Saved and Sure, Safe and Secure
The Eternal Security of the Believer
by
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Chapter 1
SAVED BY THE GRACE OF GOD
Ephesians 2:8-10
8 For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God:
9 Not of works, lest any man should boast. 10 For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus unto good works, which God hath before ordained that we should walk in them.
The above scripture is one of the most well-known and beloved passages in the Bible to the born again child of God. It expresses the truth of “salvation by grace.” Paul the Apostle even called this message of salvation he preached “the gospel of the grace of God” (Acts 20:24).
One of the problems that lead some to reject the doctrine of eternal security is misunderstanding the very doctrine of salvation itself. Dr. Stanley puts it this way: “Where there is uncertainty concerning how salvation is attained, there will be confusion over whether it can be maintained.”
What is salvation, and what does it mean to be saved? In a nutshell, it means that God forgives you of your sins so you do not have to go to hell (Acts 10:43; 13:38-39; Col. 1:14; Rom. 6:23a) and gives you eternal life so you can go to heaven (Rom. 6:23b; 1 John 5:13). And in addition to that, you become a “new creature” in Christ (2 Cor. 5:17) and the Lord Himself comes into your heart to live (Col. 1:27). The Lord will be with you in this life, and you will be with Him in the next.
Ephesians chapter two, verses eight through ten, clearly reveals the way of salvation. It tells how God saves a sinner. And the topic of discussion, the doctrine of eternal security, is inherently taught in these verses as well.
The Method of Salvation
The Bible plainly declares the method of salvation in verse eight: “For BY GRACE are ye saved.”
Because God is a good God, a compassionate God, a loving God, a merciful God and a gracious God, therefore the salvation of God can only be by grace. Humanity can be saved because God’s mercy endures forever and His compassions fail not.
The grace of God “came by Jesus Christ” (John 1:17) who was “full of grace” (John 1:14), and has “appeared to all men” (Tit. 2:11), and is offered to all men. In Him, those saved by grace “have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of sins, according to the riches of his grace” (Eph. 1:7).
Grace is defined as the unmerited, unearned, undeserved favor of God that He bestows on believing sinners. Salvation by grace means salvation that is free, gratis, for nothing, without cost. Salvation through the imputed righteousness of Christ is a “gift by grace” which is a “free gift” according to the Apostle Paul (Rom. 5:15, 16, 18).
The Mistake of Salvation
The Bible plainly declares the mistake concerning salvation in verses eight and nine: “For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that NOT OF YOURSELVES: IT IS THE GIFT OF GOD: NOT OF WORKS, lest any man should boast.”
Most people make the mistake of believing that salvation is ultimately up to them, based upon their own good works. But the Bible plainly states in these verses that salvation is not up to man and not based upon man’s works.
In no uncertain terms the Bible says that if salvation is “by grace” then it is “no more of works” (Rom. 11:6); that salvation is “not by works of righteousness which we have done” (Tit. 3:5) because “all our righteousnesses are as filthy rags…” (Isa. 64:6).
How much plainer can the Bible be? According to Paul in Romans 4:16, salvation “is of faith, that it might be by grace.”
In the same chapter the Bible says: “Now to him that worketh is the reward not reckoned of grace, but of debt” (Rom. 4:4). In plainer words, if salvation could be earned by good works, then God would owe salvation to the sinner who “did the best he could.” But a true child of God does not “frustrate the grace of God” (Gal. 2:21). A genuine Christian understands that if “living right” and “keeping the law” could save his soul, then Jesus Christ’s death on the cross was all for naught (“in vain”). As one Christian bumper sticker asks, “If you can earn it, why did Jesus die?” Salvation would be of works, and not of grace, if that were the case, and all mankind would be lost forever, without any hope of heaven.
It must be understood that grace and works are mutually exclusive of one another. Those who teach that believing is a work required for salvation will have to explain away Romans 4:5, where Paul clearly says that the act of “believing” is not working for salvation. One could go so far as to say, according to what Paul wrote in Ephesians 2:8 and Galatians 2:16, that it is not even the Christian’s faith really, but Christ’s faith given to the believing sinner and exercised in Him, that brings final salvation in the end (see 1 Peter 1:9). It really is all of grace.
In spite of these clear Bible verses and plain doctrinal teaching, most people will do their best to try and work their way to heaven and earn the favor of God and “hope” to make it to heaven when they die. And still they are not sure they will make the grade and pass the test and move to the head of the class and graduate to Heaven. They put on airs of being ever so humble, so as not to offend God by claiming they are certain of heaven and assured of salvation, yet in essence what they hope to do is stand before God and brag about their goodness making them deserving of heaven. They will be sadly and shockingly disappointed when they discover that “no man struts in the presence of God” for the Bible plainly says in Ephesians 2:9 that salvation is “not of works, lest any man should boast.”
The Medium of Salvation
The Bible plainly declares the medium of salvation in verse eight: “For by grace are ye saved THROUGH FAITH.”
Faith is the medium, or channel, through which the grace of God enters the soul and saves the believer. A lost sinner “makes contact,” so to speak, with God by faith - through believing His word, the Holy Bible, and acting upon it by receiving Jesus Christ as personal Savior.
Charles Spurgeon wrote: “Faith occupies the position of a channel or conduit pipe. Grace is the fountain and the stream; faith is the aqueduct along which the flood of mercy flows down to refresh the thirsty sons of men.” Faith is the “channel of salvation” that links man with God. “Faith saves us because it…brings us into connection with Him.” For this reason, therefore, “when a man trusts to his works, or to his sacraments, or to anything of that sort, he will not be saved, because there is no junction between him and Christ.” Although people are saved by faith, it is not faith by itself that saves a person. Dr. Charles Ryrie points out: “The New Testament always says that salvation is through faith, not because of faith (Eph. 2:8). Faith is the channel through which we receive God’s gift of forgiveness and eternal life.” According to E. M. Bounds, commenting on Luke 7:50, “…God, through the faith of the sinner, saves him, faith being only the instrument that brings salvation to him.” Charles Stanley sums it up well when he says: “Faith is the means by which the saving work of Christ is applied to the individual…salvation comes to the individual when that person places his trust in Christ’s death on the cross as the complete payment for sin.”
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About the Book
Have you ever found yourself involved in a conversation about the idea of “once saved, always saved”—one that turned into a religious argument?
Saved and Sure, Safe and Secure seeks to demonstrate from the Scriptures that a born-again Christian, once saved, can have assurance that he or she is saved and safe for eternity. Writing in simple terms and plain language in order to communicate Bible doctrine to the average person, author John David Martin affirms the doctrine of eternal security of believers in Christ and addresses common objections to the teaching of “once saved, always saved.” Whether you believe in eternal security or think you can “lose it,” Pastor Martin hopes to help you strengthen your faith and challenge your thinking on the subject. Many religious people who believe in God and profess to know Christ as their personal Savior still struggle with doubts concerning their salvation. If you are worried, you can put your fears to rest; this study can help.
Aiming to encourage and uplift believers, this theological study explores the topic of eternal security, analyzing the biblical truths that teach and reinforce the certainty of this concept.
About the Author
John David Martin became a Christian in his senior year of high school. He joined the US Air Force upon graduation and then felt called to enter the ministry. He holds bachelor of divinity and master of biblical studies degrees. He has pastored various churches in Florida and Tennessee and has been involved in numerous other ministries. A father of two and grandfather of four, he lives with his wife, Linda, in Tennessee.