Did Jesus Teach Eternal Security
(Perseverance of the Saints)?
Dan Corner
Though there are many teachings of the Lord Jesusthat we could focus in upon to answer this question, perhaps His teaching known asThe Prodigal Son (Luke 15:11-32) would be the best of all regarding this controversy.This teaching demonstratively shows the full extent of sin's destructive power in the lifeof a son of God, the key roles that free will and human responsibility have, the limitedprotective power offered by the believer's "seal," as taught by Christ Himself and muchmore. Let's examine it closely.
The teaching starts by focusing in on the younger of the two sons of the father,who asked for and received his share of the estate. Soon afterward, he departed fromthe father's presence for a distant country of "wild living" (v.13). There he squanderedhis wealth with prostitutes (v.30). After he spent everything he had there was a severefamine in that country, during which time he personally longed to eat the pods that thepigs were eating, but no one gave him anything! He then came to his senses, returnedto the father repentfully and found complete forgiveness and restoration. Beyond this,the father with no hesitation initiated the "kill the fattened calf" celebration for hishomecoming.
Verses 24 and 32 are essential to this parable, controversy and study. Both ofthese Scriptures, declared by the father, reveal the spiritual condition of the prodigalboth BEFORE and AFTER the time of his "wild living." Verse 24 spoken to his servantssays, "For this son of mine was dead and is ALIVE AGAIN; he was lost and isfound," while verse 32, spoken to the older son says, ". . . this brother of yours wasdead and is ALIVE AGAIN; he was lost and is found." The important point the fatherwas emphasizing was the complete reversal of the prodigal's spiritual condition, nowthat he repented. He went from "DEAD" to "ALIVE AGAIN" which is equated in thesame sentence as going from "LOST" to "FOUND." Hence, there is great reason torejoice over such a sinner that repents, as already mentioned two separate times in thissame chapter in the parables of the Lost Sheep and Lost Coin.
Perhaps the words "ALIVE AGAIN" are most revealing. The Greek word fromwhich "ALIVE AGAIN" comes is found five times in the New Testament -- in these twoverses just cited, Rom. 7:9; 14:9 and Rev. 20:5. It means LIVE AGAIN or REVIVE. Thisis easily seen in Rom. 14:9, ". . . Christ died and returned to life. . . ." Here it is statedthat the Lord's physical condition went from LIFE to DEATH [on the cross] to LIFEAGAIN [when He arose from the grave]. Similarly, the prodigal's spiritual condition wentfrom LIFE to DEATH [when with the prostitutes] to LIFE AGAIN [when he returned tothe father's presence]. Regarding this type of action and the believer's security, onestrain of eternal security is perhaps best exemplified by what John MacArthur wrote:
"No matter how convincing a person's testimony might seem, once he becomesapostate he has demonstrated irrefutably that he was never really saved" [JohnF. MacArthur, Jr., The Gospel According to Jesus (Zondervan Publishing, GrandRapids, MI, 1989), p.98].
The Lord Jesus, in contrast to MacArthur and this position, clearly taught suchcan occur, by this parable! Also request our tract entitled, He Was Never Really SavedTo Begin With for other arguments.
Furthermore, there are many in our hour that unfortunately teach and sincerelybelieve that the most one could ever lose through sin after initial salvation is their joy ofsalvation, spiritual rewards and/or position in the kingdom. Jesus, however, very clearlytaught otherwise! The Lord taught the prodigal's spiritual condition degenerated to"DEAD," the same as for everyone before initial salvation (Eph. 2:1). Paul statedlikewise, after initial salvation, "If you live according to the sinful nature you will die,but if by the Spirit you put to death the misdeeds of the body you will live" (Rom. 8:13).This is what happened to the prodigal, that is, he died spiritually because he chose,through his own free will, to "live according to the sinful nature."
Luke 15:13 states "wild living" characterized his behavior when spiritually"DEAD" and "LOST" in his unconfessed and unrepented sins. The word for "wild living"comes from the Greek word meaning EXCESS, as found in Eph. 5:18: "And be notdrunk with wine, wherein is excess; but be filled with the Spirit" (KJV). Hence, theprodigal's behavior, as implied by Lk. 15:13, included DRUNKENNESS and otherexcesses that go with that kind of sinful lifestyle. This would be a safe assumptionanyway, especially since he spent his money with prostitutes! Therefore, among othergrievous sins, the prodigal's sins were SEXUAL IMMORALITY and DRUNKENNESS --two rampant spiritual killers in our day too! Paul wrote about these and other similarsins in Gal. 5:19-21 and 1 Cor. 6:9,10. This former passage, written to Christians inWARNING form, reads: "The acts of the sinful nature are obvious: sexual immorality,impurity and debauchery; idolatry and witchcraft; hatred, discord, jealousy, fits of rage,selfish ambition, dissensions, factions and envy; drunkenness, orgies, and the like. IWARN YOU, as I did before, that those who live like this will NOT inherit thekingdom of God."
Robert B. Thieme, another influential eternal security teacher of our day, likensthe prodigal son to a carnal Christian whom he describes as follows:
"The behavior pattern of a carnal Christian cannot be distinguished from that ofan unbeliever (1 Cor. 3:3). As far as God's Word is concerned, you may act likean unbeliever; but if you have believed in Christ, you are still a believer -- abeliever in status quo carnality -- out of fellowship. This principle is important inunderstanding the prodigal. A BELIEVER OUT OF FELLOWSHIP ACTS LIKEAN UNBELIEVER" [emphasis his] [R. B. Thieme, Jr., The Prodigal Son, Houston,TX, 1974, p.7].
WHAT A VENOMOUS LIE THIS IS! Please know the following about carnalChristians as mentioned by Paul: (1) 1 Cor. 3:3 is very clear about their sins being"jealousy" and "quarreling" and nothing as severe as the Prodigal's were. Paul wrote:"You are still worldly. For since there is JEALOUSY and QUARRELING among you, areyou not worldly? Are you not acting like mere men?" Furthermore, in the next twoverses we see why they were acting like this, that is, some at Corinth apparentlyfavored one Christian leader over another, namely Paul over Apollos and vice versa!(2) In 1 Cor. 6:11, we read, "And that is what some of you WERE. But you WEREwashed, you WERE sanctified, you WERE justified in the name of the Lord JesusChrist and by the Spirit of our God." Please note: those "carnal" Christians were NOTdrunkards any more or sexually immoral any more, etc., as clearly indicated by theword "WERE" in this verse referring back to verses 9 and 10! This again shows an allimportant difference between what the eternal security teachers are saying andwhat God says, as recorded in the Bible. (3) To believe the eternal security teachersregarding carnal Christianity and the behavior of such people would also rendermeaningless verses such as 1 Jn. 3:10: "This is how we know who the children of Godare and who the children of the devil are: Anyone who does not do what is right is not achild of God; nor is anyone who does not love his brother." Please note that John's testto know a child of God from a child of the devil was a present-tense behavioral one andnot just a testimony of a past conversion experience! See also 1 Jn. 2:3,4.
It is my contention that as water is to fire, so the teaching of eternal security is tothe fear of God, as evident by eternal security teachings such as these.
Please note: unlike what some of the eternal security teachers would say, basedon a faulty interpretation of Col. 2:13, the prodigal's future sins were NOT automaticallyforgiven, because if they were, it would have been impossible for them to bring abouthis "DEAD" and "LOST" spiritual condition! "He forgave us all our sins" (Col. 2:13), canonly refer to "all" of our PAST sins getting forgiven at the point of initial salvation. If not,there would be no need to confess sins committed after salvation for forgiveness, asshown in 1 Jn. 1:9. In addition, many other Scriptures would be meaningless if all ourfuture sins were automatically forgiven also at the point of initial salvation! In contrastto Scripture and reason, another eternal security teacher (June Hunt) said,
June: "Well, technically, Carl, a person who has truly entered into a relationshipwith the Lord Jesus Christ, let me ask you this, how many of their sins wereforgiven once they entered into that relationship with Him?"
Carl: "Well, I believe all of mine have been."
June: "Yes, because that's what Scripture teaches."
Carl: "Past, present and future."
June: "And future. So the issue is, all of our sins are already forgiven" [JuneHunt, tape: "Suicide or Survival," #9114] (emphasis ours).
While some heavily rely upon Jesus' promise stated in Jn. 10:28,29, that is, thatno one will "snatch" his sheep from His hand or the Father's hand, please note that thisdoesn't exclude the apparent possibility of a "sheep" walking off due to his ownpersonal free will to a lifestyle that will result in spiritual death, as exemplified by theprodigal son! No one plucked the prodigal out of the Father's hand, but the Father lethim walk away! Also, the wonderful promise of John 10:28,29 holds true ONLY forthose who "follow" [continuous tense in the Greek] Jesus (v. 27)!
Also, many read into the believer's "seal," which Paul wrote of, as a spiritualprotection that is an assurance that will, most definitely, mean our future entrance intothe kingdom no matter what. However, Jesus' teaching on the prodigal son also refutesthis faulty interpretation, for that "seal" didn't prevent the prodigal's "dead" and "lost"condition from coming about! The same can be emphatically stated from James 4:4bregarding anyone who would "choose to be a friend of the world" and consequentlybecome an "enemy of God." Enemies of God will be consumed by raging fire (Heb.10:27)! This too shows the "seal" won't prevent their spiritual death.
Furthermore, in light of Heb. 13:5 which states that God will never leave orforsake us, please note the prodigal left and forsook the father and the father let himwalk off! Besides, Heb. 13:5,8 is a quote from Deut. 31:6,8, which shows by Deut.31:17 that God will "forsake" us because of sin! [If you have a copy of our book refutingthe sinister teaching of eternal security, please refer to pages 74 and 75 for a fullexplanation.]
Many eternal security proponents try to weaken such truths as these and otherstaught in the parables by saying things like: Parables weren't given for doctrine orparables teach only one truth and not several! Regarding the latter, Charles Stanleywrote in his monthly magazine:
"Jesus told the story of the prodigal son for one reason, to portray God'sunconditional love. (Luke 15:11-32)" [In Touch, September 1994, p.7.]
Both of these objections are categorically false! Parables were taught by Christas a means of revealing the secrets of the kingdom to believers and concealing thesame secrets from the unbelievers (Matt. 13:10-13). Since doctrine is one and thesame as teachings, obviously parables are for doctrine. For example, the parable of thePharisee and Tax Collector (Lk. 18:9-14) clearly teaches the doctrine of INSTANTJUSTIFICATION for all, who like that tax collector, sincerely and humbly pray directly toGod asking for forgiveness. Furthermore, a second basic truth is clearly taught in thesame parable -- namely, one must first be aware of his own personal need offorgiveness before he will receive it. The self-righteous pharisee lacked this insight andwent home unjustified and unforgiven! Hence, both objections raised by eternal securityproponents, against the use of parables, are clearly refuted here!
Finally regarding the prodigal son, let us all rejoice that the father QUICKLY andJOYFULLY took him back after he repented. In other words, we know from this that aperson can get saved MORE THAN ONCE based on this teaching and acorroborating one by Paul, the true grace teacher, in Rom. 11:19-23: "You will saythen, 'Branches were broken off so that I could be grafted in.' Granted. But they werebroken off because of unbelief, and you stand by faith. DO NOT BE ARROGANT, BUTBE AFRAID. For if God did not spare the natural branches, he will not spare youeither. Consider therefore the kindness and sternness of God: sternness to those whofell, but kindness to you, provided that you continue in his kindness. Otherwise,you also will be cut off. And if they do not persist in unbelief, they will be graftedin, for God is able to graft them in AGAIN." [This passage from Rom. 11 seems to betailor-made and customized for this controversy over the believer's security. Clearly, itcauses much trouble for the eternal security proponent, that is, if he even knows itexists!]
Other passages given by Jesus which refute eternal security are: Matt. 6:14,15;10:22,33; 24:13; 25:26-30; Lk. 8:13; 12:45,46; Jn. 15:6; Rev. 2:10,11,26; 3:15,16.
COME ON HOME MODERN-DAY PRODIGALS. God will likewise accept andrejoice over YOU! Don't think you have sinned too much to return. The prodigal Jesustaught about, likewise, knew ONLY "wild living" for an undesignated period of time --perhaps many years. God wants you home in his presence, too -- "alive again" and nolonger "lost." Come while you still can.
- Visit Evangelical Outreach's Home Page
- Address: P.O. Box 265, Washington, PA 15301-0265, USA
E-Mail: gospel@voicenet.com
