Psalms 69:22-28, Rev 3:4-6), but it is not because he did not know the final roster before even time began (John 10:14-18). People may both deny and declare Christ during their lives (Paul being an excellent example, the false teachers an example of the opposite) - yet there will only be one judgement handed down at the end. (Luke 12:8-10, Mark 10:31, Ezek 33:12-20). God is not surprised, He knows whose faith will come through all tests as genuine, and whose will crumble as impure. (1 Peter 1:7-9) Salvation is the end result of genuine faith - genuine here being faith that endures the refining process, and is proved true - faith that does not crumble before the end and deny Christ.

"If we died with him, we will also live with him, if we endure, we will also reign with him. If we disown him, he will also disown us, if we are faithless, he remains faithful, for he cannot disown himself." - II Tim 2:11-13

From man's perspective:

Time and time again we are admonished to 'endure until the end' (Rev 2:10), to remain with him (I John 2:27-28, II John 1:9, John 15:5-17), to overcome (James 1:12), to finish what we began (Luke 14:28-35, Heb 6:9-12, II Tim 4:6-8), to persevere (James 1:2-8), and to make our election sure (II Peter 1:5-11). Several examples are given of those who rejected their faith or fell away (1 Tim 1:18-20, II Tim 2:17-19, II Peter 2:1-3, Heb 6:1-8).

Not every seed that takes root (faith) will endure until the end. (Mark 4:13-20, Heb 6:7-8) Those who do not remain will be burned (John 15:5-6)

October 30 2013 • 4 responses • Vote Up • Share • Report

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