The Good Shepherd did not leave the fold, fight the wilderness, and find the sheep only to leave and abandon it at will. Being one of His means being one of His forever. To devalue or doubt the doctrine of eternal life is to call into question the very existence of Christ!  You see, we have life because He is living.  If we can lose our salvation that would mean Christ has the capacity to die again.

Allow me to assure you of one thing, Christ will never die again, and those in Christ cannot lose what He has given them – His own life. Those who believe they can release themselves from the grip of salvation have undoubtedly been in the wrong hands.  Christ said, “And I give unto them eternal life; and they shall never perish, neither shall any man pluck them out of my hand” (John 10:28).

Three remarkable truths surface from that passage. One, eternal life is a gift given by Christ. Two, those who have this life will never perish. Three, once you’ve been given eternal life, it is, well, eternal! No man can pluck you out, and I remind you, you can’t pluck yourself out.  If you could, you would be stronger than the One Who has a grip on your soul. For those in Christ, we can face this day with cheer and gladness knowing that what we have in salvation will abide as long as our Savior is living.

We have a Purchased Security

What grounds do we have, as believers, to stand on concerning the doctrine of eternal life?  What gives us the right to make such a claim that salvation is forever? To answer that question, we need not look at “what” gives us life, but rather “Who” gives us life.  We do not give it to ourselves, neither do we obtain it from religious organizations.  The Giver of everlasting life is the One Who is called The Way, the Truth, and the Life – Christ Himself.

The reason He can warrant such a glorious existence to us is because He is the One Who purchased us.  Do you want to know a wonderful truth? There are no repossessions on divine purchases.  Oh, He may have found you at the Goodwill but He paid full price for your redemption. And in paying full price, there is no remittance the world, the devil, or the flesh can claim. We belong to Him, we are not our own.  Therefore, to say that we can lose our salvation means that we can undo the purchase of Christ’s atoning work at Calvary.  What utterly-depraved thought!

The Holy Godhead not only planned our redemption before the foundation of the world, but understood the price of the purchase. When Christ died, He gave way for you and I to have life; and not just any life, but His life, life eternal! What a warrant!

We have a Positional Security

The fact that Jesus Himself paid for our salvation is enough to substantiate the doctrine of eternal security.  However, there are other reasons that confirm salvation is everlasting.  One of those glorious truths is discovered in the position of the believer.

In salvation, the Holy Spirit of God regenerates us. This spiritual “rebirth” places us into the family of God. Paul said, “According as he hath chosen us in him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and without blame before him in love: having predestinated us unto the adoption of children by Jesus Christ to himself, according to the good pleasure of his will” (Ephesians 1:4-5).

We must remember something, we are in Christ, this is our position. We are buried with Him in death, risen with Him in life, and seated with Him in the heavenlies. This wonderful and divinely-orchestrated reality is the working of God before the foundation of the world. Those who are in Christ Jesus cannot be plucked out, voted out, or forced out.  Once you are in, you are in all the way, for the “duration” of eternity.  Your child may leave your home, disown your name, and forget your love but he cannot undo his birth! Well glory! Neither can those who are born from above! This is eternal life.

We have a Protective Security

The doctrine of eternal life is a spiritual promise, a spiritual certainty, and a spiritual warrant. It is these things because it is a spiritual accomplishment. When I say “accomplishment” I do not mean that we are keeping ourselves, but rather we are being preserved by the Holy Spirit. The Bible is clear about this, we are “sealed with that Holy Spirit of promise” (Ephesians 1:13). We are “sealed with that Holy Spirit of promise” until “the day of redemption” (Ephesians 4:30).

In the days of Paul, letters, official documents, and title deeds were secured by a seal. Hot wax would be placed onto prepared documents as the sender would impress a signet ring of sorts into the wax. This emblem represented the authority and identity of the sender, and it officially concealed the contents of the correspondence, keeping whatever was on the inside preserved until a designated time and place. Only those who were granted permission could legally break the seal.

Being sealed by the Holy Spirit not only means we are identified with the One Who purchased us, but that we are also being kept by His authority and power. We cannot escape, fall out, or be lost.  Why? Because we are sealed until the day of our glorification!

We have a Pronounced Security

Those who are in Christ should know, with full assurance, that Christ has paid a sufficient price for our redemption. We have been placed, by God, in Christ Jesus so that we cannot be expelled from the beloved. In addition, we are sealed with the Holy Spirit of promise whereby we are kept until the day of redemption.  If these magnificent truths are not enough to convince us of the doctrine of eternal security, may I suggest one more proof? The Bible.

Everlasting life is an explicitly pronounced theme of God’s Word.  In his first epistle, John the Beloved said, “These things have I written unto you that believe on the name of the Son of God; that ye may know that ye have eternal life, and that ye may believe on the name of the Son of God” (1 John 5:13). The written word has been given to us so that we can have full confidence of everlasting life.

A diligent and systematic study of God’s Word reveals that God has promised security in salvation. If this were not the case, then Scripture would not only be fallible, it would be intentionally misleading. All throughout the New Testament pages you will find the proclamation of eternal life. God has not only extended it to us, He has recorded it for us so that we will have His promise in writing!