In the foregoing message we saw that the believers are saved by God in His trinity and that they are saved with assurance. Now we shall go on to see the security of our salvation, and then we shall cover the matter of clearing the past.
The believers in Christ have been saved with security, the security of being saved once forever. God’s salvation is eternal. Once we have received this salvation, it is secured eternally. This is proved by twelve things:
Our salvation is secured by the invariable God Himself. James 1:17 says, “All good giving and every perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of the lights, with whom is no variableness or shadow cast by turning.” Here giving refers to the act of giving, and the gift, to the thing given. The lights in this verse denote the heavenly luminaries. The Father is the Creator, the source, of these shining bodies. With Him there is no shadow cast by turning, as there is with the heavenly orbs in the moon turning its dark side to us or in the sun being eclipsed by the moon, for He is not variable, not changeable. God, the unchangeable One (Mal. 3:6), has saved us, and our condition and situation cannot affect His nature or change what He has done for us.
God’s eternal salvation is secured by the unchanging will of God. Ephesians 1:5 tells us that we were predestinated according to God’s will. In John 6:39 the Lord Jesus says, “This is the will of Him who sent Me, that of all which He has given Me I shall lose nothing, but shall raise it up in the last day.” The Lord’s word indicates that the Father’s will is that none of those whom He has given the Son should be lost. This is the will of God concerning our salvation. God’s will is more steady and stable than a rock. Although heaven and earth may be removed, God’s will, which is unchanging, remains forever.
The salvation we have received of God is also secured by God’s inseparable love. First John 4:10 says, “In this is love, not that we have loved God, but that He loved us, and sent His Son a propitiation concerning our sins.” The word “this” refers to the following fact: not that we have loved God, but that He loved us, and sent His Son a propitiation concerning our sins. In this fact is the higher and nobler love of God.
Romans 8:35-39 reveals that God’s love is inseparable. Nothing is able to separate us from the love of God. Verses 38 and 39 say, “I am persuaded that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor things present, nor things to come, nor powers, nor height, nor depth, nor any other creature, shall be able to separate us from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord.” We are God’s beloved ones, and nothing can separate us from His love. Once God loves us, He loves us forever with an eternal, inseparable love. Therefore, God’s salvation is secured by His love. This means that our eternal security is the love of God. We may be assured that nothing will separate us from the love of God, because this love does not derive from us or depend on us but is derived from God and depends on Him. This love was initiated by God in eternity.
In Romans 8:39 Paul points out that the inseparable love of God is in Christ Jesus our Lord. If the love of God were shown apart from Christ, there would be problems, for apart from Christ, even a sin such as losing our temper would separate us from the love of God. However, the love of God is not merely the love of God itself but the love of God which is in Christ Jesus. Because the love of God is in Christ Jesus, we may be assured that nothing can separate us from it. Hence, God’s inseparable love is a vital factor in the security of our salvation.