God Promises All Believers
ETERNAL Life"And this is the promise that he hath promised us,
even eternal life." (1 John 2:25)by Louis A. Turk, B.A., M.Div., Ph.D. God's gracious promise to give eternal life to every be-
liever in the Lord Jesus Christ is the best news of all ages.
Anyone--including you--can receive eternal life by simply
believing God's promise. Have you believed God's prom-
ise? If you die today are you absolutely certain you will go
to Heaven?
Beware lest you make God a liar by disbelieving His
promise to give eternal life to everyone that receives Jesus
Christ as personal Lord and Saviour. Because if you do not
believe that once a person believes in Jesus Christ he is saved
once and forever by the Lord Jesus Christ, then you have
NEVER really trusted in Jesus Christ as your personal Lord
and Saviour, you are lost in your sins, and you are heading
straight to Hell. This is true even if you have been baptized
and are an active church member, and is true even if you are
a Sunday School teacher or preacher. This is written, not to
offend, but out of genuine concern for your soul. Because, I
repeat it, if you do not believe in the eternal security of the
blood-bought believer in the Lord Jesus Christ, then you
have NEVER been saved, and except you repent of your
UNBELIEF you will end up eternally tormented in the flames
of the lake which burns with fire and brimstone.
But the fearful, and unbelieving, and the abominable, and murder-
ers, and whoremongers, and sorcerers, and idolaters, and all liars, shall
have their part in the lake which burneth with fire and brimstone: which
is the second death. (Rev. 21:8)PEOPLE IN HELL HAVE
NEVER KNOWN CHRISTSaid the Lord Jesus Christ:
Not every one that saith unto me, Lord, Lord, shall enter into the king-
dom of heaven; but he that doeth the will of my Father which is in
heaven. Many will say to me in that day, Lord, Lord, have we not proph-
esied in thy name? and in thy name have cast out devils? and in thy
name done many wonderful works? And then will I profess unto them, I
never knew you: depart from me, ye that work iniquity. (Mat. 7:21-
23)Who is this verse referring to when it says "he that doeth
the will of my Father"? Not those who have "done many
wonderful works[,]" but rather BELIEVERS in the Gospel of
Jesus Christ, and Christ will NOT lose or cast out God's
children. "For ye are all the children of God by faith
in Christ Jesus" (Gal. 3:26).
All that the Father giveth me shall come to me; and him that cometh
to me I will in no wise cast out. For I came down from heaven,
not to do mine own will, but the will of him that sent me. And this is the
Father's will which hath sent me, that of all which he hath given me I
should lose nothing, but should raise it up again at the last day.
And this is the will of him that sent me, that every one which
seeth the Son, and believeth on him, may have everlasting life:
and I will raise him up at the last day. (John 6:37- 40)Note in Mat. 7:21-23 above that on the Judgment Day
Jesus will tell all religious, but UNBELIEVING, professing
Christians, "I NEVER knew you." He will NOT say to them,
"I once knew you, but then you sinned and lost your salva-
tion." People who believe that salvation can be lost are trust-
ing in their own religious works to save them, and are not
trusting in Christ. They believe that they are doing "many
wonderful works[,]" perhaps even including having "cast out
devils[,]" and are therefore worthy of salvation. Because they
are trusting in their own good works instead of in the fin-
ished work of Christ upon the cross, they have NEVER been
saved.SALVATION IS BY GRACE, NOT BY WORKS The reason some people believe a saved person can lose
his salvation is because they believe good works are neces-
sary for salvation. Yet they know in their hearts that their
works are often sinful, not good. Therefore, such people be-
lieve that you cannot know for sure that you will [go] to
Heaven until after the Judgment Day. Then, "if your good
deeds outweigh your bad deeds", they reason, "you will be
allowed into Heaven, otherwise you will go to Hell or Pur-
gatory." This is a tragic misunderstanding (or rejection) of
what the Bible teaches about salvation.
The Bible very clearly tells us that salvation is by God's
grace through faith in the finished work of Christ, and is
NOT of our own works.
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. (Eph.
2:8-9)Not by works of righteousness which we have done, but according
to his mercy he saved us, by the washing of regeneration, and renew-
ing of the Holy Ghost; Which he shed on us abundantly through Jesus
Christ our Saviour; That being justified by his grace, we should be made
heirs according to the hope of eternal life. (Tit. 3:5- 7)None of us are worthy of salvation. If we get what we
deserve we will all end up in Hell.
For there is not a just man upon earth, that doeth good, and sinneth
not. (Ecc. 7:20)But we are all as an unclean thing, and all our righteousnesses are
as filthy rags; and we all do fade as a leaf; and our iniquities, like the
wind, have taken us away. (Is. 64:6)As it is written, There is none righteous, no, not one: There is none
that understandeth, there is none that seeketh after God. They are
all gone out of the way, they are together become unprofitable; there
is none that doeth good, no, not one. (Rom. 3:10-12)For all have sinned, and come short of the glory of God; (Rom. 3:23)
Without Jesus Christ, none of us are righteous, none of
us are good, and none of us are profitable to God. Quite to
the contrary, without Christ, all of us are unclean, all of our
righteousnesses are filthy, and we sin continually. Only be-
cause of the finished work of Christ is there hope for us
wicked sinners.
For the wages of sin is death; but the gift of God is eternal life through
Jesus Christ our Lord. (Romans 6:23)SALVATION IS ETERNAL As the above verse illustrates, the Bible very clearly tells
us that the salvation Jesus Christ authored is ETERNAL
salvation.
So also Christ glorified not himself to be made an high priest; but
he that said unto him, Thou art my Son, to day have I begotten
thee. As he saith also in another place, Thou art a priest for ever
after the order of Melchisedec. Who in the days of his flesh, when
he had offered up prayers and supplications with strong crying and
tears unto him that was able to save him from death, and was heard
in that he feared; Though he were a Son, yet learned he obedience
by the things which he suffered; And being made perfect, he be-
came the author of eternal salvation unto all them that obey
him; Called of God an high priest after the order of Melchisedec.
(Heb. 5:5-10)EVERLASTING MEANS NEVER ENDING It is amazing how many people do not understand
the meaning of the words everlasting and eternal. They
claim to have everlasting life; yet, claim that they can
lose it if they fall into sin. Webster's Dictionary defines
everlasting as "never coming to an end; lasting forever;
eternal." Now to lose life is to die. Death ends life. Life
is not eternal life or everlasting life if it can end in death.
Over and over again in the Bible Jesus promises eter-
nal life or everlasting life to all who place their faith in
Him. Here are just a few examples:
And this is the promise that he hath promised us, even ETERNAL
LIFE. (1 John 2:25)That whosoever believeth in him should NOT PERISH, but have
ETERNAL LIFE. (John 3:15)My sheep hear my voice, and I know them, and they follow me:
And I give unto them eternal life; and they shall never per-
ish, neither shall any man pluck them out of my hand. My Father,
which gave them me, is greater than all; and no man is able to
pluck them out of my Father's hand. I and my Father are
one. (John 10:27-30)But now being made free from sin, and become servants to God,
ye have your fruit unto holiness, and the end everlasting life.
For the wages of sin is death; but the gift of God is eternal
life through Jesus Christ our Lord. (Rom. 6:22-23)In hope of eternal life, which God, that cannot lie, promised
before the world began; (Titus 1:2)Not by works of righteousness which we have done,
but according to his mercy he saved us, by the washing of re-
generation, and renewing of the Holy Ghost; Which he shed on
us abundantly through Jesus Christ our Saviour; That being justi-
fied by his grace, we should be made heirs according to the hope
of eternal life. (Titus 3:5-7)For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son,
that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have
everlasting life. For God sent not his Son into the world to
condemn the world; but that the world through him might be saved.
He that believeth on him is not condemned: but he that
believeth not is condemned already, because he hath not believed
in the name of the only begotten Son of God. (John 3:16-18)He that believeth on the Son HATH EVERLASTING LIFE: and he
that believeth not the Son shall not see life; but the wrath of God
abideth on him. (John 3:36)Verily, verily, I say unto you, He that heareth my word, and believeth
on him that sent me, hath EVERLASTING LIFE, and shall NOT
come into condemnation; but IS PASSED FROM DEATH UNTO
LIFE. (John 5:24)And this is the will of him that sent me, that every one which seeth
the Son, and believeth on him, may have EVERLASTING LIFE:
and I will raise him up at the last day. (John 6:40)Verily, verily, I say unto you, He that believeth on me HATH EVER-
LASTING LIFE. (John 6:47)
Now if Jesus is the Author of eternal salvation, who,
we must ask, is the author of non-eternal salvation? Surely
none other than Satan himself. People worshipping a non-
eternal-salvation-giving Jesus are actually worshipping
Satan himself without realizing it!BEWARE OF "ANOTHER" JESUS WHO
PROMISES NON-ETERNAL SALVATIONThe Jesus of the Bible is the Author of ETERNAL
salvation. The Jesus of the Bible gives all those who be-
lieve in Him EVERLASTING life. The Jesus of the Bible
saves repentant believing sinners and KEEPS them saved.
The Jesus of the Bible does not need us to help Him save
our souls, He is FULLY capable of saving us ALL BY
HIMSELF. He does not need our help to keep us saved;
He keeps all believers saved ALL BY HIMSELF.
Some people, however, believe in a different Jesus
than the Jesus of the Bible. They believe in a Jesus that
is weak and powerless and cannot finish what he starts.
Their Jesus is, in fact, a liar, for he promises eternal life,
supposedly gives it to people when they believe in him,
but then that "eternal" life ENDS when they sin. The eter-
nal life he gives is fake, and he is a fraud. He starts to
save people, but is unable to finish the job. Thus, in real-
ity, he is of no use whatsoever, for people have to end up
saving themselves by their good works anyway. They
are thus stronger than their phony, useless, counterfeit
Jesus. THEY ARE REALLY TRUSTING IN THEM-
SELVES. THEY ARE THEIR OWN GODS. Their Jesus
is a creation of human imagination--they have created
and must do for their god, rather than God creating and
doing for them--, and so they are actually greater than
their Jesus. VAIN PRIDE is the basic reason this false
Jesus and false gospel is so popular.
The apostle Paul wrote the following divinely inspired
words to the churches at Galatia and Corinth concerning
this phony gospel and phony Jesus:
I marvel that ye are so soon removed from him that called you into
the grace of Christ unto another gospel: Which is not another;
but there be some that trouble you, and would pervert the gos-
pel of Christ. But though we, or an angel from heaven, preach any
other gospel unto you than that which we have preached unto you,
let him be accursed. As we said before, so say I now again, If
any man preach any other gospel unto you than that ye have re-
ceived, let him be accursed. (Gal. 1:6-9)For I am jealous over you with godly jealousy: for I have espoused
you to one husband, that I may present you as a chaste virgin to
Christ. But I fear, lest by any means, as the serpent beguiled Eve
through his subtilty, so your minds should be corrupted from the
simplicity that is in Christ. For if he that cometh preacheth an-
other Jesus, whom we have not preached, or if ye receive an-
other spirit, which ye have not received, or another gospel,
which ye have not accepted, ye might well bear with him. ... For
such are false apostles, deceitful workers, transforming them-
selves into the apostles of Christ. And no marvel; for Satan him-
self is transformed into an angel of light. Therefore it is no great
thing if his ministers also be transformed as the ministers of righ-
teousness; whose end shall be according to their works. (2 Cor.
11:2-4, 13-15)TODAY IS THE DAY OF SALVATION Realizing the meaning of eternal salvation and ever-
lasting life---that is, that eternal does mean eternal, and
everlasting does mean everlasting---, some people who re-
ject the doctrine of once saved always saved defend their
position by saying that no one is saved until God judges his
works on the judgment day. Therefore, according to these
people salvation does not come at the moment we put our
faith in Christ, but rather sometime after physical death. Such
an idea, however, does not originate with the Bible. For ex-
ample, when wicked tax collector Zacchaeus trusted Christ
as personal Lord and Saviour, he was saved that very day.
And Jesus said unto him, This day is salvation come to this house,
forsomuch as he also is a son of Abraham. For the Son of man is come
to seek and to save that which was lost. (Luke 19:9-10)Also, the Bible never says that the judgment day is the
day of salvation. Rather it says, "behold, NOW is the ac-
cepted time; behold, NOW is the day of salvation." (2 Cor.
6:2)"I WILL NOT BLOT OUT HIS NAME
OUT OF THE BOOK OF LIFE"The Lord Jesus very plainly promises that He will not
blot the names of overcomers out of the book of life:
He that overcometh, the same shall be clothed in white raiment; and I
will not blot out his name out of the book of life, but I will confess
his name before my Father, and before his angels. (Rev. 3:5)That certainly means once saved always saved for over-
comers. Who then are these overcomers? And do they over-
come by their good works or by their faith in Christ? We are
not left to guess.
Whosoever believeth that Jesus is the Christ is born of God: and
every one that loveth him that begat loveth him also that is begotten of
him. ... For whatsoever is born of God overcometh the world: and this
is the victory that overcometh the world, even our faith. Who is he
that overcometh the world, but he that believeth that Jesus is the
Son of God? (1 John 5:1, 4-5)Every human being's name was written in the book of
life before the foundation of the world, but the names of
those who die without trusting Christ as their Lord and Sav-
iour are blotted out.
Let them be blotted out of the book of the living, and not be written
with the righteous. (Ps. 69:28)And if any man shall take away from the words of the book of this
prophecy, God shall take away his part out of the book of life, and out
of the holy city, and from the things which are written in this book.
(Rev. 22:19)IF A BELIEVER'S WORK BE BURNED,
HE SHALL SUFFER LOSS:
BUT HE HIMSELF SHALL BE SAVEDWhat about a person that gets saved, but backslides?
Won't that person lose his salvation? Not if he really got
saved. Anyone who has placed his faith in Christ Jesus has
laid a sure and everlasting foundation for his life.
For other foundation can no man lay than that is laid, which is Jesus
Christ. Now if any man build upon this foundation gold, silver, pre-
cious stones, wood, hay, stubble; Every man's work shall be made
manifest: for the day shall declare it, because it shall be revealed by
fire; and the fire shall try every man's work of what sort it is. If any
man's work abide which he hath built thereupon, he shall receive a
reward. If any man's work shall be burned, he shall suffer loss: but
he himself shall be saved; yet so as by fire. (1 Cor. 3:11-
15)
In other words, if a believer's works do not meet with
God's approval, he will lose all rewards on the judgment
day--a horrible and eternal loss. "But he himself shall be
saved;" he will NOT lose his soul!
While the life you live is certainly important, of much
more importance is the foundation upon which you build
your life. Mat. 7:24 speaks of the "wise man, which built
his house upon a rock: and the rain descended, and the floods
came, and the winds blew, and beat upon that house; and it
fell not: for it was founded upon a rock." I Cor. 10:4b says:
"...and that Rock was Christ."
I once knew a man who hired an unscrupulous contrac-
tor to build his home. Alas, while he was away the contrac-
tor poured a shallow, unreinforced foundation. Upon this
paper shell foundation was built a luxury home with the very
finest of materials. Even before it was finished great cracks
appeared in all the walls, and it began to sink in one corner.
Its ruin was great, and there was no remedy. So is a seem-
ingly clean and moral person, doing many good works, but
who has never trusted Christ as personal Lord and Saviour.
Without the foundation of Christ, cracks will soon develop
in his golden life to render it ruined, and he will die to spend
eternity in the torments of the flames of Hell.
Lot is an example of a saved person who wasted his life,
yet was still saved. The Bible says he "pitched his tent to-
ward Sodom" (Gen. 13:12). He eventually got so far away
from God that he got drunk, and in his drunkenness got both
his daughters pregnant (Gen. 19:30-36). Yet, in the eyes of
God, Lot was still considered a "just" and "righteous"--
though miserable--man. The Bible says that God "deliv-
ered JUST Lot, vexed with the filthy conversation of the
wicked: (For that RIGHTEOUS man dwelling among them,
in seeing and hearing, vexed his RIGHTEOUS soul from
day to day with their unlawful deeds;)" (2 Pet. 2:7-8).
Cain is an example of a lost religious man. He believed
there is a God, and even gave an offering to God. But his
offering was bloodless, showing that he was trusting in his
own good works to save him, and was not trusting in the
coming virgin-born Messiah who would shed His blood on
a cruel cross for the sins of the world.
And in process of time it came to pass, that Cain brought of the fruit of
the ground an offering unto the LORD. And Abel, he also brought of
the firstlings of his flock and of the fat thereof. And the LORD had
respect unto Abel and to his offering: But unto Cain and to his offering
he had not respect. (Gen. 4:3-8)Cain was never saved, and so did not lose his salvation.
One cannot lose that which one never had. Being religious
will not save your soul: only Jesus can save your soul. Be-
lieving God exists is not saving faith. Believing Jesus Christ
died on the cross to give you eternal salvation (once saved
always saved type salvation) is saving faith, without which
you will go to Hell."I WILL NEVER LEAVE THEE
NOR FORSAKE THEE"One of the most comforting verses in the Bible is
Heb.l3:5 which says, "Let your conversation be without cov-
etousness; and be content with such things as ye have: for
he hath said, I WILL NEVER LEAVE THEE, NOR FOR-
SAKE THEE." A similar verse is John 6:37 where Jesus
promises, "...and him that cometh to me I will IN NO WISE
cast out." These verses certainly teach "once saved always
saved," for if a believer could lose his salvation and end
up in Hell Christ could not honestly say that that believer
was neither forsaken nor cast out."IF I BELIEVED ONCE SAVED ALWAYS
SAVED I WOULD LIVE LIKE THE DEVIL!"Unbelievers will often say, "The idea that once you
are saved you are always saved encourages people to
sin. If I believed once saved always saved, I would live
like the Devil. I would drink, smoke, dance and forni-
cate and do drugs. Why not if once saved always saved?"
Such an attitude reveals a great misunderstanding of
God's plan of salvation, and also reveals the true desires
of these unbelievers' hearts. Because they have never
truly been born again they very much want to enjoy the
pleasures of sin. Drinking, dancing, fornicating and do-
ing drugs (or other sins) is what they consider fun. They
think that to save their souls they must abstain from all
those fun sins and force themselves to do "boring things"
like praying, reading the Bible, and going to church, and
act like they like it, when they really don't. However,
because their nature has never been changed by the new
birth, their efforts to live right are doomed to failure. For
it happens to them according to the true proverb:
"The dog is turned to his own vomit again; and the sow that was
washed to her wallowing in the mire." (2 Pet. 2:22)There is, of course, only one cure for a sinful nature:
YE MUST BE BORN AGAIN. (John 3:7)
Therefore if any man be IN Christ, he is a NEW CREATURE: old
things are passed away; behold, all things are become new. (2
Cor. 5:17)For in Christ Jesus neither circumcision availeth any thing, nor
uncircumcision, but a new creature. (Gal. 6:15)The fact is, people who are believing in Christ to
save them once and for ever are the true believers in
Christ, and because they have been born again (and there-
fore have a new nature) they tend to live much more holy
lives than do those who believe that salvation once gained
can be lost. True believers love Christ for giving them
everlasting salvation, and therefore serve Him with a will-
ing heart.
People who do not believe once saved always saved
tend to resent Christ down in their hearts, for they think
He is forcing them by threat of Hell to live what they
consider to be an unhappy, "goody-goody" life instead
of what they consider a fun, sinful life. This is why Jesus
said, "Verily, verily, I say unto thee, Except a man be
born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God" (John
3:3).IN CONCLUSION Salvation by the Lord Jesus Christ is a "once for all"
and a "for ever" event.
By the which will we are sanctified through the offering of the body
of Jesus Christ once for all. And every priest standeth daily
ministering and offering oftentimes the same sacrifices, which can
never take away sins: But this man, after he had offered one sacri-
fice for sins for ever, 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 for ever them that are
sanctified. (Heb. 10:10-14)
Only people who believe in the eternal security of
the believer in Christ are truly placing their faith in such
comforting Bible promises as this one:
Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? shall tribulation, or
distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or peril, or
sword? As it is written, For thy sake we are killed all the day long;
we are accounted as sheep for the slaughter. Nay, in all these
things we are more than conquerors through him that loved us.
For I am persuaded, that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor
principalities, nor powers, nor things present, nor things to come,
Nor height, nor depth, nor any other creature, shall be able to sepa-
rate us from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord.
(Rom. 8:35-39)Quite to the contrary of what most false religions
teach, it IS possible to KNOW FOR SURE that you
HAVE EVERLASTING LIFE RIGHT NOW. I know,
and so do thousands of others. So can you. Wrote the
apostle John:
And this is the record, that God hath given to us eternal life,
and this life is in his Son. He that hath the Son hath life; and he
that hath not the Son of God hath not life. These things have I
written unto you that believe on the name of the Son of God; that
ye may know that ye have eternal life, and that ye may be-
lieve on the name of the Son of God. (1 John 5:11-13)The true, genuine, honest, glorious, omnipotent, eter-
nal-life-giving Jesus invites you into the comfort and
"peace that passeth all understanding" enjoyed ONLY
by those who are the "preserved in Jesus Christ"
(Jude 1:1).
"Now unto him that is able to keep you from falling, and
to present you faultless before the presence of his
glory with exceeding joy, To the only wise God our Sav-
iour, be glory and majesty, dominion and power, both now and
ever. Amen." (Jude 1:24-25)God's promise is great, and His promise is real. Do
not delay, but right now receive the eternal life that is
yours free of charge in the Lord Jesus Christ.© Copyright 1998 by Louis A. Turk. All rights reserved. You may re-
print this article, provided you do not edit it in any way without the
author's consent, and provided this paragraph is printed at the end of
the article. Other publication requires advance permission of the au-
thor. For more information contact Dr. Louis A. Turk, Bible-Way My.
Baptist Church, P.O. Box 13093, Hamilton, OH 45013-0093.
USA. E-mail address: laturk@ibm.net
[Chr. Helps Ministry (USA)] [Chr. Home Bible Course]