Question: "Is eternal security a "license" to sin

[lovelace]

Question: "Is eternal security a "license" to sin?"



Answer: The most frequent objection to the doctrine of eternal security is that it supposedly promotes the idea that Christians can live anyway that they want to - and still be saved. While this is "technically" true, that is not the "essence" of eternal security. A person who has truly accepted Jesus Christ as his or her Savior "can" live a sinful life - but he or she "will" not do so. We must draw a distinction between how a Christian should live - and what a person must do in order to receive salvation.



The Bible is abundantly clear that salvation is by grace alone, through faith alone, in Jesus Christ alone (John 3:16; Ephesians 2:8-9; John 14:6). A person is saved by faith - faith alone. The moment a person truly believes in Jesus Christ, they are saved and secure in that salvation. Salvation is not gained by faith, but then maintained by works. The Apostle Paul address this issue in Galatians 3:3, "Are you so foolish? After beginning with the Spirit, are you now trying to attain your goal by human effort?" If we are saved by faith, our salvation is also maintained and secured by faith. We cannot earn our own salvation. Therefore, we cannot earn the maintenance of our salvation either. It is God who maintains our salvation (Jude verse 24). It is God's hand that holds us firmly in His grasp (John 10:28-29). It is God's love that nothing can separate us from (Romans 8:38-39).



Any denial of eternal security is, in its essence, a belief that we must maintain our own salvation by our own good works. This is completely antithetical to salvation by grace. We are saved because of Christ's merits, not our own (Romans 4:3-8). To claim that we must obey God's Word or live a godly life to maintain our salvation is equal to saying that Jesus' death was not sufficient to pay the penalty for our sins. Jesus' death was absolutely sufficient to pay for all of our sins - past, present, and future, pre-salvation and post-salvation (Romans 5:8; 1 Corinthians 15:3; 2 Corinthians 5:21).



So, with all that said, does this mean that a Christian can live anyway they want to and still be saved? This is essentially a hypothetical question, because the Bible makes it clear that a true Christian will not live "anyway they want to." Christians are new creations (2 Corinthians 5:17). Christians demonstrate the fruit of the Spirit (Galatians 5:22-23), not the acts of the flesh (Galatians 5:19-21). 1 John 3:6-9 clearly states that a true Christian will not live in continual sin. In response to the accusation that grace promotes sin, the Apostle Paul declared, "What shall we say, then? Shall we go on sinning so that grace may increase? By no means! We died to sin; how can we live in it any longer?" (Romans 6:1-2).



Eternal security is not a "license" to sin. Rather, it is the security of knowing that God's love is guaranteed for those who trust in Christ. Knowing and understanding God's tremendous gift of salvation accomplishes the opposite of giving a "license" to sin. How could anyone, knowing the price Jesus Christ paid for us, go on to live a life of sin (Romans 6:15-23)? How could anyone who understands God's unconditional and guaranteed love for those who believe, take that love and throw it back in God's face? Such a person is demonstrating not that eternal security has given them a license to sin, but rather that he or she has not truly experienced salvation through Jesus Christ. "No one who lives in Him keeps on sinning. No one who continues to sin has either seen Him or known Him" (1 John 3:6).

[pitbull]

LEGALISM, LICENSE, OR LIBERTY?
What is legalism? This is a man-made doctrine that is taught in many churches. It teaches that you must either work to earn your salvation or work to keep your salvation. Here are a few examples:
• The Seventh-Day Adventists teach that you must observe the Sabbath in order to be saved.
• The Catholics teach that you must abide by the sacraments in order to be saved.
• The Church of Christ teaches that it is essential to salvation that you be baptized.

In other words, legalism teaches faith plus works equals salvation. This is man-made bondage. This is a teaching that is clearly against the Bible:
• “Knowing that a man is not justified by the works of the law, but by the faith of Jesus Christ, even we have believed in Jesus Christ, that we might be justified in the faith of Christ, and not by the works of the law: for by the works of the law shall no flesh be justified.” [Galatians 2:16]
• “For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God: Not of works, lest any man should boast.” [Ephesians 2:8-9]
• “Who hath saved us, and called us with an holy calling, not according to our works, but according to his own purpose and grace, which was given us in Christ Jesus before the world began.” [2 Timothy 1:9]
• “Not by works of righteousness which we have done, but according to his mercy he saved us, by the washing of regeneration, and the renewing of the Holy Ghost;” [Titus 3:5]

What is license? This is what some people try to say that the “once saved always saved” view teaches. This is that once you are saved, then you can live however you like without any consequences. There is a major problem with this viewpoint – it is not Biblical and is not part of the Biblical doctrine of preservation. The Bible clearly teaches otherwise:
• “What shall we say then? Shall we continue in sin, that grace may abound? God forbid.” [Romans 6:1-2]
• “If we say that we have fellowship with him, and walk in darkness, we lie, and do not the truth:” [1 John 1:6]
• “He that saith, I know him, and keepeth not his commandments, is a liar, and the truth is not in him.” [1 John 2:4]

Even though a Christian will sin [1 John 1:8-9], the Bible teaches that no truly saved person will live in habitual sin or dwelling in a sinful practice. Even though you might not be able to loose your salvation, there are still consequences to sin in the life of believer and there are things that he or she can loose. More will be given later in this same paper on this.
What is liberty? The Bible constantly talks about us experiencing liberty:
• “Because the creature itself also shall be delivered from the bondage of corruption into the glorious liberty of the children of God.” [Romans 8:21]
• “But take heed lest by any means this liberty of yours become a stumblingblock to them that are weak.” [1 Corinthians 8:9]
• “Conscience, I say, not thine own, but of the other: for why is my liberty judged of another man’s conscience?” [1 Corinthians 10:29]
• “Now the Lord is that Spirit: and where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is liberty.” [2 Corinthians 3:17]
• “And that because of false brethren unawares brought in, who came in privily to spy out our liberty which we have in Christ Jesus, that they might bring us into bondage:” [Galatians 2:4]
• “Stand fast therefore in the liberty wherewith Christ hath made us free, and be not entangled again with the yoke of bondage.” [Galatians 5:1]
• “For, brethren, ye have been called unto liberty; only use not liberty for an occasion to the flesh, but by love serve one another.” [Galatians 5:13]
• “But whoso looketh into the perfect law of liberty, and continueth therein, he being not a forgetful hearer, but a doer of the work, this man shall be blessed in his deed.” [James 1:25]
• “So speak ye, and so do, as they that shall be judged by the law of liberty.” [James 2:12]
• “As free, and not using your liberty for a cloke of maliciousness, but as the servants of God.” [1 Peter 2:16]

Our liberty does not allow us to do anything we want. We cannot use it as an excuse to sin. We now have liberty to serve the Lord and our fellow believers. We now have liberty to do what is right. When we were lost, all we could do was according to our sin nature. Now that has changed and we are freed to serve God through holiness.