ETErnal Security
There are two opinions which are held to varying degrees in Christian circles
concerning whether a person who has been saved and born again is
eternally secure unconditionally or conditionally.
To examine the evidence supporting these opinions a selection
of verses and passages from the Bible has been identified and
compiled. A deeper understanding of the verses listed in this study
could be achieved by studying the context in which each verse or
passage is used.
VERSES
SUPPORTING THE IDEA OF
ETERNAL SECURITY
John 3 v 16:
15That
whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have eternal
life. 16For God so loved the world, that he gave his only
begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but
have everlasting life. 17For God sent not his Son into
the world to condemn the world; but that the world through him might
be saved. 18He that believeth on him is not condemned:
but he that believeth not is condemned already, because he hath not
believed in the name of the only begotten Son of God.
John 5:
24Verily,
verily, I say unto you, He that heareth my word, and believeth on
him that sent me, hath everlasting life, and shall not come into
condemnation; but is passed from death unto life.
John 6:
47Verily,
verily, I say unto you, He that believeth on me hath everlasting
life.
John 10:
28And
I give unto them eternal life; and they shall never perish, neither
shall any man pluck them out of my hand.
John 11:
25Jesus
said unto her, I am the resurrection, and the life: he that
believeth in me, though he were dead, yet shall he live: 26And
whosoever liveth and believeth in me shall never die. Believest thou
this?
John 17:
9I
pray for them: I pray not for the world, but for them which thou
hast given me; for they are thine. 10And all mine are
thine, and thine are mine; and I am glorified in them. 11And
now I am no more in the world, but these are in the world, and I
come to thee. Holy Father, keep through thine own name those whom
thou hast given me, that they may be one, as we are. 12While
I was with them in the world, I kept them in thy name: those that
thou gavest me I have kept, and none of them is lost, but the son of
perdition; that the scripture might be fulfilled.
John 18:
9That
the saying might be fulfilled, which he spake, Of them which thou
gavest me have I lost none.
Romans 8:
35Who
shall separate us from the love of Christ? shall tribulation, or
distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or peril, or
sword? 36As it is written, For thy sake we are killed all
the day long; we are accounted as sheep for the slaughter. 37Nay,
in all these things we are more than conquerors through him that
loved us. 38For I am persuaded, that neither death, nor
life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor powers, nor things
present, nor things to come, 39Nor 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....
2 Corinthians 4:
14Knowing
that he which raised up the Lord Jesus shall raise up us also by
Jesus, and shall present us with you.
2 Corinthians 6:
18And
will be a Father unto you, and ye shall be my sons and daughters,
saith the Lord Almighty.
Ephesians 1:
1Paul,
an apostle of Jesus Christ by the will of God, to the saints which
are at Ephesus, and to the faithful in Christ Jesus: 2Grace
be to you, and peace, from God our Father, and from the Lord Jesus
Christ. 3Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus
Christ, who hath blessed us with all spiritual blessings in heavenly
places in Christ: 4According as he hath chosen us in him
before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and
without blame before him in love: 5Having predestinated
us unto the adoption of children by Jesus Christ to himself,
according to the good pleasure of his will,
Ephesians 2:
8For
by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it
is the gift of God: 9Not of works, lest any man should
boast.
Philippians 1:
6Being
confident of this very thing, that he which hath begun a good work
in you will perform it until the day of Jesus Christ:
Colossians 1:
21And
you, that were sometime alienated and enemies in your mind by wicked
works, yet now hath he reconciled 22In the body of his
flesh through death, to present you holy and unblameable and
unreproveable in his sight:
Colossians 3:
4When
Christ, who is our life, shall appear, then shall ye also appear
with him in glory.
Hebrews 6:
19Which
hope we have as an anchor of the soul, both sure and stedfast, and
which entereth into that within the veil;
Hebrews 9:
15And
for this cause he is the mediator of the new testament, that by
means of death, for the redemption of the transgressions that were
under the first testament, they which are called might receive the
promise of eternal inheritance..
1 Peter 2:
9But
ye are a chosen generation, a royal priesthood, an holy nation, a
peculiar people; that ye should shew forth the praises of him who
hath called you out of darkness into his marvellous light;
1 John 3:
2Beloved,
now are we the sons of God, and it doth not yet appear what we shall
be: but we know that, when he shall appear, we shall be like him;
for we shall see him as he is.
1 John 5:
4For
whatsoever is born of God overcometh the world: and this is the
victory that overcometh the world, even our faith. 5Who
is he that overcometh the world, but he that believeth that Jesus is
the Son of God?
11And
this is the record, that God hath given to us eternal life, and this
life is in his Son. 12He that hath the Son hath life; and
he that hath not the Son of God hath not life.
Jude 1:
24Now
unto him that is able to keep you from falling, and to present you
faultless before the presence of his glory with exceeding joy.
Revelation 5:
9And
they sung a new song, saying, Thou art worthy to take the book, and
to open the seals thereof: for thou wast slain, and hast redeemed us
to God by thy blood out of every kindred, and tongue, and people,
and nation; 10And hast made us unto our God kings and
priests: and we shall reign on the earth.
Revelation 7:
9After
this I beheld, and, lo, a great multitude, which no man could
number, of all nations, and kindreds, and people, and tongues, stood
before the throne, and before the Lamb, clothed with white robes,
and palms in their hands;
14
And I said unto him, Sir, thou knowest. And he said to me, These are they which came out of great tribulation, and have washed their robes, and made them white in the blood of the Lamb.
VERSES
THAT WOULD OPPOSE THE IDEA OF
ETERNAL SECURITY
Matthew 6:
14For
if ye forgive men their trespasses, your heavenly Father will also
forgive you: 15But if ye forgive not men their
trespasses, neither will your Father forgive your trespasses.
Matthew 15:
9But
in vain they do worship me, teaching for doctrines the commandments
of men.
Matthew 18:
23Therefore
is the kingdom of heaven likened unto a certain king, which would
take account of his servants. 24And when he had begun to
reckon, one was brought unto him, which owed him ten thousand
talents. 25But forasmuch as he had not to pay, his lord
commanded him to be sold, and his wife, and children, and all that
he had, and payment to be made. 26The servant therefore fell down,
and worshipped him, saying, Lord, have patience with me, and I will
pay thee all. 27Then the lord of that servant was moved
with compassion, and loosed him, and forgave him the debt. 28But
the same servant went out, and found one of his fellowservants,
which owed him an hundred pence: and he laid hands on him, and took
him by the throat, saying, Pay me that thou owest. 29And
his fellowservant fell down at his feet, and besought him, saying,
Have patience with me, and I will pay thee all. 30And he
would not: but went and cast him into prison, till he should pay the
debt. 31So when his fellowservants saw what was done,
they were very sorry, and came and told unto their lord all that was
done. 32Then his lord, after that he had called him, said
unto him, O thou wicked servant, I forgave thee all that debt,
because thou desiredst me: 33Shouldest not thou also have
had compassion on thy fellowservant, even as I had pity on thee? 34And
his lord was wroth, and delivered him to the tormentors, till he
should pay all that was due unto him. 35So likewise shall
my heavenly Father do also unto you, if ye from your hearts forgive
not every one his brother their trespasses.
Matthew 24:
12And
because iniquity shall abound, the love of many shall wax cold. 13But
he that shall endure unto the end, the same shall be saved.
45Who
then is a faithful and wise servant, whom his lord hath made ruler
over his household, to give them meat in due season? 46Blessed
is that servant, whom his lord when he cometh shall find so doing. 47Verily
I say unto you, That he shall make him ruler over all his goods. 48But
and if that evil servant shall say in his heart, My lord delayeth
his coming; 49And shall begin to smite his fellow
servants, and to eat and drink with the drunken; 50The
lord of that servant shall come in a day when he looketh not for
him, and in an hour that he is not aware of, 51And shall
cut him asunder, and appoint him his portion with the hypocrites:
there shall be weeping and gnashing of teeth.
Mark 7:
7Howbeit
in vain do they worship me, teaching for doctrines the commandments
of men.
John 15:
2Every
branch in me that beareth not fruit he taketh away: and every branch
that beareth fruit, he purgeth it, that it may bring forth more
fruit.
Romans 11:
19Thou
wilt say then, The branches were broken off, that I might be grafted
in. 20Well; because of unbelief they were broken off, and
thou standest by faith. Be not highminded, but fear: 21For
if God spared not the natural branches, take heed lest he also spare
not thee. 22Behold therefore the goodness and severity of
God: on them which fell, severity; but toward thee, goodness, if
thou continue in his goodness: otherwise thou also shalt be cut off.
1 Corinthians 3:
17If
any man defile the temple of God, him shall God destroy; for the
temple of God is holy, which temple ye are.
1 Corinthians 9:
27But
I keep under my body, and bring it into subjection: lest that by any
means, when I have preached to others, I myself should be a
castaway.
Romans 6:
1Know ye not, that to whom ye yield yourselves servants to obey, his servants ye are to whom ye obey; whether of sin unto death, or of obedience unto righteousness?
Romans 8:
1For if ye live after the flesh, ye shall die: but if ye through the Spirit do mortify the deeds of the body, ye shall live.
Galatians 5:
Now the works of the flesh are manifest,
which are these; Adultery, fornication, uncleanness,
lasciviousness, 20Idolatry, witchcraft, hatred, variance,
emulations, wrath, strife, seditions, heresies, 21Envyings,
murders, drunkenness, revellings, and such like: of the which I tell
you before, as I have also told you in time past, that they which do
such things shall not inherit the kingdom of God .
1 Timothy 4:
1Now
the Spirit speaketh expressly, that in the latter times some shall
depart from the faith, giving heed to seducing spirits, and
doctrines of devils;
1 Timothy 5:
12Having
damnation, because they have cast off their first faith.
12Take
heed, brethren, lest there be in any of you an evil heart of
unbelief, in departing from the living God.
Hebrews 6:
4For it is impossible for those who were once enlightened, and have tasted of the heavenly gift, and were made partakers of the Holy Ghost, 5And have tasted the good word of God, and the powers of the world to come, 6If they shall fall away, to renew them again unto repentance; seeing they crucify to themselves the Son of God afresh, and put him to an open shame.
Hebrews 10:
26For
if we sin wilfully after that we have received the knowledge of the
truth, there remaineth no more sacrifice for sins, 27But
a certain fearful looking for of judgment and fiery indignation,
which shall devour the adversaries. 28He that despised
Moses' law died without mercy under two or three witnesses: 29Of
how much sorer punishment, suppose ye, shall he be thought worthy,
who hath trodden under foot the Son of God, and hath counted the
blood of the covenant, wherewith he was sanctified, an unholy thing,
and hath done despite unto the Spirit of grace? 30For we
know him that hath said, Vengeance belongeth unto me, I will
recompense, saith the Lord. And again, The Lord shall judge his
people. 31It is a fearful thing to fall into the hands of
the living God.
James 1:
13Let
no man say when he is tempted, I am tempted of God: for God cannot
be tempted with evil, neither tempteth he any man: 14But
every man is tempted, when he is drawn away of his own lust, and
enticed. 15Then when lust hath conceived, it bringeth
forth sin: and sin, when it is finished, bringeth forth death. 16Do
not err, my beloved brethren.
2nd Peter 2:
20For
if after they have escaped the pollutions of the world through the
knowledge of the Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ, they are again
entangled therein, and overcome, the latter end is worse with them
than the beginning. 21For it had been better for them not
to have known the way of righteousness, than, after they have known
it, to turn from the holy commandment delivered unto them. 22But
it is happened unto them according to the true proverb, The dog is
turned to his own vomit again; and the sow that
was washed to her
wallowing in the mire.
2 John 1:
9Whosoever
transgresseth, and abideth not in the doctrine of Christ, hath not
God. He that abideth in the doctrine of Christ, he hath both the
Father and the Son
Revelation 2:
4Nevertheless
I have somewhat against thee, because thou hast left thy first love.
5Remember therefore from whence thou art
fallen,
and repent, and do the first works; or else I will come unto thee
quickly, and will remove thy candlestick out of his place, except
thou repent.
Revelation 21:
7He
that overcometh shall inherit all things; and I will be his God, and
he shall be my son. 8But the fearful, and unbelieving,
and the abominable, and murderers, and whoremongers, and sorcerers,
and idolaters, and all liars, shall have their part in the lake
which burneth with fire and brimstone: which is the second death.
Revelation 22:
19And
if any man shall take away from the words of the book of this
prophecy, God shall take away his part out of the book of life, and
out of the holy city, and from the things which are written in this
book.