God’s salvation is secured by His irrevocable calling, which is based on His selection. God selected us, chose us, before the foundation of the world (Eph. 1:4). It was not we who selected Him but He who selected us (John 15:16). His selection is not of our works but of Himself. God has called us not according to our works but according to His own purpose (2 Tim. 1:9). This calling is irrevocable. “The free gifts and the calling of God are irrevocable” (Rom. 11:29). God will never repent of it nor regret having called us. His calling has nothing to do with our works; our works cannot affect God’s calling, for it is irrevocable. Hence, God’s calling, being initiated by God, not by us, is the security of our salvation.
God’s eternal salvation is secured by His unchallengeable justification. Justification is God’s action in approving the believers according to the standard of His righteousness. The righteousness of God is revealed to faith (Rom. 1:16-17). For the showing forth of His righteousness, God must justify us, and He has justified us who believe in the Lord Jesus (Rom. 3:26). It is the righteous God who has justified us (Rom. 8:33). His righteousness is the foundation of His throne (Psa. 89:14). God’s throne is established forever and nothing can shake it. Our salvation, being secured by God’s righteousness and His unchallengeable justification, is as unshakable as God’s throne.
The believers’ salvation is also secured by God’s almighty hand. In John 10:29, the Lord Jesus, referring to His sheep, says, “My Father who has given them to Me is greater than all, and no one can snatch them out of My Father’s hand.” God the Father is more powerful than anything. He has a mighty arm, and strong is His hand (Psa. 89:13). No one can pluck us out of His hand.
Our salvation is secured by God’s eternal life, by the life of God. The Lord Jesus said, “I give to them eternal life, and they shall by no means perish forever” (John 10:28). The divine life which we have received is eternal, and something eternal cannot be changed. Therefore, the fact that the divine life is eternal is a vital element in the security of our salvation.
To say that once we are saved we can be lost again means that the eternal life which has been given to us would be called back. But eternal life will not be recalled once it has been given to us. God’s eternal life is the security of our salvation. As long as we have eternal life, we have eternal security, and we shall never perish.
Our salvation is secured by the unbreakable covenant of God. God has saved us by His new covenant (Heb. 8:8-13). It has definitely been covenanted that He has written the law of life within us and that He will never remember our sins. As the faithful God, He will never break His covenant (Psa. 89:34). God is bound not only by His righteousness but also by His faithfulness. Hence, His unbreakable covenant with His faithfulness is a security of our eternal salvation.
Another matter that secures our salvation is Christ’s perfect and complete redemption. Our condition may change, but Christ’s redemption, being perfect and complete, cannot be changed. Christ died for us (Rom. 8:34), and the redemption accomplished by His death is an eternal redemption (Heb. 9:12). By offering Himself once to God Christ has perfected us forever (Heb. 10:14), and His eternal redemption issues in our eternal salvation (Heb. 5:9). Thus, Christ is able to save us to the uttermost, not only in extent but also in time (Heb. 7:25).
The believers are saved with security by Christ’s eternal salvation. Hebrews 5:9 tells us that Christ is the “cause of eternal salvation.” This verse speaks not of everlasting salvation but of eternal salvation, of which all the effects, benefits, and issues are of an eternal nature, transcending the conditions and limitations of time.
The eternal salvation we have in Christ is based on the eternal redemption He has accomplished for us, which is much better than the temporary atonement carried out by the priests according to the order of Aaron. That temporary atonement covered sin but never put it away, whereas Christ’s eternal redemption has put away sin, solving the problem of sin forever. Furthermore, Christ’s eternal salvation is not merely an objective redemption to solve our problem of sin on the negative side but also a subjective salvation to save us into His perfection and glorification on the positive side. Such an eternal salvation is not limited by time and space, for it is all-embracing with the divine element and nature. The divine element and nature of Christ are the basic constituents of His eternal salvation, which not only saves us from negative things but also saves us into positive things, even into God Himself. Such a saving is all-embracing, not limited by time and space.