Those who teach or hold to this belief use several scriptures to try to prove it. John 10:27-28 is a pivotal passage used for this purpose: “My sheep hear My voice, and I know them, and they follow Me. And I give them eternal life, and they shall never perish; neither shall anyone snatch them out of My hand.” Jesus made this statement in response to some who had queried whether He was the promised Messiah (John 10:23-24). The focus here was not “eternal security” but His identity as the Messiah.
In stating “no one is able to snatch them [the sheep] out of My Father’s hand,” He meant that no external power (be it Satan, false religious leaders or anyone else) could take them away. Jesus did not say His followers couldn’t ultimately fail due to fault of their own. Other verses show it is possible to be once enlightened and then fail to continue in the path of righteousness. God will never leave or forsake us as Christians (Hebrews 13:5), but the Bible does not say it is impossible for us to forsake God and lose out on His gift of salvation.
Many passages teach the opposite of this doctrine, showing we must meet, and continue to meet, certain conditions to receive God’s gift of salvation: (Matthew 24:13, 1 Corinthians 15:2, (Hebrews 2:1-3, 2 John 1:8 and Revelation 2:26). Even the Apostle Paul did not say he was assured of salvation: “But I discipline my body and bring it into subjection, lest, when I have preached to others, I myself should become disqualified” (1 Corinthians 9:27).
The doctrine of “eternal security” is not found in the Bible. We must all endure to the end to be saved. There are many verses showing that as long as we do not through continued neglect or bitterness come to ultimately reject God, we are assured of salvation. We can be confident in God to see us through. That is what Paul meant in Philippians 1:6: “Being confident of this very thing, that He who has begun a good work in you will complete it until the day of Jesus Christ.” We need to keep repenting, growing and overcoming with God’s help.
