Eternal Security
- "I tell you the truth, whoever hears my word and believes him who sent me has eternal life and will not be condemned; he has crossed over from death to life. John 5:24 NIV
- In all truth I tell you, whoever listens to my words, and believes in the one who sent me, has eternal life; without being brought to judgment such a person has passed from death to life. John 5:24 New Jerusalem Bible
- Amen, amen, I say to you, whoever hears my word and believes in the one who sent me has eternal life and will not come to condemnation, but has passed from death to life. John 5:24 New American Bible
One verse, three translations, two of them approved Catholic. These are the words of Jesus; speaking to the Jews who were complaining because he healed on the Sabbath. Many verses have lots of “wiggle room” for debaters, because words like “justification” or “salvation” are used, and arguments can be made about what was meant by those words. Jesus used the term “eternal life”. This verse says that whoever (that takes out any other qualifiers than the ones He lists.) hears His word and believes the Father has eternal life. He didn't say that he will get eternal life if this or that is done in the future, He said in the present tense has eternal life. Tell me how it can be eternal if there can be an end to it? If a person can do something to lose it, it would never have been eternal life. If eternal life isn't given until the moment of death, then Jesus' statement in the present tense isn't true. He isn't speaking about people that are already dead, or just those who hold on till death, He said “whoever”. I don't see how anyone can read Jesus' words in this verse and say that you can be destined for heaven one minute, and going to hell the next. This verse stands very strong on its own (even in context), but what God doesn't want us to miss is often repeated:
- Whoever believes in the Son has eternal life, but whoever rejects the Son will not see life, for God's wrath remains on him. John 3:36 NIV
- I tell you the truth, he who believes has everlasting life. John 6:47 NIV
- Whoever eats my flesh and drinks my blood has eternal life, and I will raise him up at the last day. John 6:54 NIV
- My sheep listen to my voice; I know them, and they follow me. I give them eternal life, and they shall never perish; no one can snatch them out of my hand. My Father, who has given them to me, is greater than all; no one can snatch them out of my Father's hand. John 10:27-29 NIV
- I write these things to you who believe in the name of the Son of God so that you may know that you have eternal life. 1 John 5:13 NIV
The apostle Paul, in Galatians and in 2nd Corinthians, describes the conversion to Christianity as becoming a “new creation”. Paul doesn't say you are “like” a new creation, he says you ARE a new creation.
- Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; the old has gone, the new has come! 2 Corinthians 5:17
- May God himself, the God of peace, sanctify you through and through. May your whole spirit, soul and body be kept blameless at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ. The one who calls you is faithful and he will do it. 1 Thessalonians 5:23,24
After conversion, he is made up of body, soul, spirit, and Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit is given to us not only as a guide, but as a seal, a sign of the promise that we will live forever.
- And do not grieve the Holy Spirit of God, with whom you were sealed for the day of redemption. Ephesians 4:30
- Now it is God who makes both us and you stand firm in Christ. He anointed us, set his seal of ownership on us, and put his Spirit in our hearts as a deposit, guaranteeing what is to come. 2 Corinthians 1:21-22
- And you also were included in Christ when you heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation. Having believed, you were marked in him with a seal, the promised Holy Spirit, 14who is a deposit guaranteeing our inheritance until the redemption of those who are God's possession—to the praise of his glory. Ephesians 1:13-14
If we can lose the gift of eternal life, then regain it again, then the “new creature” would be too strong a claim, a butterfly never goes back to being a caterpillar. Nowhere in the Bible do I find a reference to a new creature becoming an old creature again, or having the chance to change back into a new creature yet another time. The Holy Spirit would have to leave you, and that wouldn't make Him much of a guarantee, would it? ...The One who calls you is faithful and He will do it...
John and Paul both tell us that Christians ARE children of God, not that we can become children of God at death. No matter what you do, you can't change who you are. That is what is so special about being called His children. The Israelites were called His chosen people, but Christians are his children.
- How great is the love the Father has lavished on us, that we should be called children of God! And that is what we are! ... 1 John 3:1
- 1 Corinthians 10:23"Everything is permissible"—but not everything is beneficial. "Everything is permissible"—but not everything is constructive. 24Nobody should seek his own good, but the good of others.
- 1 Corinthians 6:12"Everything is permissible for me"—but not everything is beneficial. "Everything is permissible for me"—but I will not be mastered by anything.
How can everything be permissible if certain acts can keep us from heaven?
- Then Jesus told them this parable: "Suppose one of you has a hundred sheep and loses one of them. Does he not leave the ninety-nine in the open country and go after the lost sheep until he finds it? And when he finds it, he joyfully puts it on his shoulders and goes home. Then he calls his friends and neighbors together and says, 'Rejoice with me; I have found my lost sheep.' I tell you that in the same way there will be more rejoicing in heaven over one sinner who repents than over ninety-nine righteous persons who do not need to repent. Luke 15:3-7
- "I am the good shepherd. The good shepherd lays down his life for the sheep. The hired hand is not the shepherd who owns the sheep. So when he sees the wolf coming, he abandons the sheep and runs away. Then the wolf attacks the flock and scatters it. The man runs away because he is a hired hand and cares nothing for the sheep. "I am the good shepherd; I know my sheep and my sheep know me— just as the Father knows me and I know the Father—and I lay down my life for the sheep. I have other sheep that are not of this sheep pen. I must bring them also. They too will listen to my voice, and there shall be one flock and one shepherd. John 10:11-16
- In all truth I tell you, whoever listens to my words, and believes in the one who sent me, has eternal life; without being brought to judgment such a person has passed from death to life. John 5:24 New Jerusalem Bible