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I just read from a board that I visit from time to time. There was an article posted to refute God’s security of the believer. Here are a couple of the Scripture references given to tear eternal security down. 1 Corinthians 6:9, 10 and Ephesians 5:5-7
I will post the entire context so that we can better understand the purpose and intent of the Holy Spirit.
Note carefully the first verse.
I Corinthians 6:
1 Dare any one of you, having a matter against another, prosecute his suit
before the unjust, and not before the
saints?
2
Do ye not then know that the saints shall judge the world? and if the world is judged by you, are ye unworthy of the
smallest judgments?
3
Do ye not know that we shall judge angels? and
not then matters of this life?
4 If then ye have judgments as to things of this life, set those to judge
who are little esteemed in the assembly.
5 I
speak to you to put you to shame. Thus
there is not a wise person among you, not even one, who shall be able to decide
between his brethren!
6
But brother prosecutes his suit with brother, and that
before unbelievers.
7
Already indeed then it is
altogether a fault in you that ye have suits between yourselves. Why do ye
not rather suffer wrong? why are ye not rather
defrauded?
8
But *ye* do wrong, and defraud, and this your brethren.
9 Do ye not know
that unrighteous persons shall not
inherit the
10 nor thieves,
nor covetous, nor drunkards, nor abusive persons, nor the rapacious, shall
inherit the
11
And these things were some of you; but ye have been washed, but
ye have been sanctified, but ye have been justified in the name of the Lord
Jesus, and by the Spirit of our God.
12
All things are lawful to me, but all things do not profit; all
things are lawful to me, but *I* will not be brought under the power of any.
13
Meats for the belly, and the belly for meats; but God will bring
to nothing both it and them: but the
body is not for fornication, but for the Lord, and the Lord for the body.
14
And God has both raised up the Lord, and will raise us up from
among the dead by his power.
15
Do ye not know that your bodies are members of Christ? Shall I then,
taking the members of the Christ, make them members of a harlot? Far be the
thought.
16
Do ye not know that he that is joined to the harlot is one body? for the two, he says, shall be one flesh.
17
But he that is joined to
the Lord is one Spirit.
18 Flee fornication. Every sin which a man
may practise is without the body, but he that commits fornication sins against his own body.
19
Do ye not know that your body is the temple of the Holy Spirit
which is in you, which ye have of God; and ye are not your own?
20 for ye have been bought with a price: glorify now then God in your body.
We see that when we read the verses cited in context that believers who are at odds are to take their case before the body to decide the fair judgment, and to not go before unbelievers to decide. The entire premise begins with the believers going before unjust unbelievers to judge what should be resolved among the body of Christ. The two verses cited are speaking of the unjust unbeliever introduced in the first verse.
Do ye not know that unrighteous persons shall not inherit the
The context continues: And these things were some of you; but ye have been washed, but ye have been sanctified, but ye have been justified in the name of the Lord Jesus, and by the Spirit of our God. Some of us were fornicators, idolaters, adulterers, etc. “In Christ” we have been washed, sanctified, and justified in the name of the Lord Jesus, and by the Spirit of God – that is our spirit that died in the first Adam has been washed, sanctified, and justified because of Christ Jesus.
Paul wrote that if we commit fornication after we are saved that we sin against our own body. Paul wrote nothing about fornication damaging our eternal position in Christ. Sexual sin will bring sickness and even death to the body, and the Lord wants us to know the reason why. Our body belongs to Him and we should not lend what is His to commit sin. When sin in the flesh it brings a blow of death to our body. It is the law of sowing and reaping. When we sow to the flesh we reap death to the body, not death to the spirit. This portion of Scripture is a poor example to give strength that the believer is not eternally secure. Now let’s look at the Ephesians verses in context.
Ephesians 5:
1 Be ye therefore imitators of God, as beloved children,
2
and walk in love, even as the Christ loved us, and delivered
himself up for us, an offering and sacrifice to God for a sweet-smelling savour.
3 But fornication and all uncleanness or unbridled lust, let it not be even
named among you, as it becomes saints;
4
and filthiness and foolish talking, or jesting, which are not
convenient; but rather thanksgiving.
5
For this ye are well informed of, knowing that no fornicator, or unclean person, or person
of unbridled lust, who is an idolater, has inheritance in the kingdom of the
Christ and God.
6
Let no one deceive you with vain words, for on account of these
things the wrath of God comes upon the sons of disobedience.
7 Be not ye therefore fellow-partakers with
them;
8 for ye were once
darkness, but now light in the Lord; walk as children of light,
9 (for the fruit of
the light is in all goodness and righteousness and truth,)
10 proving what is
agreeable to the Lord;
11 and do not have
fellowship with the unfruitful works of darkness, but rather also reprove them,
12 for the things that are done by them in secret it is shameful
even to say.
13
But all things having their true character exposed by the light
are made manifest; for that which makes everything manifest is light.
14
Wherefore he says, Wake up, thou that sleepest,
and arise up from among the dead, and the Christ shall shine upon thee.
15
See therefore how ye walk carefully, not as unwise but as wise,
16 redeeming the time, because the days
are evil.
17
For this reason be not foolish, but understanding what is the
will of the Lord.
18
And be not drunk with wine, in which is debauchery; but be filled with
the Spirit,
19
speaking to yourselves in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs,
singing and chanting with your heart to the Lord;
20
giving thanks at all times for all things to him who is God and
the Father in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ,
21 submitting yourselves to one another in the fear of Christ.
The Lord, through our brother Paul desires we be like Christ in our Christian walk. He contrasts the life of the believer with the life of those who are not in the faith. Again, Paul reminds us that we were once in darkness but now we are light in the Lord. There is not one morsel to suggest that those who are “IN CHRIST” can lose their salvation.
How can we lose what God has
appropriated to us whom He has called by His grace?
As we have shared many times, the Lord has even placed the measure of faith within our heart to believe in Him – this is eternal salvation. God is eternal and when He accepts us into His family; our inheritance is found in Him who is eternal.
Do we advocate that we should commit fornication, that we should lie, that we should marry and divorce and remarry i.e. that we walk as the unjust unbeliever? – Of course, we do not!
Do we encourage that you can believe upon the Lord Jesus then do as you please? – We do not!
Are we in favor that a believer is free to live a lifestyle of practiced sin? – We are not!
In fact, we believe that when a believer takes a leave from his or her fellowship from the Lord to indulge in a season of sexual sin, or any sin that their carnal act reaps corruption. Further, we believe that the Holy Spirit convicts such a one to the point that the individual becomes miserable. If the believer continues in sexual sin the Lord will allow the body of that person to reap sickness to their body. We know that there are many sexually transmitted diseases and when a believer chooses to indulge in sexual sin the Lord will not protect them from disease. The Bible says that sexual sin is a sin that will affect our body – in other words our body will experience a measure of physical death.
As our brother Tom brought out earlier – Paul wrote that the Corinthian church was aware that a believer was involved in sexual sin therefore the believer was to be turned out of fellowship – but Paul spoke beyond excommunication when he turned the man over to Satan for “the destruction of his flesh.”
I believe the reason Paul gave instruction to excommunicate this man was in order to cause the fornicator to confess his sin, tame his flesh, and be restored back to fellowship with the Lord and the body of Christ. As we read later, this is the fruit of Paul’s instruction – the man who had committed fornication is forgiven and brought back into fellowship.
There are no apostles today with the authority to charge a believer to be turned over to Satan for the destruction of the flesh, but the local body is responsible to turn the fornicator out until the fornicator’s flesh is brought under subjection to the Lord.
We find in Scripture that on a few occasions Satan is allowed to do certain things to believers, but there is always a godly reason and purpose when the Lord allows this to happen. Satan was allowed to give Paul a thorn in the flesh. Satan was allowed to strip Job of much. Satan was allowed to sift Peter. When God lets Satan have his way, He is said to "deliver the person unto Satan." Such a one is delivered unto Satan for the affliction of the body with disease, and even death in order to destroy fleshly lust.
Paul does not say: "for the
destruction of the body."
Corrupt "flesh"
cannot inherit the
The word “destruction”
(3639) connotes – for the destruction of the flesh;
said of the external ills and troubles by
which the lusts of the flesh are
subdued and destroyed.
We are instructed to mortify the deeds of the “flesh” – if we do not, then the Lord effects His chastisement to cause us to confess and be restored.
When we are part of a local body the sins of the “flesh” must be dealt with.
But, this is a forever truth – our “body” will share
in the redemption.
The article that I addressed in the beginning of this writing stated that we who adhere to the security of the believer are deceived and that we are spreading doctrines of demons.
We endeavor to back everything that we write with supporting Scripture, and we use the verses in context in order that we stay true to the intent of the Holy Spirit. If the sure Scripture truth of God’s security for the believer is a doctrine of demons then we are all without hope – and we reject this accusation on the pure teaching of Scripture.
I wrote earlier that the flesh life is the life we lived in the old Adam. We can choose to continue to walk in the old Adam or we can mortify the deeds of the flesh. The flesh life is to be reckoned dead – why, because the old Adam died when Jesus died i.e. we died with Christ. Some believers are miraculously delivered of certain lusts when they first believe upon Yeshua as their Savior – others struggle with lusts of the flesh. Are then the ones who are delivered by the Lord eternally secure and the ones who are not delivered in danger of losing their salvation? God forbid…
From the moment we believed – our position is “IN CHRIST.” Our day to day choices can never change our position – but our actions can affect our fellowship with the Lord and as we have seen we reap what we sow. When we sow to the flesh our body and soul will reap a measure of corruption. When we sow to the Spirit our body and soul will reap life in the Spirit.
You know what I’m talking about.
We have peace of mind when we sow to life in the Spirit of God. In contrast, peace of mind is a distant memory when we sow to the flesh.
The Lord’s eternal security,
for His called out family, should resonate with everyone who is seated “IN CHRIST.”
We want our belief in God’s eternal security of the believer
recorded in the annals of heaven. I know that our belief blesses the Lord’s
heart, as I know His heart is grieved when those who profess to know Him relegate
His eternal security to doctrines of demons.
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