Eternal Security - The Peace of Mind You're Missing!

I have not always believed in eternal security.  I was raised in the Pentecostal church, a denomination that did not believe in eternal security and frequently preached against it.  As a child, I was not threatened by such preaching.  I always loved church.  I would arrive early to claim my second-row aisle seat -- ..in front of the pastor.

There were two reasons I chose to attend the Pentecostal church.  First, my grandfather was a Pentecostal pastor.  Second, it was my mother's preference.  I can remember as a young boy getting up on Sunday morning, eating breakfast, and walking to church.  Even when my mother was unable to go, I would be there.

June was typically revival month back in those days.  In June of 1944 our evangelist for the week was a Mrs. Wilson.  Women evangelists were not uncommon in the Pentecostal church.  As was my habit, I was there Sunday morning, front and center, with every intention of attending each night that week.  After the choir finished their song, Mrs. Wilson walked to the pulpit and preached a stirring salvation message.  I don't remember anything in particular that she said; I just remember feeling a strong desire to respond.  When the invitation began, I rose from my seat and went foward.  Before I reached the altar, I began weeping.  I knelt down and started asking Jesus to save me.  Several members of my Sunday School class gathered around and began praying for me as well.

When the altar call ended, the pastor of the church asked me to step up to the pulpit and share with the congregation what Christ had done for me.  Still crying, I stood behind the pulpit and said, "I don't know all that Jesus has done for me but I know He saved me."

The pastor put his hand on my shoulder, looked at me square in the eye, and said, "Charles, grow up and be a good boy.  And when you die, you will go to heaven."  [This pastor was telling Charles that his salvation must be maintained by being a good boy.  The implication is that if you are not good you can lose your salvation which is what the Pentecostal church teaches and believes.]

Easier Said than Done

It didn't take me long to realize that being good wasn't easy.  To compound the problem, just about everything a twelve-year-old boy considered fun was a sin according to the Pentecostal church.  I was continually confessing my sins, begging for forgiveness, and hoping I wouldn't die before I had time to repent!  

During that time I began sensing God's call in my life.  That meant one of two things in those days, becoming a preacher or a missionary.  The awareness of God's call in my life only darkened the cloud of guilt under which I lived.  How could I ever help anybody else when I am constantly waivering?  I would wonder.  What if I stood to preach and wasn't even saved?  

[Pentecostals never know at any given time if they are really saved because they believe they can lose their salvation at a moment's notice.  This teaching does not give their adherents any peace of mind about their salvation or their eternal destiny.  What is the point of salvation if it can be so easily lost?]

At age fourteen I joined the Baptist church.  My decision was purely a social one.  The Baptist church had a larger youth group than the Pentecostal church, and that meant more girls!  That was when I discovered not everbody believed as I did.  I first heard the phrase "eternal security" in that little Baptist church.  Even as a teenager I was a diligent student of God's word.  Armed with my list of verses, I was prepared and even eager to present my side of the issue.  No one made a dent in my theology.  And I never expected anyone to, because I knew the Scripture was clearly on my side.  

When I left home for college, I was a staunch believer in the doctrine that one could lose his salvation.  Often in our dorm the conversation would turn to religion.  Over and over I would pull out my arsenal of verses and present my case.  Frequently, I found myself standing alone.  But my view was strengthened by the carnal lifestyles of many with whom I debated.  Men who claimed to be saved and yet whose actions gave no indication of their having a relationship with Christ.  Intellectually, I was more persuaded than ever.  But deep inside a battle was raging. 

Despite my strong defense and quiver of verses, I couldn't make it all fit.  The events of that Sunday morning in 1944 were fixed in my memory.  I remember for the first time feeling that I was at peace with God.  I knew I had been born again.  The possibility that I could lose all I had gained that Sunday morning seemed a little farfetched.  And the idea that I could lose it and regain it repeatedly was difficult to comprehend.  

Although I was troubled by my internal struggles, I never felt alienated from God.  I had an inner peace even at my lowest times.  Somehow I knew He still loved me and accepted me.  My repeated requests for salvation were more a ritual than an heartfelt sense of need.  I never felt lost.  Yet the Scripture seemed to be so clear on that point.  Consequently, I remained resolute in my defense.

Seminary Days

In the fall of 1954 I entered Southwestern Theological Seminary.  Once again I found myself in heated discussions concerning the issue of eternal security.  I continued my study of what I considered the pertinent passages of Scripture.  For a long time I did not understand how anybody could think the Bible taught that the believer was eternally secure.  But slowly that began to change.  

Strangely enough, it was my intense study of the Scriptures that caused me to begin doubting my position.  This was not a sudden change.  It took time.  Nobody convinced me.  On the contrary, after a while, nobody even wanted to talk to me about it;  I had pretty much run the issue into the ground by that point.  But as convincing as I was, I had no peace about the subject.   So I continued to study.

Verse by verse I picked my way through the passages used to support each view.  Through this process two things became apparent.  First, I was guilty of ignoring the context of many verses I quoted to defend my view.  As I began digging deeper into the events and discussions surrounding these passages, they took on a different meaning.  Second, I discovered through my study that the concept of salvation through faith alone cannot be reconciled with the belief that one can forfeit his or her salvation.  If I must do or not do something to keep from losing my salvation, salvation would be by faith and works I specifically remember the day this particular truth dawned on me.  I found myself at a theological fork in the road.  To maintain my position, I realized I would have to abandon my belief in salvation by faith alone.  

It was as if a light came on.  Suddenly I saw it.  I wanted to shout.  I felt like a man just released from prison.  I began to thank God that I had been wrong all those years.  I thanked Him for the relentlessness that had kept me searching and praying.  Then I was struck with the most awesome thought of all.  I had been eternally secure since that day as a twelve-year-old when I prayed, asking Jesus to save me.

That morning was a turning point in my life.  It was far more than a shift in my theology.  It introduced me to the true meaning of unconditional love.  It was the beginning of my lifelong journey into the mystery of God's amazing grace.  Terms such as peace and joy took on a whole new meaning.  They became part of my experience not just my vocabulary.

I realized how little I had really trusted God.  You see, it is difficult to trust someone when you are never really sure where you stand with that person. Security came to mean a great deal more that a guarantee of where I would spend eternity.  It was the perfect word to describe the sense of intimacy I felt with Christ.  I was secure.  Secure in His love and acceptance of me.  Secure in His daily will for my life.  Secure in every promise He had made.  And of course, secure in where I would spend eternity.

I'm Not Alone

I continually meet people who believe as I once believed.  If it were simply a theological difference I would be content to agree to disagree.  It is far more than that.  I know the bondage to which that kind of thinking leads.  I have lived with the guilt and the fear fostered by that view.  Jesus said, "And you shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free" (John 8:32).  Freedom comes from knowing the truth.  Bondage results from missing it.  

. . . Hopefully you will be set free to enjoy the relationship God has paid so dearly to provide.  It is a relationship from which fear and worry are absent.  I know from experience that until you settle once and for all the question of whether or not you are eternally secure,  this quality of joy will elude you. . . hopefully you will be able to face life with the confidence that comes through knowing you are eternally secure.  

[If you are currently attending a Pentecostal/charismatic/Faith Movement/Victory Churches, and this subject has not come up recently, you need to ask them if you only need to be saved once or whether they believe you can lose your salvation.  If they believe and teach that you can lose your salvation you need to get to a Baptist church or one that believes in eternal security.  If you don't you will never have the peace of mind that salvation was intended to give you.]

By Dr. Charles Stanley

Subsequence, Tongues, Seeking, Bah-Humbug!

The Charismatic Doctrine of Subsequence

Acts 2:4 is the charismatic touchstone, containing what many Pentecostals and charismatics view as the core truth of the New Testament; "They were all filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak with other tongues, as the Spirit gave them utterance."

Most charismatics believe this verse teaches that at conversion Christians receive the Holy Spirit only in a limited sense.  Therefore, they believe, Christians need to seek Spirit baptism in order to move to a higher level of spiritual life, being supernaturally immersed in the power of God's Spirit.  The experience is usually -- many say always -- accompanied by speaking in tongues and results in new spiritual motivation and power.

The notion that one gets salvation at one point and the baptism of the Spirit later is often referred to as the doctrine of subsequence.  Gordon Fee lists two Pentecostal distinctives "(1) the doctrine of subsequence, i.e., that there is for Christians a baptism in the Spirit distinct from and subsequent to the experience of salvation . . . , and (2) the doctrine of tongues as the initial physical evidence of baptism in the Spirit."  

In his thorough investigation of Pentecostal theology, Frederick Dale Bruner wrote, "Pentecostals believe that the Spirit has baptized every believer into Christ (conversion), but that Christ has not baptized every believer into the Spirit (Pentecost)."  Not only do most charistmatics believe that the baptism of the Spirit happens at some point after salvation, but most also believe that Spirit baptism is something Christians must seek.  Bruner goes on to say, 

The most important characteristics of the Pentecostal understanding of the baptism in the Holy Spirit . . . are; (1) that the event is usually "distinct from and subsequent to" the new birth; (2) that it is evidenced initially by the sign of speaking in other tongues; (3) that it must be "earnestly" sought.

Those three elements -- baptism of the Spirit subsequent to conversion, the earnest seeking of those who are baptized, and the evidence of speaking in tongues -- are characteristic of nearly all charismatic doctrine.  In most other areas of theology charismatics are vague,  but here they usually speak a clear word regarding what they believe.

Charismatics attempt to support their doctrine of subsequence from the book of Acts.  First Corinthians 12:13 ("For by one Spirit we were all baptized into one body, whether Jews or Greeks, whether slaves or free and we were all made to drink of one Spirit") cannot be used to prove subsequence because the verse simply says that all believers have been baptized by one Spirit into the body of Christ.  Indeed, it would seem clear that the baptism described in 1 Corinthians 12:13 cannot take place at a point in time after salvation.  Otherwise, what Paul says could not be true of all Christians.  No evidence such as tongues is mentioned, and no requirement of seeking the baptism is alluded to. 

Charismatics are also unable to use 1 Corinthians 14 to prove the tenets of subsequence, evidence, or seeking, because the chapter has nothing to say about any of those elements.  In fact, the only passages charismatics can use to support their doctrine of subsequence are found in Acts.  The epistles say nothing that can be construed to support the idea.

The truth is, even the book of Acts fails to support the charismatic view.  Only four passages mention tongues or receiving the Holy Spirit:  Chapters 2, 8, 10 and 19.  Only in Acts 2 and 8 do believers receive the Spirit after salvation.  In Acts 10 and 19, believers were baptized in the Spirit at the moment of belief.  So the doctrine of subsequence cannot be convincingly defended even from the book of Acts.

What about tongues?  Believers spoke in Acts 2, 10, and 19, but there is no record of tongues in Chapter 8.

What about the requirement of earnestly seeking the baptism?  The believers in Acts 2 simply waited prayerfully for the fulfillment of the Lord's promise (cf. 1:4, 14).  In Chapters 8, 10, or 19, no seeking is mentioned.   

The point is clear.  To say that the book of Acts presents the normal pattern for receiving the Holy Spirit presents a problem:  no consistent pattern is evident in Acts!  

It is true that Christians at Pentecost (Acts 2), Gentiles in Cornelius's household (Chapter 10), and the Jews at Ephesus who had only the baptism of John (Chapter 19) received the Holy Spirit and tongues followed.  But because those three events occurred does not mean they are to be the standard for every other Christian.  In fact, none of the passages we are discussing (Acts 2, 8, 10, or 19) imply that similar experiences are to be had by anyone else.   

If tongues were to be the normal experience, why were tongues not mentioned in Acts 8 when the Samaritans received the Holy Spirit!  Why does the text in Acts 2 through 4 not say that everyone who believed following Peter's sermons (over 5,000 people according to Acts 4:4) and received the Holy Spirit (Acts 2:38) also spoke in tongues?  In order for something to be normative, it has to be common to everyone.  

John Stott reasoned that:

The 3,000 do not seem to have experienced the same miraculous phenomena (the mighty rushing wind, the tongues of flame, or the speech in foreign languges).  At least nothing is said about these things.  Yet because of God's assurance through Peter they must have inherited the same promise and received the same gift (verses 33, 39).  Nevertheless, there was this difference between them:  the 120 were regenerate already, and received the baptism of the Spirit only after waiting upon God for ten days.  The 3,000 on the other hand were unbelievers, and received the forgiveness of their sins and the gift of the Spirit simultaneously -- and it happened immediately when they repented and believed, without any need to wait.

This distinction between the two companies, the 120 and the 3,000, is of great importance, because the norm for today must surely be the second group, the 3,000, and not (as is often supposed) the first.  The fact that the experience of the 120 was in two distinct stages was due simply to historical circumstances.  They could not have received the Pentecostal gift before Pentecost.  But those historical circumstances have long since ceased to exist.  We live after the event of Pentecost, like the 3,000.  With us, therefore, as with them, the forgiveness of sins and the "gift" or "baptism" of the Spirit are received together.

Subsequence -- not supported by Scripture !
Tongues -- grossly misinterpreted Scripture !
Earnestly Seeking -- simply false teaching !


God must be having a good laugh at what He sees Pentecostals and charismatics doing down here, or is He?

CHARISMATICS JUST DON'T GET IT!

Still looking for that book about the false teachings of the Baptist church !


For more information on Victory Churches and the Faith Movement, go to the Reference Library.  Click on any book title to get a brief overview of the book.  All books on the list are available through www.amazon.com. 

A Final Outpouring?

Has the gift of tongues resumed in the twentieth century? Pentecostals and charismatics treat that question in one of two ways. Some claim that the gift never ceased -- it just declined -- and therefore the groups who claim to speak in tongues were forerunners of those contemporary Pentecostal and charismatic movements. In taking that position they put themselves in a heretical tradition.

On the other hand, many charismatics concede that tongues did cease after the apostolic era, but they believe the contemporary manifestations of the charismata are a final outpouring of the Spirit and His gifts for the last days.

A key text for Pentecostals and charismatics who take this second view is Joel 2:28: "It will come about after this that I will pour out My Spirit on all mankind; and your sons and daughters will prophesy and your old men will dream dreams, your young men will see visions."

According to Joel 2:19-32, before the final Day of the Lord, God's Spirit will be poured out in such a way that there will be wonders in the sky, and on the earth -- blood, fire, and columns of smoke; "The sun will be turned into darkness and the moon into blood, before the great and awesome day of the Lord comes" (v. 31). That is obviously a prophecy of the coming millennial kingdom and cannot refer to anything earlier. The context of the Joel passage makes this the only plausible interpretation.

For example, Joel 2:20 refers to the defeat of "the northern army" that will attack Israel in the end-time apocalypse. Verse 27 of Joel 2 speaks of the great revival that will bring Israel back to God. That is another feature of the Great Tribulation and is not yet fulfilled. Joel 3 (vv.2, 12, 14) describes the judgment of the nations, an event that comes after Armageddon and in connection with the establishment of the earthly, millennial kingdom of the Lord Jesus Christ. Later in Chapter 3, Joel gives a beautiful description of the millennial kingdom (v. 18). Clearly, Joel 2 is a kingdom prophecy, which was not completely fulfilled at Pentecost. (Acts 2) or on any occasion since. It must refer to an era that is still future.

There is still, however, the question of what Peter meant when he quoted Joel 2:28-32 on the day of Pentecost (Acts 2:17-21). Some Bible teachers say that Peter was pointing to Pentecost as a fulfillment of Joel 2:28. But on the day of Pentecost there were no wonders in the heavens and signs in the earth; no blood and fire and vapours of smoke; the sun did not turn to darkness and the moon to blood and the great and terrible day of the Lord did not come. The prophecy was not fully realized; Pentecost was only a partial fulfillment, or better, a preview of the prophecy's ultimate culmination. The parallel to that is the Transfiguration, in which our Lord's glory was briefly revealed as it will be seen fully throughout the millennial kingdom.

Peter was simply telling those present at Pentecost that they were getting a preliminary glimpse, a projection of the kind of power that the Spirit would release in the millennial kingdom. What they were seeing in Jerusalem among a handful of people was a sign of what God's Spirit would someday do on a world-wide basis.

One of the fine Bible scholars of the nineteenth century, George N. H. Peters, wrote, "The Baptism of Pentecost is a pledge of fulfillment in the future, evidencing what the Holy Ghost will yet perform in the coming age." The miracles that began on the day of Pentecost are light on the horizon, heralding the coming earthly kingdom of Jesus Christ.

Some charismatics spiritualize "the former rain and the latter rain" of Joel 2:23 (KJV). They argue that the former rain refers to Pentecost, when the Spirit came, and the latter rain to His outpouring in the twentieth century.

Throughout the Old Testament, "the former rain" refers to the autumn rains "the latter rain" to the spring rains. Joel was actually saying in the millennial kingdom both rains will come "as before" (v.23). His point was that God will make crops grow profusely in the kingdom. Joel 2:24-26 makes that abundantly clear: "And the threshing floors will be full of grain, and the vats will overflow with the new wine and oil. Then I will make up to you for the years that the swarming locust has eaten, the creeping locust, the stripping locust and the gnawing locust, My great army which I sent among you. And you shall have plenty to eat and be satisfied, and praise the name of the Lord your God, who has dealt wondrously with you; then My people will never be put to shame."

The "former and latter rain", then, have nothing to do with Pentecost, the twentieth century, or the Holy Spirit. Pentecostals and charismatics cannot use Joel 2:28 as a basis for saying tongues have been poured out a second time. In the first place, Joel did not even mention tongues. In the second place, the outpouring of the Spirit at Pentecost was not the ultimate fulfillment of Joel's prophecy.

Thomas Edgar makes this significant observation:

There is no Biblical evidence that there will be a reoccurrence in the church of the sign gifts or that believers will work miracles near the end of the Church age. However, there is ample evidence that near the end of the age there will be false prophets who perform miracles, prophesy and cast out demons in Jesus' name (cf. Matthew 7:22-23; 24:11, 24; 2 Thessalonians 2:9-12).

We do well to be on guard.

(from Charismatic Chaos by John F. MacArthur, Jr.)

John's book is available through http://www.gtycanada.org/ or http://www.amazon.com/ if you are interested.