JOHN 6:37-39
37 All that the Father giveth me shall come to me; and him that cometh to me I will in no wise cast out. 38 For I came down from heaven, not to do mine own will, but the will of him that sent me. 39 And this is the Father's will which hath sent me, that of all which he hath given me I should lose nothing, but should raise it up again at the last day.
This is an argument that's lasted throughout the ages of the church: can a true child of GOD forfeit their salvation? Many solid arguments on both sides of that debate. It was a question I wrestled with as a young believer and in those days, I wasn't at all certain which view was correct. The one thing I was certain about was, I wasn't willing to experiment! So I held fast as close to Jesus as I could!
I don't presume that this simple devotional will settle the argument at all - particularly since that isn't the purpose of this series (theological arguments and doctrinal addresses are for other articles).
I will say right up front (so that those who don't agree with this position won't have to waste any more time and can dismiss this devotional) that a far more important question to ask, is not - can a true child of GOD lose their salvation, but rather, is a person truly a child of GOD in the first place? I believe that once a soul is genuinely saved, born again, sealed by the Holy Spirit that it's a done deal. He initiated salvation, He will complete what He started (PHIL 1:6). There are those that put a conditional clause between "began" and "perform (complete)" that says, "IF we continue to be faithful".
To me, that puts the burden of keeping salvation on us - by our own will and effort (but GAL 3:1-4 states that this is entirely a work of the Spirit - and all we need to do is yield to Him to do the work only He can.)
I contend that a true child of GOD will remain faithful unto the end - and why do I make this contention? Any who don't produce fruit are cast away; if they produce no fruit - not even the fruit of repentance - then they aren't born of the Spirit Who alone produces the fruit after His kind:
GALATIANS 5:22-23
22 But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, gentleness, goodness, faith, 23 Meekness, temperance: against such there is no law.
Note the word "faith" which in the Greek is pistis; this word not only means faith, but also "faithfulness". A true child of GOD will bear the fruit of faithfulness, will be faithful, and experience the LORD's work of enduring grace Who will complete us.
The Gospel of today is the Happy Gospel, and one that doesn't demand repentance, doesn't expect holiness or fruit of the Spirit, and will assure a person of their salvation, based on nothing more than them mouthing a sinner's prayer. Because of this, many disparage "the sinner's prayer" as invalid - which has some merit, but such a prayer isn't necessarily invalid. The forlorn result of such a false Gospel are false converts - which some would say are those who lost their salvation. And in order for them to regain salvation, they would need to be . . .? Born again - again?
As I said, this isn't a treatise on validating eternal security, but merely devotional commentary on the subject, so let's start with the first verse of our text:
JOHN 6:37
37 All that the Father giveth me shall come to me; and him that cometh to me I will in no wise cast out.
The Father grants these souls to the Son; both the Son and the Spirit draw souls to the LAMB of GOD and teaches them (JOHN 12:32; 15:26-27; 16:13-14). The LORD Jesus emphatically claims that He will cast no one out that comes to Him (He actually expresses this in a double negative for emphasis ("Not no way will I cast them out")!
This must be a work of the Spirit because not one soul of themselves is determined to seek GOD by their own volition:
ROMANS 3:11-12
11 There is none that understandeth, there is none that seeketh after God. 12 They are all gone out of the way, they are together become unprofitable; there is none that doeth good, no, not one.
This is not to say that the LORD compels or forces us to seek Him, but that the sweet influences of the Holy Spirit woos and directs us to the Cross of Christ. Having brought us to the Cross doesn't mean that we are saved because of the Spirit delivering us there. Simply, that having brought us, we are then confronted with Christ and must come to a decision either way, to accept Him or not (The Calvinist would say that we have no choice in the matter; that it's solely up to GOD whether we are saved or not, and we heartily disagree with that assertion).
JOHN 6:38
38 For I came down from heaven, not to do mine own will, but the will of him that sent me.
This would seem to suggest that the will of the Father and that of the Son are at times contrary; yet since both are members of the Godhead, and GOD is truth, we know that truth can't contradict itself, therefore neither can the Father and the Son.
Jesus is simply stating that, as with any dutiful and faithful son, He is obedient to the Father in all things, and is determined to see His will fulfilled.
Christians can sometimes have divided hearts: on the one side is the will of the LORD and His desires and plans for us; on the other side we have our own desires and plans for ourselves. Just as a divided house cannot stand (MARK 3:25), neither can a divided heart prosper.
And the point being, Father Knows Best - when deliberating which plan I should go for, I will lose every time - if I am wise. GOD's knowledge is perfect, His wisdom is impeccable, His power is absolute, His heart towards us is devoted in pure love. Who wouldn't want someone like this in charge of their lives?
My own plans and purposes for myself utterly pale in comparison.
Look what GOD's plans for His Son brought Him:
PHILIPPIANS 2:8-11
8 And being found in fashion as a man, he humbled himself, and became obedient unto death, even the death of the cross. 9 Wherefore God also hath highly exalted him, and given him a name which is above every name: 10 That at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, of things in heaven, and things in earth, and things under the earth; 11 And that every tongue should confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.
PSALM 2:6-8
6 Yet have I set my king upon my holy hill of Zion. 7 I will declare the decree: the Lord hath said unto me, Thou art my Son; this day have I begotten thee. 8 Ask of me, and I shall give thee the heathen for thine inheritance, and the uttermost parts of the earth for thy possession.
And as a result of Christ's obedience, the benefits we receive!
REVELATION 5:9-10
9 And they sung a new song, saying, Thou art worthy to take the book, and to open the seals thereof: for thou wast slain, and hast redeemed us to God by thy blood out of every kindred, and tongue, and people, and nation; 10 And hast made us unto our God kings and priests: and we shall reign on the earth.
JOHN 6:39
And this is the Father's will which hath sent me, that of all which he hath given me I should lose nothing, but should raise it up again at the last day.
In the end, GOD gets what He wants - the redemption of souls: regardless of the comparative numbers between those whose eternal destiny is heaven, and those who will end up in hell, still - a vast numberless assembly of souls will be worshiping the LAMB of GOD and rule as kings and priests in the Kingdom of GOD!
And it's the will of the Father that of all those that the LORD Jesus receives from Him, none should be lost. And the LORD Jesus testifies of this truth later on in His high priestly prayer to the Father:
JOHN 17:12
While I was with them in the world, I kept them in thy name: those that thou gavest me I have kept, and none of them is lost, but the son of perdition; that the scripture might be fulfilled.
Judas Iscariot, as we know, is that son of perdition - the man who couldn't bring himself to call Jesus LORD - but instead, only Master (that is, teacher; see MATT 26:25).
I find it enormously comforting and encouraging that my salvation doesn't rest upon my narrow, weak, inept shoulders, but rather upon those Almighty shoulders that bore my cross in my place. That since I came to receive Christ - I know that the Father has given me to Jesus, and the Father's will is that the LORD Jesus will lose not one.
Rather than get into the details of this subject here (having only lightly touched upon it), I would rather get into a more detailed study at a latter time (and probably on the mother site of The TRUTH Under FIRE). In the mean while, I can offer a book that I highly recommend by William MacDonald (a beloved co-laborer and friend of the late Dave Hunt), where he covers arguments from both sides and shows from Scripture that we who are saved through Christ are saved indeed and to the uttermost!
ONCE IN CHRIST IN CHRIST FOREVER by William MacDonald.
One thing that we can all agree on . . .
"... but should raise it up again at the last day".
There is coming a day in which the LORD will raise up all of His saints, and usher us into His Kingdom . . .
REVELATION 21:3-5
3 And I heard a great voice out of heaven saying, Behold, the tabernacle of God is with men, and he will dwell with them, and they shall be his people, and God himself shall be with them, and be their God. 4 And God shall wipe away all tears from their eyes; and there shall be no more death, neither sorrow, nor crying, neither shall there be any more pain: for the former things are passed away. 5 And he that sat upon the throne said, Behold, I make all things new. And he said unto me, Write: for these words are true and faithful.
Prophetically speaking these are the last days of lawlessness and while we are grieved at the increasing iniquity and wickedness, we have profound hope of the Kingdom that draws near, for these are in fact THE LAST DAYS of lawlessness, and soon we are going Home - and then all of this nightmarish evil won't even be so much as a bad memory!
So no matter what happens between now and then, no matter how extreme evil may get, we are assured that the ultimate victory is ours because of the Cross of Christ, where He procured the victory for us 2,000 years ago - and there is no undoing that! We saints are in a no lose situation in regards to our salvation in Christ (by GOD's grace, may we be obedient to the LORD in all things so that we may also be in a no lose situation regarding rewards at the Bema Seat of Christ)!
Then we will get on with the program that GOD intended all along: eternal fellowship with our Creator and Redeemer among all of His saints, forever and ever, world without end! AMEN!
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