Purpose:  To show that God is who keeps us Eternally Secure.  Salvation is all of God and not of man.  Perseverance of the saints rests with God.

There are some people who teach that every time we sin we lose our salvation.  They teach that we must be born again and again and again.  Each time we sin we lose saving faith.  The are called Arminians because they follow the teachings of Arminius.  Arminius was a Dutch seminary professor who taught against John Calvin and other leaders of the reformation.  His followers have taken some of teachings farther than he did.  This view of our salvation’s security resting with man comes from Arminius.   The scary part is that this man’s teachings have infiltrated much of the fundamentalist, conservative and Baptist circles.  We must know why his teaching is wrong and how to defend against it.  Ephesians 4:14, 15

John 3:16, Ephesians 1:13.  Once we are truly saved, we are sealed by Holy Spirit.  Last week we showed how the Holy Spirit draws us out to Salvation.   He quickens us.  He creates a new life within us.  Ephesians 2:4, 5, II Corinthians 5:17.  According to the Arminians we would have to be recreated every time we sinned.  For example, someone has been saved for say all their lives without sinning (which is doubtful, but just for illustration purposes though). Then they are driving down the road someone cuts them off.  They mutter a cuss word under their breath. They lose their salvation.  They wind up dying in the ensuing car accident.  They spend eternity in hell according to the Arminians.  The error of this group is a major error.  They place the responsibility of salvation on man and take it away from God.  They belittle God.  We are kept by God.  At salvation we become His children.  He doesn’t kick us out of the family and then readopt us over and over.  What kind of father would disown his kids every time they did something wrong?  Our heavenly father is a good father and doesn’t do things like that.  Salvation hinges on God, not man.  Not what we do, but what Christ has done on the cross.  The Arminian view boils down to salvation by works.

The covenant of grace is a unilateral contract.  If it was Bilateral, then we would have to work for our salvation. Ephesians 2:8,9 says Salvation is a gift and not of works.  If the covenant of Grace was Bilateral we would have to shed our own blood too.  The Bible says “without the shedding of blood there is no remission of sin”  So if it was bilateral we would have to shed our own blood.  But the covenant is a new testament of God.  It is a new covenant in the blood of Christ.  I Corinthians 11:23-25.  The Covenant is unilateral!  Only Jesus blood can take away sin.  Only the Father can foreordain from before the foundation of the world.  Only the Holy Spirit can draw us to Salvation.  And only the Holy Spirit can seal us unto the day of redemption.  The entire Trinity takes part in our
salvation.  Salvation hinges on God.  Man is just the recipient of God’s gift.  Jeremiah 32:40.  The covenant is everlasting!  John 15:16  The Fruit remains or is not temporary, but permanent.

The covenant is always in force.  There is a comedy skit about insurance that goes something like this... A man has a car accident and wants to make a claim.  The agent tells him that there is a clause in the contract that makes his auto insurance null and void in case of an accident.  He says then the policy wasn’t any good.  The agent, yes it was right up to the time you had your accident it was.  You are the one who had the accident, you voided the contract.  Now what type of car insurance is that?  One that is in force until you need it?  That skit has a parallel with the Arminian view.  God’s unilateral covenant of salvation is always in force, not just until we sin.  I John 5-10.

True saints will persevere to the end.  I John 5:4-7  Whatsoever is born of God overcometh the world.  I John 4:13 We know we dwell in Him, because He has given us the Holy Spirit.  We are sealed by the Holy Spirit and He produces fruit in our lives.  I John 5:11 How long is eternal?  Forever.  Ephesians 4:30  The Holy Spirit is the one who keeps us.  Many other verses back this up.  Matthew 18:12-14, John 3:36, 5:24, 6:35-40, 47, 10:27-30, 17:11-15, Romans 5:8-10, 8: 1, 29, 30, 35-39, I Corinthians 1:7-9, 10:13, Ephesians 1:5-13, Hebrews 9:12, 15, 10:14, 12:28, I Peter 1:3-5, Jude 1, 24, 25.

Next week why the doctrine of eternal security or perseverance of the saints is not a license to sin.  Why we will walk in the light even as He is in the light.  There is alot more material to cover, so there will be one more lesson in this series.

Perseverance of the saints is not a license to sin.  II Corinthians 3:17, Romans 6:1-23, Ephesians 6:10-18, Ephesians 2:10, Romans 12:1-3, I Corinthians 6:19, 20