Our salvation is secured by God’s irrevocable calling. Romans 11:29 says that the calling of God is irrevocable. Since God’s calling comes out of His invariable being and is according to His unchanging will, it is irrevocable and unalterable. Hence, the salvation which God has called us to receive is also unalterable. Therefore, according to God’s calling, our salvation is eternally secure.
It is because of His love that God gave His only begotten Son, the Lord Jesus, to us to be our Savior (John 3:16), and it is by the grace of God that the Lord Jesus accomplished redemption for us (Heb. 2:9). However, after the Lord Jesus was judged on the cross by God’s righteousness on our behalf and thereby satisfied God’s righteous requirement, we who believe in Him are justified according to God’s righteousness to show forth God’s righteousness (Rom. 3:26). If the Lord Jesus had not satisfied God’s righteous requirement on our behalf, even though, because of His love, God desires to grant us the grace of forgiveness, He could not forgive us or justify us, because that would make Him unrighteous. However, since the Lord Jesus has satisfied God’s righteous requirement on our behalf, God can—and He must—forgive us and justify us according to His righteousness; otherwise, He would make Himself unrighteous. Hence, bound by His righteousness, God must justify us. Romans 8:33 says, “Who shall lay anything to the charge of God’s elect? Shall God that justifieth?” (ASV, margin). Since God is bound by His righteousness, He must justify us; He cannot accuse us or condemn us any longer. God’s righteousness is the foundation of God’s throne (Psa. 89:14a, ASV). God’s throne is securely established and cannot be shaken. Likewise, God’s justification according to His righteousness is securely established and forever unchallengeable. Hence, our salvation is eternally secure.
The security of our salvation rests on God’s almighty hand. In John 10:29 the Lord said, “My Father who has given them to Me is greater than all, and no one can snatch them out of My Father’s hand.” Because God is greater than all, He is more powerful than anything. No one can snatch us out of His almighty hand. Hence, as far as God’s almighty hand is concerned, our salvation is secure.
The security of our salvation also rests on God’s eternal life. In John 10:28 the Lord said, “And I give to them eternal life, and they shall by no means perish forever.” Eternal life is God’s life. The Lord has given this life to us and has brought us into an eternal relationship with God, a relationship in life, so that we can never be separated from Him. Today, God’s eternal life in us maintains the eternal security of our salvation so that we shall never perish.
Our salvation is secured by the new covenant which God made with us (Heb. 8:8-12). This covenant was consummated through the redemption accomplished by the shedding of the blood of the Lord Jesus (Matt. 26:28; Luke 22:20). According to this covenant, God will forgive the sins of all those who believe in the Lord Jesus and will not remember their iniquities any longer; He will impart His laws into their mind and inscribe them on their hearts; He will be God to them and they will be a people to Him; and they all will know God and will not need others to teach them. At the same time, this covenant is an eternal covenant (Heb. 13:20), which will remain eternally and is effective eternally. Furthermore, because God is faithful and is One who keeps His covenant (Deut. 7:9), He will never break His covenant (Psa. 89:34) but will fulfill it in us accordingly. Hence, His covenant, which cannot be annulled, guarantees the eternal security of our salvation.
Our salvation is also secured by Christ’s eternal redemption, which is perfect and complete. Hebrews 10:14 says, “For by one offering He has perfected forever those who are sanctified.” By offering Himself on the cross without blemish as the one sacrifice to God, Christ has accomplished an eternal redemption (Heb. 9:12; 10:10, 12). Hence, this redemption is eternally perfect and complete, without any blemish or shortcoming. Through Christ’s eternal redemption we, the sanctified ones, have been perfected eternally. No one can condemn us any longer (Rom. 8:34), nor can anyone nullify the perfect, complete, and eternal redemption which Christ has accomplished for us. Hence, our salvation is eternally secure.
We are saved with security by Christ’s eternal salvation. Hebrews 5:9 says that Christ “became to all them that obey Him the cause of eternal salvation.” The salvation brought to us by Christ is an eternal salvation, all the effects, benefits, and issues of which are of an eternal nature, transcending the limitations of time. Our salvation, therefore, is eternally secure.
The security of our salvation rests also on Christ’s almighty hand. In John 10:28 the Lord said, “And I give to them eternal life, and they shall by no means perish forever, and no one shall snatch them out of My hand.” Just as God’s almighty hand is powerful, so also Christ’s almighty hand is strong. Both are safeguards to our salvation. Eternal life shall never run out, and the hands of the Son and the Father shall never fail. Therefore, our salvation is eternally secure, and we shall never perish.
We are saved with security by Christ’s unfailing promise. John 6:37 says, “All that the Father gives Me shall come to Me, and him that comes to Me I will by no means cast out.” The Lord has promised that He will never cast out those who come to Him. Such a promise guarantees the eternal security of our salvation. Therefore, God has shown us in His Word from different angles that once we are saved, we are eternally saved, we are eternally perfected, we shall by no means perish eternally, and we are eternally secure.
At the time that a man believes, he is redeemed and regenerated, and he passes out of death into life. Hence, at the moment a man believes, he is saved. Our salvation is assured, first, by the Word of God, that is, the plain statements of the Scriptures, the covenant which God has made with us and the testament which He has given to us. This is a proof that is outside of us, which we may call the outward proof. Second, our salvation is assured by the Spirit’s witnessing with our spirit. This witnessing proves that we are the children of God and that God is our Father. This is a proof within us, which we may call the inward proof. Third, our salvation is assured by our loving the brothers. Our love toward the brothers in the Lord is also a proof by which we know that we have been saved. This is a proof of our experience of life, which we may call the proof of love. Moreover, our salvation is secured by the invariable God, by God’s unchanging will, by God’s inseparable love, by God’s irrevocable calling, by God’s unchallengeable justification, by God’s almighty hand, by God’s eternal life, by God’s new covenant, by Christ’s perfect, complete, and eternal redemption, by Christ’s eternal salvation, by Christ’s almighty hand, and by Christ’s unfailing promise. Therefore, God has shown us in His Word from different angles that once we are saved, we are eternally saved, we are eternally perfected, we shall by no means perish eternally, and we are eternally secure.