As Christians, we are extremely blessed to be in a saved relationship with God, but our blessings do not stop with our original redemption. If it were not for the grace of God, we would never be able to maintain our salvation. Fortunately, God has blessed us with the resources to be secure in Christ. If you are a child of God, you need to know that security in Christ is a real thing, and we have it.
John 10:27-29 (ESV)
27 My sheep hear my voice, and I know them, and they follow me. 28 I give them eternal life, and they will never perish, and no one will snatch them out of my hand. 29 My Father, who has given them to me, is greater than all, and no one is able to snatch them out of the Father’s hand.
The point of this passage is not that a person cannot willfully choose to abandon Christ and lose his soul. We know that was not what Jesus was saying because there is a host of passages that refer to individuals in Christ doing that very thing. Ananias and Sapphira did it (Acts 5:1-11). Simon, the former magician, did it (Acts 8:9-22). Hymenaeus and Philetus did it (2 Timothy 2:16-18), and so did Demas (2 Timothy 4:10). Given these examples, as well as many passages that tell us that we can fall (1 Corinthians 10:12; Galatians 5:4; 1 Timothy 3:6), we know that Jesus never taught that apostatizing was impossible.
What Jesus did teach was that no one can steal our salvation by forcing us to leave God. While we can voluntarily forsake God, no one can pluck us out of God’s powerful hand. The comfort we can receive from our Lord’s teaching is that we are safe and secure in the hands of God. We have eternal life right now, and we can keep it as long as we want. We never have to fall.
Jude 1:24 (KJV)
24 Now unto him that is able to keep you from falling, and to present you faultless before the presence of his glory with exceeding joy,
How does God keep us from falling? He has given us two things. First, He has equipped us with everything we need to, not only survive the attacks of the devil, but to thrive in our efforts to overcome him. Peter said, “His divine power has granted to us all things that pertain to life and godliness, through the knowledge of him who called us to his own glory and excellence” (2 Peter 1:3). He has given us prayer so that we can ask for help in times of need (Hebrews 4:16), His Word to guide us through the difficulties of life (119:105), and brethren to motivate us to remain faithful (Hebrews 10:24). If we do not remain steadfast in the Lord, it is our own fault.
Second, if we do stumble, we do not have to fall beyond recovery because God has given us a way to get back on track. He has given us His Son as an advocate (1 John 2:1). If we are willing to repent of our sins and ask God for forgiveness, Jesus and His shed blood will do the rest (Romans 8:34; Hebrews 7:25; 1 John 1:7).
How much more secure could we be? God helps us not to sin, and when we do, He helps us to get out of it, all so that we can continue in fellowship with Him and go to heaven after a while. We not only have security in Christ, we have divine security. Thank God.
As you wind down for the night, think about these things.