Having just gone through another round of elections we are quite familiar with ballot counting and election results, and are likely quite weary of it all. In all of the local, state and federal results, to my knowledge, no one won by the kind of score in the title of this blog; that is, a total victory. But the above mentioned “vote” really isn’t about any recent election, it is about something far more significant. It has to do with a vote taken in eternity past concerning the absolute security of the individual who places their faith in Jesus Christ for their eternal salvation.
Today, some theologies teach that a person who has put their trust in Jesus and are saved, can subsequently lose that salvation. This can come about, they say, because of the bad behavior of that person. But that is not actually the case, because long ago the Father, the Son and the Spirit “voted” to keep us eternally secure.
The Father has stated that He will bring each and every believer to final glorification (Rom. 8:29-30; Eph. 1:4). This decree given before creation cannot be thwarted by anyone or anything, and nobody falls between the cracks. Everyone who has been justified by faith in Christ has already (in the purpose of God) been glorified. Complete salvation is a done deal. It is the power of God the Father who keeps a believer in a completely secure position, according to Jesus (John 10:29). He says that no one (including the believer) “is able to snatch them out of the Father’s hand”. Jesus adds that the Father is “greater than all” which eliminates all people, organizations, Satan, and all forces from being able to rip the believer from his/her place of security.
The Son paid for all of our sins, and He says that all believers are also secure in His hand (John 10:28); and emphatically states that they shall “never perish.” The Lord uses a double negative when making this point, which is the strongest possible statement that His “sheep” are complete secure. Jesus gives no exceptions to this. Again, no one, including the believer, is able to be removed from the secure hand of Jesus. And Jesus is equally clear in John 6:38-40 where He declared that He does not lose anyone that the Father has given to Him! There are no exceptions in that statement either. The eternal security of the believer does not depend on his/her own ability to cling tenaciously to Christ, but on Christ’s all-powerful grip on the believer. Our Creator-Savior has declared this and we can rest securely in it.
The Holy Spirit “seals” the person immediately at the moment they trust in Jesus as Savior (Eph. 1:13-14). In the Greek world, a “seal” (sphragis) was used as a symbol of security. For example, Pontius Pilate put his “seal” on the tomb of Jesus to make it secure. No one except for Pilate (or someone greater than Pilate, like Caesar) could legally break the seal. So, at salvation, the Spirit makes the believer secure, and no one except God, or someone greater than God (and there is no one) can break the seal of the Spirit. Ephesians 4:30 goes on to explain that the Spirit’s “seal” exists until the day of our final salvation; that is, the moment when we are glorified.
So, there it is. By a vote of 3 to 0, the believer is declared by the Trinity to be eternally secure. And as we come to the Christmas season, and reflect on God becoming man in order to bring us salvation, how wonderful to add to our thinking the permanence of that great salvation proclaimed by the angelic band.