I am sharing an excerpt from a larger paper that I wrote on eternal security. I find this to be a very interesting topic that Christians have discussed for thousands of years...and won't settle anytime soon. So while I give an opinion on eternal security, whether you are a Calvinist or an Arminian doesn't really matter. If you are in Christ, if you believe beyond a shadow of a doubt that Romans 10:9-10 is true (..."If you confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised Him from the dead, you will be saved..."), then you are good to go- eternally secure in the Lord! So enjoy the excerpt below and let me know if you'd like the full paper and I'll get you a copy:
Can a true believer in Jesus Christ be assured beyond certainty that he is at once saved eternally, and at the same time unable to lose his salvation? That is the crux of the question with regards to eternal security. Eternal Security seeks to answer the questions “How can I be sure I am saved?” and “Am I eternally secure in my salvation?” (Pinson, p.7)
…From a high level perspective, Moderate Calvinism traces its beliefs back to John Calvin, same as the Classical Calvinist camp. The Moderate Calvinist (referred to as “MC” going forward) hold to the Five Petaled TULIP as well, but with some fairly significant changes.
The MC perspective of Total Depravity is that it is extensive, in a corruptive sense. While man is totally depraved, the image of God is never fully removed from man. Therefore, while man cannot initiate the receipt of salvation on their own, they can receive it as given by God. (Geisler, p. 65) Man is effaced in his God image, but not utterly removed from it.
The MC perspective of Unconditional Election is that it is “…unconditional from the standpoint of the giver, but conditional from the standpoint of the receiver.” (Geisler, p. 65) The gift is totally free, unconditional from God, but must be received through faith as initiated by God in man.
The MC perspective of the Limited Atonement is that it is not limited in “extant”, because Jesus did die for all. However it is limited in it’s “application” since it is only efficacious for those who believe. (Geisler, p. 66) This is an easy concept to grasp; Christ died for the world, His sacrifice is perfect and can atone for all sins, but His atoning work can only be effective for those who have faith and believe in Him.
The MC perspective of Irresistible Grace is that the calling of God, the Grace that God sends to man, is effective only on those that are willing and that believe. (Geisler, p. 66) So through belief one can accept the gift freely given through grace. The ability to believe, have faith, and receive the gift of salvation through grace is then an indication that once is elect and therefore eternally secure.
The last petal of the TULIP is the Perseverance of the Saints. For the MC, this means that a believer will persevere to the end. (Geisler, p. 67) Or as more commonly stated, once a believer is saved that believer will always be saved…eternally secure.
…One of the most powerful points of MC is the understanding of the difference between faith and faithfulness. So while faith is necessary as a condition of receiving the gift of salvation, remaining faithful in all instances is not an indication of the election of the believer. Faith is that belief in Jesus Christ which is the condition needed for man to accept the gift, faithfulness on the other hand is the execution of that faith. So while there are times when one may waiver in faithfulness, it is the assurance of the present faith in Jesus Christ that maintains the believer eternally secure; For while we cannot gain salvation by good works, we also cannot lose salvation by bad works. (Geisler, p. 82) This is different than the Classical Calvinist which asserts that wavering in one’s faith is an indication of false assurance of salvation (Geisler, p. 66) or an Arminian which would argue that wavering in one’s faithfulness could lead to the falling away of the believer. (Geisler, p. 68)
Multiple Biblical texts support the belief of a present assurance of salvation. To briefly touch on a couple supporting texts: Phil 1:6 in which Paul encourages the believers in Philippi that it was Christ that began in a good work in them and will carry it out to the end. This clearly is evidence of the present assurance of salvation and produces confidence in the heart of the believer. A believer can rest assured that his salvation will be carried out to the end by the One who started it, Jesus Christ. (Geisler, p. 79)
Jonah 2:9 clearly teaches that Salvation is of the Lord. If it is derived from the Lord it is clearly not derived from human will. We also see in the passage from Eccl that what the Lord does is eternal, then certainly salvation which is from the Lord will also be eternal.
Lastly, and what I believe to be most convincingly, is the passage from Timothy which teaches that God cannot deny himself. 2 Tim 2:13, “If we are faithless, he will remain faithful, for He cannot deny Himself.” Here we clearly see that even when we are weak in faith, and though we may falter, God will remain firm in our salvation because he cannot deny himself. To lose our salvation God would have to deny himself. (Geisler, p. 81) This view of faithfulness vs. faith also seems to appropriate given the overall trajectory of scripture in which we see numerous individuals whose faith waivers and yet do not fall completely away: David, Abraham, Noah, John the Baptist, Peter and others. Though we may stumble, we lose the joy of our salvation as David laments in Psalm 51, but we cannot lose ultimate salvation because our faith in Jesus Christ is eternal since it is from our eternal God…
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