Eternal Security:  “TULIP”

Once upon a time, someone who chose not to use his Bible as the source, decided that once an individual is saved he can never be lost. This falsehood is tied in directly to the doctrine of “Divine Election” which holds that God predestines some to be saved – and therefore “selects” all others to be lost. Those holding this position will isolate and utilize proof-texts such as Acts 13:48 (“all who were appointed for eternal life believed”) to fortify their shaky position.

While it is true that God knows every choice that every human will ever make, it is not true that He therefore predetermines who will be saved or lost. God’s foreknowledge in no way interferes with man’s free will. An individual is saved by free choice and remains in that position by free choice. Bear in mind that the false doctrines of Calvinism, Predestination, Divine Election and Eternal Security are all part of the same error and has kept hundreds of thousands out of heaven.

Each of these doctrines is tied to the other, for all lead to the presumption that no matter how much I sin, I still will get to heaven. Is this what the Holy Spirit whispers to you? Is it really Biblical?  Is it a crystal-clear Biblical doctrine or do these points contradict each other?

Let’s examine the five points of Calvinism, from the Calvinist point of view, which they have developed into the “TULIP” acrostic:

T

  “Man is basically evil – no good dwells within him.” On this point, the Bible does agree with the Calvinists. All men need Jesus as Savior. The rest of their acrostic, however, is full of half-truths.

U

  “God has chosen beforehand who will be saved – man has no choice in the matter.” This theory does not include the concept of the human will – the concept of free choice. In all passages where Paul uses the term “predestined,” it refers to the universality and success of God’s plan of salvation – never the “selection” of individuals to be saved or lost.

L

  “Christ did not die for all men – only the elect.”  Since “God is not willing that any should perish” – perhaps this “L” should be changed to limitless atonement.

I

  “Those who have been chosen to be saved, will be saved: they cannot resist the grace of God.”  The ability to make choices is fundamental to the concept of a free will. If I no longer have a free will after I become saved, did I really have a free will before I was saved? The concept of abiding and continuing in Christ is a constant Biblical theme. We are His friends if we continue to do what He commands us to do (John 15:4).

P

  “ Eternal security holds that no matter what a true believer does, he can never be lost.”  This statement raises a number of questions:  Doesn’t this make other believers judge and jury concerning whether or not the backslider was ever really saved in the first place?  Just how many sins must one commit before he is considered a backslider?  If I believe that I will be saved regardless of my actions, why the need to persevere? What about my daily, personal communication with Jesus?

The truth is that nothing in Scripture leads us to believe that willful sinning is automatically forgiven simply because a person has accepted Jesus as Savior.
An individual is saved by a deliberate act of their free will….and remains in that state of grace by continuously choosing to serve Christ.

“If ye continue in my word, then are ye my disciples indeed, and ye shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free” (John 8:31-32).