Those who think that a believer can lose his salvation will refer to certain passages of Scriptures which they think supports that belief. One such passage begins with
John 15 which speaks of
abiding in Christ. What does it mean?
Jesus used the term
'abiding in Him' in two ways. In
John 6:56 where Jesus was talking with unbelieving Jews He was referring to eternal salvation - eternal life. In verses 53-54, Jesus had said, figuratively speaking, that anyone who ate his flesh and drank his blood (analogous to believing in Him for salvation) had eternal life. In verse 56, Jesus said
''He who eats My flesh and drinks My blood abides in Me, And I in him. Again, Jesus was talking with unbelievers about believing in Him for eternal salvation.
However, Jesus applied a different meaning to
'abide' in
John 15. Jesus was speaking to His disciples. They had already eaten the Lord's supper, and were on their way to Gethsemane. On the way, Jesus had told them, among other things, that the Holy Spirit would come as a helper, as the enabling power in the Christian life. They had come to a vineyard, and Jesus began to speak of Himself as being the true vine and His followers as branches. In
John 15:2 Jesus said ''Every branch in Me that does not bear fruit, He lifts up - airó (not takes away, but lifts up. This has to do with the fact that when branches and leaves are growing down on the ground they get in each others way, covering each other and can't the sunlight they need to grow. Therefore, they can't produce fruit. So the gardener will take them and lift them up and secure them to tresses. This is analogous to God the Father divinely disciplining the believer
[Prov. 3:11-12; Heb. 12:5-13; Rev. 3:19-20]).
In
verse 3, Jesus referred to the fact that they were already saved. They already had eternal life.
''You are already clean because of the word which I have spoken to you. 4] ''Abide in Me, and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit of itself (human righteousness cannot produce any works which will satisfy the perfect righteousness of God),
unless you abide in Me.
Although the mechanics of spirituality were different in the age of Israel (there was no universal indwelling and filling of the Holy Spirit at that time), [salvation however has always been through faith in Christ] and the church-age had not yet begun, and the Holy Spirit had not yet been sent for the purpose of initiating His indwelling and filling ministries (two different ministries), Jesus undoubtedly had this in mind. And by the way, the church-age believer is personally indwelt by all three members of the Godhead. For the church-age believer, abiding in Christ is tantamount to being filled with the Holy Spirit. The command is not to produce fruit, but to abide in Christ. When the believer is abiding in Christ, filled with the Holy Spirit, he will automatically produce fruit. The more the believer advances spiritually through the intake, metabolization, and application of Bible doctrine, the greater his capacity to produce fruit. The believer is commanded to be filled with the Holy Spirit
(Ephesians 5:18). The means by which the believer is filled with the Holy Spirit is through the principle of
1 John 1:9 in which the believer is to keep a short account regarding his sins and acknowledge them to God the Father so that he is not under the control of his old sin nature, but is under the control of God the Holy Spirit and in the status quo of being spiritual. The believer under the control of his old sin nature as a result of havig commited a sin is carnal, but when he is under the control of the Holy Spirit - filled with the Spirit, as a result of simply naming the sin to God the Father, he is spiritual. A believer out of fellowship can produce only human good which is 'wood, hay and stubble', and which will be burned up at the judgment seat of Christ in heaven after the rapture of the church.
John 15:6 ''If anyone does not abide in Me (remains in a carnal state as a result of not naming his sins to God the Father),
he is thrown away as a branch, and dries up; and they gather them, and cast them into the fire, and they are burned (This is not referring to being cast into the lake of fire. Jesus is talking to believers here. Eternal residency in the lake of fire is for unbelievers only. Believers will never have anything to do with the lake of fire). This is instead a reference to the fact that the believer who is perpetually out of fellowship will never produce fruit - good works which will be found by Jesus at the Bema seat judgment to be 'gold, silver and precious stones.' This believer will be the recipient of divine discipline in time and will suffer loss of eternal rewards at the judgment seat of Christ.
In
1 Corinthians 3:11-15, Paul speaks of the believers position in Christ and the believers spiritual production - fruit.
11] For no man can lay a foundation other than the one which is laid, which is Jesus Christ. 12] Now if any man builds upon the foundation with gold, silver, precious stones, wood, hay, straw, 13] each man's work will become evident; for the day will show it, because it is to be revealed with fire; and the fire itself will test the quality of each man's work. 14] If any man's work which he has built upon it remains, he shall receive a reward. 15] If any man's work is burned up, he shall suffer loss; but he himself shall be saved, yet so as through fire.
Understand that the believers works of wood, hay, and stubble will be burned up, but he does NOT lose his salvation. He remains eternally saved.
The purpose of the believers spiritual life after he has been saved is not to maintain his eternal salvation, a blasphemous idea born of human arrogance. The purpose of the believers spiritual life after salvation is to grow up spiritually for the purpose of experiential sanctification. To grow up spiritually to build capacity for blessing so that God can pour out His blessings for the believer in time
(Isaiah 30:18-19) and store up treasures for himself in heaven.
Matthew 6:19 ''Do not lay up for yourselves treasures upon earth, where moth and rust destroy, and where thieves break in and steal. 20] ''But lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust destroys, and where thieves do not break in or steal; 21 ''for where your treasure is, there will your heart be also.''
The believer can never lose his eternal salvation. Salvation is a free gift from God which is received through faith in Christ.
John 4:10 ''If you knew the gift of God, and who it is who says to you, 'Give Me a drink,' you would have asked Him, and He would have given you living water.''
Romans 5:15 But the fee gift is not like the transgression. For if by the transgression of the one the many died, much more did the grace of God and the gift by the grace of the one Man, Jesus Christ, abound to the many.
2 Corinthians 9:15 Thanks be to God for His indescribable gift.
And the gifts of God are irrevocable.
Romans 11:29 for the gifts and the calling of God are irrevocable.
Upon understanding the issue of salvation, one act of non-meritorious faith in Jesus Christ secures your eternal salvation forever and ever and ever.
For anyone reading this who is hungry for sound, fundamentally correct Bible teaching, the following four links are to three different churches whose pastors make available online for free (nothing to sell) in audio, the classes to their local congregations. These are non-denominational local independent churches.
Robert McLaughlin Bible Ministries / Grace Bible Church - bible doctrine truth in Christ
Country Bible Church - Brenham, TX
Fundamentals : Country Bible Church - Brenham, TX
Grace Fellowship Church, Plainville, MA - Pastor Rickard
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