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Dr. Louis T. Talbot/ B IO LA Chancellor/ will be happy to answer your question concern ing any portion of the Word of God which may be perplexing you. A free question and answer booklet is available upon request.
DR. TALBOT' The Questions This Month Deal With the Teaching of Eternal Security Q. Some people insist that the teaching of “ eternal security” en courages lax standards of living. Is this so? A. No. It is not so. In fact, the very opposite is true. I refer you to II Cor. 5:17 which reads on this wise: “ If any man be in Christ, he is a new creation: old things are passed away; behold, all things are become new.” My friend, do not deceive your self. It makes a tremendous dif ference what you do and how you live. If you do not act as a Chris tian, you are just revealing the fact that you are not a real Christian at all. I know that a real Christian may fall into sin, but he is never happy so long as he continues in sin. If a professing Christian is happy in sin, then he gives evidence that he is not a child of God. The difference between the sin ning saint and the mere professor is illustrated by the experiences of Peter and Judas. Peter failed, failed grievously; with oaths and curses he denied his Lord. But one look from the Son of God sent him out weeping bitterly. Judas, however, was possessed by Satan all the time. He was never a child of God. He ever had his own self-interest be fore him. He was a thief, and held the bag. Although he companied with the Lord for three and one- half years, yet he was never born again. He planned deliberately to sell the Son of God. More than once Christ branded him as a traitor. And in the end he went out and hanged himself. Peter, on the other hand, hated the very sin that caused him to grieve the Lord. This is the fundamental difference between a real believer and a false professor.
Personally, I believe that “ the falling away” doctrine, and not the doctrine of the eternal security of the believer, produces lax standards of living. Some even go so far as to say, “ If I commit this sin and ‘fall away,’ I can go back to the altar and get converted all over again.” Certainly the Word of God teaches no such doctrine. Q. Is salvation in any sense a re ward? A. No, it is not. Read Eph. 2:8: “ 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” and Titus 3:5: “Not by works of right eousness which we have done, but according to his mercy he saved us, by the washing of regeneration, and renewing of the Holy Ghost.” There is another insurmountable difficulty that confronts those who hold the doctrine that a child of God can fall away and be eternally lost. I have put this matter before many men who hold this teaching, and have not yet received the sem blance of a satisfactory answer. It is in regard to salvation and re wards. Paul leaves no room for doubt in his discussion of the sub ject in I Cor. 3:11-15. Here the Holy Spirit is talking of the structure which the redeemed child of God builds upon the one foundation, even Christ Jesus. Only true believers will stand before the judgment seat of Christ—the wick ed shall be judged at the great white throne. But when the rewards for service are given to the saints at the judgment seat of Christ, one believ er will receive a reward for the things done in the flesh for the glory of God, while another will “ suffer loss” because he did not “ lay up treasures in heaven.” H e
shall lose his reward, but not his salvation; fo r “ he him self shall be saved.” He himself is eternally se cure, because of his faith in the only Saviour, the one foundation. But, according to “ the falling away” doctrine, that man would be etern ally lost whose life, after conver sion, did not bear fruit unto the glory of God. Salvation is not a reward, my friend. It is not partly of faith and partly of works; it is the gift of God. “Not by works of righteousness which we have done, hut according to his mercy he saved us, by the washing of regeneration, and re newing of the Holy Ghost.” Q. Who is “ a castaway” described in I Corinthians 9:27? Does this refer to salvation? A. That verse reads: “ But I keep under my body, and bring it into subjection; lest that by any means, when I have preached to others, I myself should be a castaway. Paul is discussing rewards for service, not salvation. And he uses the illus tration of the Olympian games to show the meaning of running the Christian race. Only free-born citi zens could contend in these games; and only born-again children of God can run the race as Christians. Salvation is not the goal; it is the starting place. The judgment seat of Christ is the goal. Now the word “ castaway” in the Greek means “ disapproved.” The prize went to the victor in the Olympian games; and the crown awaits the Christian who is not “ disapproved,” in so far as his serv ice is concerned, at the judgment seat of Christ. Salvation is not a reward; it is a free gift. And Paul was not writing about salvation in this passage, as the context clearly shows.
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