6 3 Eternal Security 2

Hebrews Series- Fellowship Baptist Church

Passage:           Hebrews 5:11-6:12 (Part 5)

Theme: The State of the Dull and the Diligent

Proposition:      Salvation Cannot Be Lost

Introduction:

The last time we were in Hebrews, we began to discuss the issue of eternal security.  In the process, I raised some important questions regarding salvation:

Is a person saved because of what he/she has done or continues to do or because of what God did and continues to do.

Another way of asking this question is this: 

Does salvation depend on the work of man or the work of God?

And finally, is faith something that I generate or possess myself, or is faith the result of God’s work in me? 

Those who would teach that a person can lose their salvation by abandoning their faith believe that because they chose to believe in the first place, then they could chose not to believe and thereby forfeit salvation.

This position takes the view (ultimately) that salvation is dependent upon what a person does or has done—in this case their belief or to put it another way, their “work” of faith.

Now this argument puts an “eternal security” person in a difficult situation because we often say that if you believe in your heart . . . you will be saved.  Isn’t this what the Bible says?  Many testify that they know they are saved because they believed. 

But before you become too uncomfortable with this thought, let me raise another important question:  How did you arrive at the point of belief?  Was faith in God or Christ, belief, something natural to you?  Is it possible for a human being to choose to believe the truths of scripture just like one would chose to believe that apples are tasty?

I would submit to you that the Bible argues that one’s belief in God is as unnatural and contrary to a person’s being as it is to fly by flapping one’s arms. 

Genesis 8:21, ESV "And when the Lord smelled the pleasing aroma, the Lord said in his heart, “I will never again curse the ground because of man, for the intention of man’s heart is evil from his youth. Neither will I ever again strike down every living creature as I have done."

Psalm 58:3, ESV"The wicked are estranged from the womb; they go astray from birth, speaking lies."

Ecclesiastes 9:3, ESV "This is an evil in all that is done under the sun, that the same event happens to all. Also, the hearts of the children of man are full of evil, and madness is in their hearts while they live, and after that they go to the dead."

 Jeremiah 17:9, NKJV"“The heart is deceitful above all things, And desperately wicked; Who can know it? "

Everything within humans rejects His ways and plans. 

Isaiah 53:6, ESV "All we like sheep have gone astray; we have turned every one to his own way; and the Lord has laid on him the iniquity of us all."

Romans 1:18-23, ESV "For the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men, who by their unrighteousness suppress the truth. For what can be known about God is plain to them, because God has shown it to them. For his invisible attributes, namely, his eternal power and divine nature, have been clearly perceived, ever since the creation of the world, in the things that have been made. So they are without excuse. For although they knew God, they did not honor him as God or give thanks to him, but they became futile in their thinking, and their foolish hearts were darkened. Claiming to be wise, they became fools, and exchanged the glory of the immortal God for images resembling mortal man and birds and animals and reptiles."

Romans 1:28-32, ESV"And since they did not see fit to acknowledge God, God gave them up to a debased mind to do what ought not to be done. They were filled with all manner of unrighteousness, evil, covetousness, malice. They are full of envy, murder, strife, deceit, maliciousness. They are gossips, slanderers, haters of God, insolent, haughty, boastful, inventors of evil, disobedient to parents, foolish, faithless, heartless, ruthless. Though they know God’s decree that those who practice such things deserve to die, they not only do them but give approval to those who practice them."

Romans 3:9-18, ESV "What then? Are we Jews any better off? No, not at all. For we have already charged that all, both Jews and Greeks, are under sin, as it is written: “None is righteous, no, not one; no one understands; no one seeks for God. All have turned aside; together they have become worthless; no one does good, not even one.” “Their throat is an open grave; they use their tongues to deceive.” “The venom of asps is under their lips.” “Their mouth is full of curses and bitterness.” “Their feet are swift to shed blood; in their paths are ruin and misery, and the way of peace they have not known.” “There is no fear of God before their eyes.”"

It is unnatural for you to believe that you are a sinner, that you deserve death and Hell, that you are incapable of impressing God with your works.  It wounds your pride to believe that you needed a substitute to die in your place, that you must place your trust in His sacrifice alone. 

If you doubt me, find a stranger and tell him that he is inherently evil and see how he responds.  Tell him that he deserves hell simply because he exists as a human being, and see how he hugs you and thanks you for sharing truth with him.  We are offended by the truth of God’s word.  To believe that one chooses to believe in God simply because of one’s own will and choice is to argue against the Bible.

The fact is that every human being that has ever existed is naturally evil beyond belief.  Given the opportunity, apart from God’s control, every human including you, has the capacity to commit the worst crimes ever known to man.

So the bible tells us that it is against our nature to seek God or obey His ways.  The Bible also tells us that we are incapable of understanding His truth on our own.

1 Corinthians 2:6-14, ESV "Yet among the mature we do impart wisdom, although it is not a wisdom of this age or of the rulers of this age, who are doomed to pass away. But we impart a secret and hidden wisdom of God, which God decreed before the ages for our glory. None of the rulers of this age understood this, for if they had, they would not have crucified the Lord of glory. But, as it is written, “What no eye has seen, nor ear heard, nor the heart of man imagined, what God has prepared for those who love him”— these things God has revealed to us through the Spirit. For the Spirit searches everything, even the depths of God. For who knows a person’s thoughts except the spirit of that person, which is in him? So also no one comprehends the thoughts of God except the Spirit of God. Now we have received not the spirit of the world, but the Spirit who is from God, that we might understand the things freely given us by God. And we impart this in words not taught by human wisdom but taught by the Spirit, interpreting spiritual truths to those who are spiritual. The natural person does not accept the things of the Spirit of God, for they are folly to him, and he is not able to understand them because they are spiritually discerned."

This is where humans find themselves: Evil, naturally bent towards pursuing everything but what God desires, and incapable of understanding truth even if they wanted to.  Obviously we have a problem.

Do we really want to assert that a person in this state is capable of choosing to have faith simply because they wanted to?  That is an impossibility!

So we have raise another question—How does a person ever come to the point of placing faith in the truth of who God is, what Christ has done, and a personal need of salvation?

Salvation is a work of God’s grace, which produces the faith required.

Titus 3:1-8, ESV

"Remind them to be submissive to rulers and authorities, to be obedient, to be ready for every good work, to speak evil of no one, to avoid quarreling, to be gentle, and to show perfect courtesy toward all people. For we ourselves were once foolish, disobedient, led astray, slaves to various passions and pleasures, passing our days in malice and envy, hated by others and hating one another. But when the goodness and loving kindness of God our Savior appeared, he saved us, not because of works done by us in righteousness, but according to his own mercy, by the washing of regeneration and renewal of the Holy Spirit, whom he poured out on us richly through Jesus Christ our Savior, so that being justified by his grace we might become heirs according to the hope of eternal life. The saying is trustworthy, and I want you to insist on these things, so that those who have believed in God may be careful to devote themselves to good works. These things are excellent and profitable for people."

Ephesians 1:3-10, ESV "Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us in Christ with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places, even as he chose us in him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and blameless before him. In love he predestined us for adoption through Jesus Christ, according to the purpose of his will, to the praise of his glorious grace, with which he has blessed us in the Beloved. In him we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of our trespasses, according to the riches of his grace, which he lavished upon us, in all wisdom and insight making known to us the mystery of his will, according to his purpose, which he set forth in Christ as a plan for the fullness of time, to unite all things in him, things in heaven and things on earth."

(Ephesians 2:1-10, ESV) "And you were dead in the trespasses and sins in which you once walked, following the course of this world, following the prince of the power of the air, the spirit that is now at work in the sons of disobedience— among whom we all once lived in the passions of our flesh, carrying out the desires of the body and the mind, and were by nature children of wrath, like the rest of mankind. But God, being rich in mercy, because of the great love with which he loved us, even when we were dead in our trespasses, made us alive together with Christ—by grace you have been saved— and raised us up with him and seated us with him in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus, so that in the coming ages he might show the immeasurable riches of his grace in kindness toward us in Christ Jesus. For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God, not a result of works, so that no one may boast. For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand, that we should walk in them."

Faith is the product of the grace of God in my life, producing what is unnatural and impossible to achieve on my own.

I submit to you that salvation is wholly the work of God, that man cannot in any way effect or take credit for his salvation, and that the even the response of faith that to God’s offer is the product of the work of God in one’s life.

Therefore, what we must ask is this question:  Is it possible to lose God’s salvation?

Have you come to the point of trusting in this grace of God, this gift offered to you? 

Are you rejecting the notion that you need God?

Are you going your own way through trying to earn this grace, this gift?