Eternal Security
A noted Christian leader, well known to many thousands of God's children for his wonderful messages on the deep spiritual life, passed through a time of great testing. He was old and his life span had nearly run its course. Illness had attacked his brain, just as it might attack the eyes of one or the knees of another, and he imagined that he was lost. He, who had spoken many times on the wonderful security of the believer in Christ, said to the few friends who entered his room that a cloud had passed over his faith, and that his old nature was so terrible that he was sure that he was lost. We do not doubt for a moment that he was saved. We can be certain that he will be in Heaven, for we know that our entrance into Heaven does not depend upon anything other than the fact that Christ has washed our sins from us with His own blood.
Very frequently, though, Satan comes to those who are not old Christians and who are not touched by physical infirmity of the mind and seeks to tell them that they are now lost. The first flush of joy that comes with the knowledge of forgiven sin has been lost by the outcropping of the old nature. Perhaps the young Christian was deceived by some well-intentioned Christian worker who informed him that if he would accept Christ everything would be lovely and all his struggles would be over. The truth, of course, is that the new nature is put in with the old nature and that the two struggle against one another. The greatest struggles that life can know are not within the unsaved, but within the saved. When one of these great struggles breaks out, ending either in defeat, partial defeat, partial victory with great weariness, or full victory, the young Christian is often an easy prey for the voice of the one who is called the accuser of the brethren. He insists that there was really no miracle creation, no new birth, and that everything is the same as it was before.
In times like this there is but one thing to do. Run to the cross! The young Christian will go to the Lord in the midst of defeat, saying, "O Lord, here is Thy child. I did the best I knew how in coming to Christ, and if there was any failure on my part, I come over again to the cross. My hope is built on nothing less than Jesus' blood and righteousness. I must just stay at the cross." Satan will tempt many times, but if this course is followed each time, we will discover that Satan will leave the tactics that serve only to drive us closer to the Lord Jesus and make us more sure of our foundation on Him.
The promise in 1 John does not say that if we confess our sins He is merciful and just to forgive. . . . When we came the first time we obtained mercy. Now whenever we come as Christians confessing our sins - so different from the sins of the world though they may be the identical acts from all outward appearance - we find that the Word of God says that "He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness" (1 John 1:9). This faithfulness is His own faithfulness to the covenant of salvation which He gave us at the cross. When we have come there for salvation He has justified us once for all - looked upon us as being in Christ, and so being as ready and fit for Heaven as Christ is. This is our position in Him, and when we get out of fellowship with Him the way back is to acknowledge our position and enter into the fruits of Christ's work as applied to us moment by moment through the faithfulness of God.
1. It seems as though many people today imagine being at the pearly gates and giving an account of the good they did. This doesn’t seem to be the case according to scripture, how do we correct people who think this way?
2. How can fellow believers help those who are being tempted by Satan to believe that Christ has abandon them?
3. What sin have we willing fettered ourselves to this day? Spend some time thinking about that and then pray that God would reveal to you sin that you are still blinded to.
