A New Name in Pencil

8/3/2019 A New Name in Pencil

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A New Name In Pencil

I KNOW. DO YOU?

The doctrine of perseverance of the saints or eternal security means nothing to those who havenot received Jesus Christ as their personal Savior. To argue over whether one can lose salvation

or not is a vain subject for one who is lost and on his way to an eternal Hell.

The thing that is necessary is for one to become a Christian. There is only one way to become a

Christian and that is by Christs shed blood. Being born in a so-called "Christian" nation, or being

born into a family which is a member of a church which may call itself Christian, or submitting

to some ritual does not make a true child of God--a Christian. One must be born again by the

Spirit of God. He must have his sins covered--washed in the blood of the Lamb. A person has to

realize that he is a sinner and that he deserves to go to Hell. When, and only when, a person

understands and accepts this fact will he come to Jesus and ask forgiveness for his sins. Gods

promise to those who come to Him is put very simply in John 1:12, But as many as received

Him, to those gave He power to become the sons of God, even to those who believe on His

name. Make sure that you have eternal life.

"In our present-day evangelism, men are urged to be saved before they know they are lost, to

believe without being convicted of their need. The fruit is picked before it is ripe, and the work

is sure to come undone. The Holy Spirit must convict of sin before men can believe. This

accepting Christ theory without conviction is not the new-birth. It isnt a born again

experience. What a mockery it is!" [O. Smith].

Those who say that a Christian can lose his salvation are making excuses to account for themany who have apparently lost their salvation. When Jesus, in fact, says of them, I never knew

you[MAT 7:23].

A true Christian cannot lose his salvation because the Bible says that he cannot. A true Christian

is kept by the power of God[1PE 1:5]. God keeps His promises. This knowledge is a great

encouragement to holy living and a comfort to the child of God who is simply trusting Jesus to

keep His promise. With the apostle Paul the TRUE Christian can say with confidence: I know

whom I have believed, and am persuaded that He is able to keep that which I have committed

unto Him against that day[2TI 1:12].

IN GODS FAMILY

The terms eternal and everlasting mean the same thing. According to Websters dictionary they

mean, "lasting or enduring forever." John 3:16; Romans 6:23; Titus 3:7 and John 6:40 mention

this everlasting life. All of these verses make it clear through the very meaning of everlasting

that once a person has this new life, that it is his FOREVER. It is a present reality. A person can


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KNOW that he has everlasting life. The Christian has a home with the Lord the very second that

he accepts Christ as his personal Savior, and this will never be taken away from him.

Ephesians 1:13, 14; 2 Corinthians 1:22; 2 Timothy 2:19 and Ephesians 4:30 all refer to the

sealing by the Holy Spirit of a Christian into Gods Family. The word sealing means to secure or

to "fasten tightly or to settle," as Webster put it. Whether the word refers to a wax seal on aletter, the seal on Christs tomb or to the sealing of the Christian in Gods family, the meaning is

to secure the sealed object. The Bible goes on to say that the sealing of the Christian is the

earnest[pledge, guarantee, or down payment]of our inheritance until the redemption of the purchased

possession, unto the praise of His glory[EPH 1:14]. The words There is now no condemnation to

those who are in Christ Jesus[ROM 8:1] is one of the greatest statements in the Bible.

When a person becomes a Christian he becomes a child of God, that is, he is born into Gods

family. A few places where the Christian is referred to as being in God are: Galatians 3:26;

Romans 8:14, 17 and Acts 9:26. I was born into the Lewis family almost 17 [age when this high school paper

was written] years ago. The Bible makes it clear that this is a good analogy. There is no way in this

world that I can ever lose that relationship. I could have amnesia and forget that I ever was a

Lewis, or I could change my name in the courts of the land and call myself by some other name,

or I could do terrible things and hurt the Lewis name, but I am still a Lewis. It is the same with

Gods family. The Bible history of the saints such as Moses, Abraham and David show the truth

of this point. Peter denied and even cursed that he ever knew Christ, but he never lost his

salvation. He repented of his evil and it was forgiven by God. The carnal-minded Christians at

Corinth never lost their salvation even though they had let their church get in a very bad state

of moral decay [see 1 and 2 Corinthians]. Some Christians lose their rewards because of sin [1CO 3:12-15] and

others even have their lives cut short because of sin, however, they are still Christians [1CO 11:29-

32].

Many people say, "but if, as Peter did, a Christian can deny Christ, then a Christian can go and

do as he pleases." This is not so. The doctrine of perseverance makes it clear that God saves

men by securing their perseverance in holiness, not ungodliness [see ROM 8].

NEVER PERISH

"The believer who receives Jesus as Lord in all sincerity and truth will never go back into the

practice of sin, will never trample on the Son of God [HEB 10:29] he will never regard the shed blood

as unholy or profane . . ., and will never wantonly insult the Holy Spirit. Anyone who can bring

himself around to that kind of ungodliness and contempt toward the Savior never gave his

heart to Him in the first place" [G. L. Archer].

The following verses of Scripture back up and enforce the above statement. Truly, truly, I say to

you, he who hears My word, and believes on Him Who sent Me, has everlasting life, and shall

not come into condemnation but is passed from death to life [JOH 5:24]. This verse cannot make it

any plainer but that anyone who is truly saved will not come into condemnation. In other words

it is impossible for anyone to lose his salvation.


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Even to those will I give my house and within My walls a place and a name better than of sons

and of daughters: I will give them an everlasting name that shall not be cut off[ISA 56:5].And I give

to them eternal life: and they shall never perish, neither shall any man pluck them out of My

hand. My Father, Who gave them Me, is greater than all and no man is able to pluck them out

of My Fathers hand[JOH 10:28, 29]. This last verse says that no Christian will ever perish, and that

they cannot be plucked out of His hand. Need anything more be said?

While I was with them in the world, I kept them in Your name those who You gave Me I have

kept, and none of them is lost, but the son of perdition that the Scripture might be fulfilled[JOH

17:12]. The son of perdition refers to Judas Iscariot, who was never a true Christian, or real

possessor of salvation.

The next three verses give examples of things that are not able to separate us from God. Thus if

these big things cannot separate us, the inference is that nothing can. Who shall separate us

from the love of Christ? Shall tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or

peril, or sword? For I am persuaded that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities,

nor powers, nor things present, nor things to come, nor 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[ROM8:35, 38, 39].

Finally the Bible states that you are not your own, and that you are bought with a price. This

very clearly shows that once we become a Christian we have no "free will" to decide to leave

God because we are Gods slaves. God owns us. Yes, just as the Negroes were slaves in the old

South, we are Gods slaves to do what He bids. When the word [douloV - doulos]" is used in the

New Testament and is simply translated "servant," such as in Philippians 1:1, it really means

slave. The above verses could not make it any clearer, but that a true Christian cannot lose his

salvation. He has everlasting life.

ETERNAL SECURITY

Many object to the Bible doctrine of perseverance of the saints. We will now look at some of

their most common arguments against eternal security. One of the most common is, "But Judas

lost his salvation when a demon entered him just before he betrayed Christ." This is not what

the Bible says at all. A closer examination of the Scriptures makes it very clear that, although

Judas was one of Christs chosen disciples, he was never a Christiannever a true believer. Two

passages which bear out this fact are: John 6:64-71 and 12:4-6. Verse 64 of John 6 very plainly

says that one of the disciples was not a believer evenfrom the beginning. Verse 71 names Judas

as the one who did not believefrom the beginning. If anyone can call Judas a Christian after

reading these verses he is not willing to accept the plain statements of the Scriptures. Judas

never was a believera true Christian.

Hebrews 6:4-6 and 10:26-39 are the two other often used passages in the Bible to defend the

idea of a true Christian losing his salvation. These verses at first sight may SEEM to contradict

the rest of the Bible, by APPARENTLY saying that a true Christian can fall away and lose his


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salvation. Since we have already seen some of the abundant, plain teaching of the Bible that

the true Christian CANNOT lose his salvation, this explanation would create a contradiction in

the Scriptures therefore it cannot be the correct explanation. Therefore we need to look at

these passages more closely. Verses 38, 39 show that this passage in verses 26-39 is referring to

those who did not believe to the saving of the soul. They are the same as those the Lord spoke

of in John 6:59-71. They are the many of His disciples of verse 66 who were followers, but nottrue believers. They professed to be believers, but Jesus said of them and to them that there

are some of you who believe not[verse 64].

The explanation of Hebrews 6:4-6 that appears to be best, says that: "This passage in Hebrews

6:4-6 is hypothetical, as is proved by verse 9: We are persuaded better things of you, and

things that accompany salvation, though we thus speak. A supposition which is not an actual

or even a possible case is sometimes made, for the sake of illustrating or enforcing truth. In 1

Corinthians 13:1-3, Paul supposes the existence of Christian faith without that of Christian love.

In Galatians 1:8, he supposes that an angel from Heaven may preach another gospel than the

true one. In Matthew 13:21, 22 the stony-ground hearer is not a true believer. In 2 Peter 2:20,

21 the dog who turns to his own vomitis a false professor. His knowing the way of

righteousness is superficial knowledge like that of the stony-ground hearer" [W. G. T. Shedd]. It

should be pointed out to those who teach, based on this passage, that one can lose his

salvation, that "that lost salvation" could not be regained. The passage states that, It is

impossible . . . if they fall away, to renew them again unto repentance. The problem with these

passages in Hebrews is no more real than the supposed problem between Paul and James

about faith and works.

A NEW NAME IN PENCIL!

The doctrine of the perseverance of the saints teaches that a TRUE Christian will be finally andeverlastingly saved. The Bible clearly teaches the eternal security of the saints.

The Bible definition of a true Christian has a great deal to do with this doctrine. Nowhere in the

Bible does it state or even imply that a true Christian ever turns his back on God and loses his

salvation, though certainly a vast host of false professors have and will turn away [see JOH 6:59-71].

I have given them Your word and the world has hated them, because they are not of the world,

even as I am not of the world[JOH 17:14]. This verse teaches that once a person is a Christian, he is

not of the world. It does not say he might not be of the world, rather, it very plainly states that

he IS NOT of the world. The second part of the verse says that the Christian is no more a part of

the world than is Christ. Can Christ go into the world and turn His back on God the Father?

Christ can never turn His back on the Father because He is God. This is not to say that Christians

are God. The verse simply shows that the Christian will no more turn against God than will

Christ.


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Therefore, if any man be in Christ he is a new creature old things are passed away behold all

things are become new[2CO 5:17]. This verse shows that once a person becomes a Christian he will

not want to turn his back on God, because he is a new creature--Gods child.

But you are not in the flesh, but in the Spirit, if so be that the Spirit of God dwell in you. Now if

any man have not the Spirit of Christ, he is none of His [ROM 8:9]. According to this verse, once aperson becomes a Christian, the Spirit of God dwells in him, and that he is not in the flesh. The

next two verses state clearly that once a person is a Christian he will overcome the world

because of the help that God gives. For whoever is born of God overcomes the world and this is

the victory that overcomes the world, even our faith. Who is he who overcome the world, but he

who believes that Jesus is the Son of God[1JO 5:4, 5]. A person will not turn his back on God unless

the world can overcome him, and since the world cannot overcome the Christian, therefore the

Christian will not turn his back on God.

The Bible plainly teaches that as Christians we are part of Christs body and will never be

separated. The whole idea of 1 Corinthians 6:15 is that Christ would not cut off His arm. In

other words He would not remove a part of His body. Does God neatly write each new name

down in the Lambs book of life in pencil so that it can be neatly erased?! Thankfully, He does

not. Know you not that your bodies are members of Christ? Shall I take the members of Christ,

and make them the members of a harlot? God forbid[1CO 6:15]. This verse makes it indisputably

clear that Christ will not sever a member from His body and give it back to the world, which He

compares to a harlot. Since God will never cast a person off from Himself, and a true Christian

will never turn his back on God, as shown above, then it is impossible for a person to lose or

give up his salvation. A distinction needs to be made between one who merely professes

salvation and TRUE BELIEVERS. The false professors are but pigs returning to their wallowing in

the mire[1PE 2:22] because they were not TRUE Christians to begin with.

John C. Lewis

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A New Name in Pencil