“A brother will betray his brother to death, a father will betray his own child, and children will rebel against their parents and cause them to be killed. And all nations will hate you because you are My followers. But everyone who endures to the end will be saved.” (Luke 10:21-22 NLT)
From the outset let me affirm that I believe in Eternal Security for believers, based on 1 John 5:13. I believe we can know we’re saved and not have to be concerned that Satan or anyone or anything else can rob us of our salvation. However, I do not believe in the oft quoted phrase, “Once saved, always saved.” While that can be true for many, I hope most, it’s not true for all.
As in the parable of the farmer scattering seed in Matthew 13, seed dropped on the soil of different hearts yielded different results. Not everyone who begins the faith journey ends up in heaven. Jesus reveals His will for us in Matthew 10:22 when He said: “And all nations will hate you because you are My followers. But everyone who endures to the end will be saved.” With the clear implication, some will not endure.
The word “endure” that Jesus uses, according to Strong’s Concordance, means: “to remain i.e. abide, not recede or flee; to preserve: under misfortunes and trials to hold fast to one’s faith in Christ; to endure, bear bravely and calmly; ill treatments.” Why did Jesus say that? Could it be because persecution often becomes the context of fleeing our faith? Our nature is self-preservation and until Christ means more to us than our own life, our commitment isn’t very deep (see Luke 14:26 NLT) Too often, when the pressure builds, believers walk away. Paul mentions those, like Demas, who deserted him and there’s no other mention of him after that.
For unbelievers there is no security, at least as it relates to God. God has accomplished everything needed to be done in the completed work of Christ on Calvary. His shed blood is adequate to pay the penalty for the sin of every repentant sinner, but there is no payment for the sin of one who doesn’t repent. You can’t receive something for which you don’t ask.
Jesus owns me. His will IS my will. Whatever He wants for me is exactly what I want for myself. But when we’re honest, not many professing believers hold that conviction, or if they do, they don’t talk about it. There are those who straddle the proverbial fence of belief every day, yet they hold on to what they were told when they were first “saved:” “Just hold on to this, my friend, ‘Once you’re saved you can never be lost!’”
What’s the message that can be heard in that, and, unfortunately, the message someone who would tell them that may believe: “Just get this eternity ‘insurance’ in Jesus, then you can live anyway you want, and it won’t matter.’” But that’s a lie from the depths of hell. Jesus said in Luke 14:27: “You cannot become My disciple without giving up everything you own.”
The context of those words was Jesus’ laying out the cost of following Him. “Count the cost” He said and gave illustrations to emphasize what He was saying. The cost of discipleship is high and will cost us our life, literally and/or figuratively, and the truth is, not everyone who begins finishes. Demas, whom Paul referred to as his “co-worker” in ministry in Philemon, is mentioned also in 2 Timothy 4:10 when Paul writes: “Demas has deserted me because he loves the things of this life…”
Let’s look at this from another angle in tomorrow’s post.
Blessings, Ed 😊
Walking With Jesus 