This Message was preached by John MacArthur, All Rights Reserved
(A copy of this message on cassette tape may be obtained by calling
1-800-55-GRACE)
(Eternal Security,
chapter 1 of 4)
Romans 5:1-2a Tape GC 45-40
Introduction
The Salvation Army Handbook on Doctrine says, "Some truly converted people have fallen from
grace, and the danger of doing so threatens every Christian" ([St. Albans,
England: Campfield, 1969], p. 139).
Throughout the years eternal security has been a hotly debated issue in
theology. Many theologians say you can
lose your salvation, and many claim you can't.
The doctrine of eternal security is sometimes referred to as "the
perseverance of the saints" or "once saved, always saved." Today many people believe a Christian can
lose his salvation. Such a person is
considered to have backslidden--to have fallen away from Christ.
The doctrine that claims a person can lose his salvation
makes salvation conditional. It is to
say that since God has saved us, we will maintain our salvation as we continue
to match up with God's standard. But if
we fail at any point we lose it. That
is a works-righteousness perspective.
The apostle Paul addresses the issue of eternal security
in Romans 5. Many treatments of this
subject don't include Romans 5, yet it is arguably the most definitive text
ever written on the security of our salvation.
Paul's purpose in the epistle of Romans is to affirm the
gospel. In chapters 3-4 his
thesis is that salvation comes by grace through faith.
1. The incomprehensibility of grace
That thesis was revolutionary to the Jewish people, who
had been reared on a works-righteousness system of salvation. They believed that by doing certain works
they would gain God's favor. Virtually
all other world religions teach the same thing: that man must live up to some
religious code or ethical standard to be saved. Unredeemed man finds it difficult to comprehend that salvation is
a free gift of God's grace, unearned and undeserved, appropriated by faith
alone.
2. The insistence on works
Paul had the Jewish people in mind when he wrote Romans 5--he
had just completed a treatise on Abraham as an illustration of justification by
faith in the previous section, Romans 3:21[en]4:25. A Jewish person would tend to doubt that faith is all that is
needed for salvation. It would be hard
for him to believe that faith would be enough to save him from the condemnation
of God on Judgment Day.
In Romans 5 Paul is speaking directly to that issue. Today if you espouse the doctrine of eternal
security, invariably someone who doesn't believe it will ask you, "You
mean that after you become a Christian there's no standard? Doesn't your salvation depend on your
obedience?" Paul addresses those
questions in Romans 5:1-11. He
presents six links in a chain that eternally ties a true believer to the
Savior.
I. PEACE WITH GOD (v. 1)
"Therefore, being justified by faith, we have peace
with God through our Lord Jesus Christ."
The word "therefore" links verse 1 to the
foundation Paul laid in chapters 3-4.
Justification by faith--being made right with God through
faith in Christ--initially ushers us into salvation. When you believe in the Lord Jesus Christ
you obtain salvation and an inheritance in eternity filled with blessing. One of those blessings is security: you have
peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ.
What is the peace we have with God? Some have suggested we have tranquility of
mind--a psychological sense of security. But that is not the intention of the passage. It is not subjective peace; it is objective. It refers not to feelings, but to a
relationship.
If we have peace with God because of salvation, what did
we have prior to salvation? War, the
opposite of peace. Christ changed our
relationship to God dramatically. We
were at war with God. He was our enemy
and we were His enemy. But through
justification by faith in Christ, God has brought us into a relationship of
peace. That peace is not an attitude of
psychological tranquillity or a calm mind.
Peace with God means our war with Him is over.
1. The nature of the war
Most people think they've never been at war with
God. But the Bible says that before you
come to Christ you're at war with God (cf. Col. 1:21-22). Some non-Christians will claim to be
religious--to believe in God and be concerned about what He
thinks. They don't see themselves as
enemies of God actively striking blows at God's kingdom.
a) Its reality
The issue is not that they are at war with God, but that
God is at war with them. The majority
of people don't see themselves as fighting God. But God is their enemy, whether they are consciously His enemy or
not. In fact, the war is so severe that
God will someday cast the unbeliever into an eternal lake of fire to burn for
eternity. God is at war with the sinner
because He is the enemy of sin and sin's father, Satan. If you're not a child of God, you're a child
of Satan (John 1:12; 8:44).
The background of this concept is Romans 1-2, which
describes the wrath of God. Romans 1:18
says, "The wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness
and unrighteousness of men, who hold the truth in unrighteousness." God is at war with the ungodly and the
unrighteous--those who don't know Christ. First Corinthians 16:22 says, "If any man love not the Lord
Jesus Christ, let him be Anathema [cursed]."
b) Its ramifications
(1) Deuteronomy 32:21-22--"They
have moved me to jealousy with that which is not God; they have provoked me to
anger with their vanities: and I will move them to jealousy with those which
are not a people; I will provoke them to anger with a foolish nation. For a fire is kindled in mine anger, and
shall burn unto the lowest hell, and shall consume the earth with her increase,
and set on fire the foundations of the mountains." God is furious with sinners.
(2) Isaiah 13:9, 13--"The day of the
Lord cometh, cruel both with wrath and fierce anger, to lay the land desolate;
and he shall destroy the sinners out of it.... Therefore, I will shake the
heavens, and the earth shall remove out of its place, in the wrath of the Lord of
hosts, and in the day of his fierce anger."
(3) Nahum 1:2--"God is jealous, and the
Lord avengeth; the Lord avengeth, and is furious; the Lord will take vengeance
on his adversaries, and he reserveth wrath for his enemies."
(4) Ephesians 5:6--"Let no man deceive
you with vain words; for because of these things cometh the wrath of God upon
the sons of disobedience."
(5) Revelation 19:15--When Jesus returns,
"out of his mouth goeth a sharp sword, that with it he should smite the
nations, and he shall rule them with a rod of iron; and he treadeth the
winepress of the fierceness and wrath of Almighty God."
(6) Psalm 7:11--"God judgeth the
righteous, and God is angry with the wicked every day." That is the sum of God's attitude: He is at
war with the wicked.
2. The nature of the peace
a) Past propitiation through the cross
(1) The satisfaction for sin
We have peace with God, and we didn't do anything to
obtain that peace. God poured out His
vengeance, anger, and wrath on Christ, and God was appeased. Our new status is peace with God, and it was
accomplished by Christ's reconciling work on the cross.
Christ made full payment for our sins, and God was
propitiated--a theological term meaning He was satisfied. Colossians 1:20-22 speaks of His
"having made peace through the blood of his cross.... you, that were once
alienated and enemies in your mind by wicked works, yet now hath he reconciled
in the body of his flesh through death, to present you holy and unblamable and
unreprovable in his sight." Jesus
Christ so fully accomplished peace with God that from now on, you are forever
holy and faultless in His sight.
Why? Because Christ bore every
sin you and I should have been punished for.
Justification and reconciliation are distinguishable as
terms, but they are inseparable in reality.
Justification embraces reconciliation (Rom. 5), sanctification (Rom. 6-7),
and glorification (Rom. 8). When you
embrace Jesus Christ by faith and are justified, inherent in that justification
is the anticipation of glorification, the process of sanctification, and
reconciliation to God (Rom. 8:30). We
are no longer the enemy but sons, crying, "Abba, Father"--the
Aramaic equivalent to "Daddy" (Gal. 4:6).
(2) The sacrifice of Christ
The wrath of God, which ultimately could have consigned
us to eternal hell, is removed. All
God's fury was fully absorbed in the sacrifice of Jesus Christ. We are left with the marvelous
reconciliation accomplished "through our Lord Jesus Christ" (Rom.
5:1). Ephesians 1:3 says that God has
"blessed us with all spiritual blessings in heavenly places in
Christ." Everything is ours
because of Christ. He not only
reconciled us to God, but also gave us the ministry of reconciliation, which is
to preach the gospel to those in need of reconciliation (2 Cor. 5:18-21).
b) Present peace through cleansing
How does God maintain His relationship with us? Jesus not only reconciled us to God, but
also maintains that relationship. That
is His high-priestly work. He
keeps on cleansing us from all sin (1 John 1:7).
(1) The truths of reconciliation
(a) Eternal peace
We are forever at peace with God because every sin we
will commit has already been paid for by Christ. Therefore nothing can destroy our relationship with Him.
(b) Present peace
Every day that we sin, the Lord keeps on cleansing us--maintaining
our relationship with Him--through the past act of Christ on the
cross and His present mediation at the right hand of God. In His high-priestly ministry "he
ever liveth to make intercession for [us]" (Heb. 7:25).
(2) The time of reconciliation
How long does Christ make intercession? For as long as Jesus Christ lives--and
He lives forever. When a person
embraces Christ by faith, the spotless Son of God makes him one with God.
(3) The tranquility of reconciliation
I believe that peace with God produces a sense of
tranquillity within us. That's not the
meaning of Romans 1, but peace with God certainly makes me feel good. Theologian Charles Hodge called it
"that sweet quiet of the soul" (Commentary on the Epistle to the
Romans [Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 1974], p. 132). I'm a son of God and a brother of Jesus Christ. I'm in His family and God is at peace with
me.
Ephesians 2:14 says of Christ: "He is our
peace." As long as He lives, which
is forever, He will maintain our peace with God. God is satisfied with Christ's sacrifice for our sin, His wrath
is gone, and we are at peace. Nothing
can change that. In Hebrews 8:12 God
says, "I will be merciful to their unrighteousness, and their sins and
their iniquities will I remember no more."
II. STANDING IN GRACE (v. 2a)
"By whom [Christ] also we have access by faith into
this grace in which we stand."
We are not moving in and out of grace; we are standing in
grace.
The key to this passage is the mediation of Jesus
Christ. Through His death He brings us
to God.
1. Inaccessibility to God
Verse 2 says, "By whom also we have access by
faith." The Greek word translated
"access" was used two other times to speak of access to God (Eph.
2:18; 3:12). That would have been a
shocking, incomprehensible concept for the Jewish people of Paul's day to
comprehend, and to some extent it still is.
They had been taught that God was holy and unapproachable. They knew from the past that if they ever
came close to God they would be consumed.
a) The unapproachable One
Exodus 19:9-25 illustrates the Jewish concept of
approaching God. As God prepared to
give Israel the law from Mount Sinai, "the Lord said unto Moses, Lo, I
come unto thee in a thick cloud, that the people may hear when I speak with
thee, and believe thee forever. And
Moses told the words of the people unto the Lord. And the Lord said unto Moses, Go unto the people, and sanctify
them today and tomorrow, and let them wash their clothes, and be ready on the
third day; for the third day the Lord will come down in the sight of all the
people upon Mount Sinai. And thou shall
set bounds unto the people round about, saying, Take heed to yourselves, that
ye go not up into the mount, or touch the border of it. Whosoever toucheth the mount shall be surely
put to death: there shall not an hand touch it, but he shall surely be stoned,
or shot through; whether it be beast or man, it shall not live: when the
trumpet soundeth long, they shall come up to the mount.
"And Moses went down from the mount unto the people,
and sanctified the people; and they washed their clothes. And he said unto the people, Be ready on the
third day: come not near your wives.
And it shall come to pass on the third day in the morning, that there
were thunders and lightnings, and a thick cloud upon the mount, and the voice
of the trumpet exceedingly loud, so that all the people that were in the camp
trembled. And Moses brought forth the
people out of the camp to meet with God; and they stood at the lower part of
the mount. And Mount Sinai was
altogether in a smoke, because the Lord descended upon it in fire; and the
smoke thereof ascended as the smoke of a furnace, and the whole mount quaked
greatly. And when the voice of the
trumpet sounded long, and became louder and louder, Moses spoke, and God
answered him by a voice.
"And the Lord came down upon Mount Sinai, on the top
of the mount; and the Lord called Moses up to the top of the mount, and Moses
went up. And the Lord said unto Moses,
Go down, charge the people, lest they break through unto the Lord to gaze, and
many of them perish. And let the
priests also, who come near to the Lord, sanctify themselves, lest the Lord
break forth upon them. And Moses said
unto the Lord, The people cannot come up to Mount Sinai; for thou chargedst us,
saying, Set bounds about the mount, and sanctify it. And the Lord said unto him, Away, get thee down, and thou shalt
come up, thou, and Aaron with thee; but let not the priests and the people
break through to come up unto the Lord, lest He break forth upon them. So Moses went down unto the people, and
spoke unto them."
b) The unholy people
After God led His people out Egypt, He established that
they had only limited access to Him.
Why? Because He is holy and man
is utterly unholy.
(1) The limitations
Even after God established the Tabernacle and then the
Temple, the people could come only so close.
There were different limitations for Gentiles, for Jewish women, for
Jewish men, and for priests. Only the
high priest could enter into the presence of God, and then only one day a
year. After going through rigorous
cleansing rituals, he entered the Holy of Holies, sprinkled blood on the altar,
and left as fast as he could. There
were bells on his robe so the other priests would know his condition. If the bells stopped ringing, they would
know he had been struck dead.
(2) The lesson
Those who tried to approach God apart from His procedure
died on the spot. Nadab and Abihu
"offered strange fire before the Lord" and were killed immediately
(Lev. 10:1- 2). Korah, Dathan,
and Abiram challenged the leadership of Moses and Aaron and tried to function
as priests. However, the ground
swallowed them up (Num. 16:1-35).
The Jewish people knew God was unapproachable. Access was not a word in their religious
vocabulary. Even today sinful man has
no access to God.
2. Accessibility through Christ
Christ's death changed the Old Testament view of access
to God. Matthew 27:51 says that the
moment Christ died, the veil of the Temple was torn from top to bottom--a
symbol that access to God was now possible.
a) Hebrews 4:16--"Let us, therefore, come boldly unto
the throne of grace, that we may obtain mercy, and find grace to help in time
of need."
b) Jeremiah 32:38, 40--These words reflect God's promised New
Covenant with His people: "They shall be my people, and I will be their
God ... I will not turn away from doing them good, but I will put my fear in
their hearts, that they shall not depart from Me."
c) Hebrews 10:19-22--"Having therefore, brethren,
boldness to enter into the holiest by the blood of Jesus, by a new and living
way, which he hath consecrated for us, through the veil, that is to say, his
flesh, and having an high priest over the house of God, let us draw
near."
A frequent secular use of the Greek word translated
"access" is of a haven or harbor for a ship in distress. Similarly, God is both a haven and a harbor
for us in our distress.
When we enter into the presence of God, we stand in grace
(Rom. 5:2). That's why Hebrews 4:16
tells us to come boldly before God to obtain mercy. The Greek word translated "stand" (hist[ma]emi)
means to "stand firm" or "abide." We are abiding in a state of grace.
1. The definition of grace
Grace is God's unmerited favor by which He saves us and
makes us righteous. It is based solely
on His sovereign love, which is manifested in the perfect sacrifice of Jesus
Christ for our sin. It is not the
result of any worthiness on our part.
Once we are saved we stand in grace.
2. The definitiveness of grace
Many people believe that once someone is saved by grace
he has to keep himself saved by keeping the law. But Romans 5:2 says that once we are truly saved, we stand in
grace--firmly fixed in an environment of grace.
a) Jude 24--"Unto Him that is able to keep you from
falling, and to present you faultless before the presence of his glory with
exceeding joy." When you are saved
you stand in grace. It is a continual
reality because of the high- priestly work of Christ. You stand in an aura of grace--
grace that is continually forgiving and able to keep you from falling.
b) John 15:7--Jesus said, "Abide in me." We abide in an environment of grace. We're secure in that environment. We didn't do anything to get in; we can't do
anything to get out.
c) Romans 5:20--"The law entered, that the offense might
abound. But where sin abounded, grace
did much more abound." There is no
way out. Grace functions where there is
failure, so every time you sin, grace covers your failure. That's why you're so secure. If salvation depended on our ability to obey
rules, we would all lose our salvation.
We have
peace with God and we stand in grace.
If someone asserts that peace with God can't secure our salvation, he
would have to deny two things: (1) that the sacrifice of Christ is adequate to
cover all sin and keep the peace, (2) that maintaining that peace is beyond the
ability of Christ, who "ever liveth to make intercession for [us]"
(Heb. 7:25). So he would be denying who
Christ is and His past and present work.
Maintaining the Peace
The high-priestly work of Christ is going on right
now. He maintains our peace with God
and applies His grace to us. Romans
5:10 says, "If, when we were enemies, we were reconciled to God by the
death of his Son, much more, being reconciled, we shall be being saved by his
life." Since a dying Savior
succeeded in bringing us to God, a living Savior can certainly keep us there.
It is Christ's high-priestly work to go continually
before the Father on our behalf. In
Luke 22:31-32 Jesus says, "Simon, Simon, behold, Satan hath desired
to have you.... but I have prayed for thee." That example gives us insight into how He maintains our
relationship to God. Christ intercedes
on our behalf to maintain our peace with God and our environment of grace.
Will the Judge Change His Verdict on
You?
Arthur Pink, who wrote a book on this topic (Eternal
Security [Grand Rapids: Baker, 1974]) said that it is utterly and
absolutely impossible that the sentence of the divine Judge should ever be
revoked or reversed. He wrote,
"Sooner shall the lightnings of omnipotence shiver the Rock of Ages than
those sheltering in Him again be brought under condemnation." (MOODY:
PRECISE DOCUMENTATION WILL HOPEFULLY BE FORTHCOMING VIA FAX.) The Judge issued a verdict that will stand
forever.
1. 2 Timothy 1:12--The apostle Paul,
confident of God's ability to preserve his salvation, said, "[I] am
persuaded that he is able to keep that which I have committed unto him against
that day."
2. Hebrews 10:10-14--"We are
sanctified through the offering of the body of Jesus Christ once for all. And every priest standeth daily ministering
and offering often the same sacrifices, which can never take away sins; but this
man [Christ], after he had offered one sacrifice for sins forever, sat down on
the right hand of God, from henceforth expecting till his enemies be made his
footstool. For by one offering he hath perfected forever them that are
sanctified."
3. Romans 8:31-34--"If God be for
us, who can be against us? He that
spared not his own Son, but delivered him up for us all, how shall he not with
him also freely give us all things?" (vv. 31-32). Since God gave the supreme gift of His Son
to redeem us, you can be sure He will give us whatever is necessary to preserve
our redemption.
Verses 33-34 say, "Who shall lay any thing to
the charge of God's elect? Shall God
that justified? Who is he that
condemneth? Shall Christ that died, yea
rather, that is risen again, who is even at the right hand of God, who also
maketh intercession for us?" Do
you think the Attorney for our defense is going to accuse us? Do you think the Judge who delivered us from
judgment and set us free is going to reverse His verdict? No!
Conclusion
Our peace with God and standing in grace are not
precarious--we are on firm ground.
God holds us, and that's His work.
But it is our responsibility to obey Him. Why? Because one of the
ways God keeps us is by empowering us with His Spirit to walk in
obedience. When you see someone who
once claimed to be a Christian but abandons the faith, remember 1 John 2:19:
"They went out from us, but they were not of us; for if they had been of
us, they would no doubt have continued with us." True Christians continue to persevere.
If anyone attacks the security of the believer, first of
all he is attacking God and claiming He changed His verdict. Second, he is attacking Christ and claiming
His work on the cross was inadequate and that His high-priestly work
can't maintain us. Finally, he is
attacking the Holy Spirit and claiming He is inadequate to help the believer
persevere. A discrediting of the
Trinity is wrapped up in a denial of the security of salvation.
The nineteenth century Scottish Presbyterian poet and
preacher Horatius Bonar wrote these majestic words in a hymn entitled,
"The Sin-Bearer" (Hymns of Faith and Hope by Horatius
Bonar [London: James Nisbett & Co., 1872], pp. 100-02):
Thy works, not mine, O
Christ,
Speak gladness to this
heart;
They tell me all is done;
They bid my fear depart.
To whom, save Thee,
Who can alone
For sin atone,
Lord, shall I flee?
Thy pains, not mine, O
Christ,
Upon the shameful tree
Have paid the law's full
price,
And purchased peace for me.
Thy tears, not mine, O
Christ,
Have wept my guilt away;
And turned this night of
mine
Into a blessed day.
Thy bonds, not mine, O
Christ,
Unbind me of my chain,
And break my prison-doors,
Ne'er to be barred again.
Thy wounds, not mine, O
Christ,
Can heal my bruised soul;
Thy stripes, not mine,
contain
The balm that makes me
whole.
Thy blood, not mine, O
Christ,
Thy blood so freely spilt,
Can blanch my blackest
stains,
And purge away my guilt.
Thy cross, not mine, O
Christ,
Has borne the awful load
Of sins, that none in
heaven
Or earth could bear, but
God.
Thy death, not mine, O
Christ,
Has paid the ransom due;
Ten thousand deaths like
mine,
Would have been all too
few.
Thy righteousness, O
Christ,
Alone can cover me;
No righteousness avails
Save that which is of Thee.
Thy righteousness alone
Can clothe and beautify;
I wrap it round my soul;
In this I'll live and die.
Focusing on the Facts
1. According to those who claim you can lose your
salvation, what maintains salvation (see p. 1)?
2. Why did Paul write Romans (see p. 1)?
3. Why did the Jewish people have trouble understanding
salvation by faith (see pp. 1-2)?
4. When do we have peace with God (see p. 2)?
5. What kind of peace do we have (see p. 3)?
6. Explain the nature of unregenerate man's war with God
(see p. 3).
7. How do believers obtain peace with God (see p.
4)?
8. What happened to our sins (see p. 4)?
9. How does Christ maintain our reconciliation to God (see
p. 5)?
10. How long does Christ maintain that reconciliation
(see p. 5)?
11. How are we able to stand in grace (see p. 6)?
12. Why is "access" a key word in Romans 5:2
(see p. 6)?
13. What did the Jewish people in Old Testament times
believe about approaching God? Why (see
pp. 6-7)?
14. What enables man to have access to God (see p. 8)?
15. Define grace (see p. 9).
16. What did Paul mean when he said the believer stands
in grace (Rom. 5:2; see p. 9)?
17. According to Romans 5:20, what must exist for grace
to function (see p. 9)?
18. What is the significance of Romans 5:10 concerning
our peace with God (see pp. 9-10)?
19. How does a believer's obedience relate to his peace
with God and standing in grace (see
pp. 10-11)?
Pondering the
Principles
1. Have you ever thought you could lose your
salvation? Why? Read Romans 3:21[en]4:25 and 1 John 5:9-13. List as many reasons as you can find that
show your salvation is real. How do
they relate to the reasons you gave for losing your salvation? How does your peace with God relate to those
truths? Thank God that you do not have
to earn your salvation. Ask Him to make
those truths even more real in your life.
2. Read 2 Corinthians 5:17-21. According to Paul, all Christians have been
given the ministry of reconciliation.
What are some ways you personally can be involved as an ambassador for
Christ? Based on the fact that you have
peace with God, what has to be an integral part of your ministry? Make a list of people you know whom you'd
like to see at peace with God. Begin
praying that God would use you in bringing about their reconciliation with Him.
3. Since you now have
access into God's presence and stand in grace, with what attitude should you
approach God? Look up the following
verses: Hebrews 4:14-16; 10:12-22;
1 John 3:18-21; 4:17; 5:14. Why
is it possible for us to have that attitude?
List some reasons that explain why sometimes we don't approach God in
that way. Read 1 John 1:9. Remember it is confession of sin that
enables us to keep our consciences clean (Heb. 10:22) and be obedient to
God. Although we can approach Him
confidently, we must also approach Him (James 4:10).
Added to the John MacArthur Collection located at:
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