CHAPTER 7

Eternal Security (Continued)

More Reasons Why the True Believer is Safe and Secure in Christ forever:

3. The true believer is eternally secure in Christ because he is sealed with the Holy Spirit (Ephesians 1:13-14; 4:30).

            Read 1 Corinthians 6:19-20 and answer these questions: Paul describes the believer’s body as ___________________________________________ Did Paul expect the Corinthian believers to know this truth? _______ Where is the Holy Spirit (verse 19)? ___________ Now that we are saved, are we our own? _____ Who do we now belong to? ______ Are we free to live for ourselves (2 Cor. 5:15)? _____ Why are we not our own (1 Cor. 6:20)? _______________________________________ Who paid this awful price (1 Peter 1:18-19)? ___________________ Salvation is free, but it is certainly not cheap! Circle the one sentence that is false:

  1. God the Holy Spirit dwells and lives within every believer.
  2. Every believer has been bought with a price and belongs totally and completely to the Lord.
  3. Every person who has the Holy Spirit belongs totally and completely to the Lord.
  4. There are some believers who belong totally and completely to the Lord, but they have not yet received the Holy Spirit.

            Romans 8:9 teaches us that if any man does not have the _____________ of Christ he is ____________________________. This means that if a person does not have the Holy ____________ then he does not belong to ________________. Therefore, everyone who truly belongs to Christ has the _________      _______________ dwelling within.

            True or False:

________ Every person who belongs to Christ has the Holy Spirit.
________ Every true believer has the Holy Spirit.
________ It is possible that a true Christian may not have the Holy Spirit dwelling within.
________ If a person does not have the Holy Spirit, then He is not a true Christian.

            In Ephesians 1:13 we learn three things that have happened to every person who is truly saved: "In whom ye also trusted, (1) after ye heard the ____________ of ____________, the __________________ of your salvation; in whom also (2) after ye _____________________, (3) ye were _________________________ with that __________      _______________ of promise." We shall now study these three ingredients of salvation:

  1. In order for a person to be saved, he must first hear the W________ of T__________ which is the G_________________ (Good News) of his S________________________ (Ephesians 1:13). Without faith, can a person be saved (Ephesians 2:8)? _____ Faith is properly and correctly responding to the Word of God. Is it possible to respond properly to God’s Word if you have never heard it? ______ Can a person believe on the Lord Jesus Christ if he has never heard of Him (Romans 10:14)? ______ "Faith comes by ______________ and ________________ by the ___________    ____    ________" (Romans 10:17). Therefore, for a person to be saved, he must first H___________ God’s W__________.
     
  2. Many people hear God’s Word, but, sadly, they are never saved. Not only must a person H_________ God’s Word, but he must respond properly to God’s Word by B_________________ on the Lord Jesus Christ (Eph. 1:13; Acts 16:31). Men and women, boys and girls are saved in only one way – they are saved through F____________ (Ephesians 2:8) and not by ___________ (Ephesians 2:9).
     
  3. When a person hears the gospel and responds by trusting Christ and Him alone as his personal Saviour, then God does something very wonderful to him! He is S______________ with the _______________   ___________ of promise (Ephesians 1:13). According to 2 Corinthians 1:21-22, who is the One who has sealed us? _______ According to Ephesians 1:13 what (or WHO) are we sealed with? __________________________________________ Therefore God the Father is the Sealer (the One who seals) and God the Holy Spirit is the Seal! Where is the seal (2 Cor. 1:22)? _________________________________ God has sealed us with His Holy Spirit and this seal is a mark of ownership!
Suppose Cowboy Sam were to brand his cattle with this mark:

S.gif (1041 bytes)

Suppose Cowboy Hank were to brand his cattle with this mark:

h.gif (1070 bytes)

If you were riding on your horse and you came across a stray steer with a big "S" branded on its hide, then you would know that the steer belongs to whom? ___________________________

A little further down the trail you come across another steer and as you examine this animal you discover that it is branded with a big "H", and therefore it must belong to Cowboy Hank.  If you were a steer branded with a big "H" on your hide, then you could proudly say, "I know that I belong to Cowboy Hank. He has branded me with his own personal mark of ownership!"

            The believer in Christ has been "branded" or sealed with what (or WHO)–(Ephesians 1:13)? ______________________________________ Who has sealed the believer (2 Corinthians 1:21-22)? _______ Therefore the believer can say, "I know that I belong to _______ because He has S_________________ me with His Holy _______________." In 2 Timothy 2:19 we read: "Nevertheless, the foundation of God standeth sure (solid), having this _________, the ______________ knows them that are __________." He knows those who truly belong to Him! Does the Lord know who His true believers are? ________ Does the Lord know which people He has sealed with the Holy Spirit and which people He has not sealed? _______ As you watch and observe other people, is it possible for you to actually see the Holy Spirit in them? _____ Is the Holy Spirit visible or invisible? ______________ Therefore, is God’s seal visible or invisible? ____________________ The first time you looked in the mirror after you were saved, did you see any great difference in your appearance? _____ Did you see the Holy Spirit living in you? ______ Did you find God’s name written on your forehead as the people described in Revelation 14:1? _______

            Answer TRUE or FALSE:

__________ The believer is sealed with the Holy Spirit, but no one can see this seal except the Lord.
__________ When a sinner is saved his physical appearance changes drastically.
__________ The Lord knows which people have the Holy Spirit in their hearts (compare 1 Samuel 16:7 with 2 Corinthians 1:22).

            Certainly God knows that we belong to Him, but how can other people know that we belong to the Lord? The answer to this question is found in the last part of 2 Timothy 2:19: "Let every one who names the name of Christ depart from ________________________ (unrighteousness)." According to this verse, explain how other people can know that we are truly Christians: _________________________________________________________________________________

            Although people cannot see the Holy Spirit dwelling within us, are they able to see the fruit of the Spirit (Gal. 5:22-23; Eph. 5:9)? _______ How can the world know that we belong to Christ (John 13:35)? _________________________________________________

            Answer TRUE or FALSE:

________ The world can actually see the Holy Spirit in the believer.
________ The world can see the way we live and conduct ourselves and they can see the evidence of the Spirit at work in our lives.
________ The person who truly has the Holy Spirit will want to depart from iniquity and unrighteousness. His desire is to please and obey the Lord.
________ If a person is consistently living in sin and unrighteousness then he is giving evidence that he does not belong to the Lord (compare 1 John 2:29; 3:10).
________ If a person claims to be a Christian then he must be a true believer. If you say you are saved then this means that you really are saved.

            Ephesians 1:14 teaches us that the Holy Spirit is the "_______________ (down payment, pledge) of our inheritance until the _____________________ of the purchased possession." This verse is talking about the believer’s final redemption when the believer will be with the Lord forever and will never again sin. Christ has promised us that someday He will return for His believers (see John 14:2-3; Romans 8:23). As a guarantee that Christ’s promise is true, God the Father has given us His Holy Spirit as an earnest or pledge that someday our salvation will be completed (compare Phil. 1:6). "God has also ______________ us, and given the ________________ (pledge) of the ____________ in our hearts" (2 Cor. 1:22). "God also has _______________ unto us the __________________ (pledge) of the ________________" (2 Cor. 5:5). To understand the word "earnest" just think of an engagement ring. When a young man gives his sweetheart an engagement ring, the ring serves as a pledge or a guarantee that someday he will come to marry the girl who has the ring. He will receive his bride and enter into a wonderful relationship with her. Therefore, the fact that we have the H__________ S_____________ is a guarantee that someday Christ will come to receive His bride (John 14:1-3) and we will be with Him face to face (1 Thess. 4:16-18) in a far greater and closer relationship than we enjoy even now (Phil. 1:21-23; 2 Cor. 5:8; 1 John 3:1-3).

             Please answer TRUE or FALSE:

________ The fact that we have the Holy Spirit now proves that someday our salvation will be complete and we will be with the Lord. All who are sealed will be saved forever!
________ We are sealed with the Holy Spirit until we sin (Eph. 4:30).
________ It is possible for the believer to grieve and sadden the Holy Spirit because of sin in his life (Eph. 4:30).
________ When the believer sins, it is then that the Holy Spirit leaves him and abandons him (Eph. 4:30; John 14:16-17).
________ God the Father has given us the Holy Spirit so that He might abide and live with us forever (John 14:16).
________ If a saved person were to become lost, he would have to become UN-SEALED!
________ For a saved person to become unsaved, the Holy Spirit would have to leave Him.
________ It is possible for a true believer to become un-sealed.
________ If a person claims to be a Christian, then he should show that he is really saved and really sealed by the way he lives (2 Timothy 2:19).


4. The true believer is eternally secure in Christ because it is God’s will that the believer should not be lost but should have eternal life (John 6:37-40).

            True or False: ______________ According to John 6:35, the person who comes to the Lord Jesus is the person who believes in Him. What will Christ never do to the person who comes to Him and believes on Him (John 6:37)? ______________________________   Note: In the Greek, John 6:37 is also a very strong statement. It uses a double negative: "I will never ever throw him out." Read John 6:38-39 and answer True or False:

________ Christ came to this world to do His own will.
________ Christ came to this world to do His Father’s will.
________ The Father’s will was that Christ should lose only a few believers.

            According to John 6:40 and 6:47, God’s will is that everyone who believes on the Lord Jesus Christ should have ____________________________. According to John 6:39,40,44,54, what future promise does the Lord give to those who are true believers? __________________________________________________ Thus, John 6 teaches us that the true believer has eternal life, he will never be cast out by Christ and he will be raised up at the last day! Is the believer in Christ eternally secure? ___________________

Note:  "I will raise him (the true believer) up at the last day" (see John 6:39,40,44,54). This is a reference to the first resurrection which is for believers only. It is a bodily resurrection that is unto LIFE (John 5:29). Only those who are "blessed and holy" can take part in the first resurrection (Rev. 20:6). The second resurrection is for the unsaved only. The unsaved dead will be raised up bodily to stand before Christ at the Great White Throne Judgment described in Revelation 20:11-15. Such persons will end up in the lake of fire which is the second death (Rev. 20:14-15; 21:8). Those who believe in Christ will never be a part of the second resurrection which is called the "resurrection of damnation" (John 5:28-29).


5. The true believer is eternally secure in Christ because Christ has promised never to leave him and never to forsake him (Hebrews 13:5).

            We learn from Hebrews 13:5 that our conversation (manner of life, conduct, the way we live) is to be without __________________________. This means we are to be free from the love of money. We are not to love money or be possessed by our possessions (see 1 Timothy 6:9-11). There is a danger that we can get so wrapped up in material things (possessions, money, etc.) that we forget the Lord.  Our possessions begin to possess us!

            Instead of loving money, we are to be C_______________ (Hebrews 13:5) with the things that we have. Therefore we are to be content and satisfied with what we have ("What I have is ENOUGH!"). As believers what do we have? What do we possess? We have the most precious possession that anyone could ever have because HE (Christ) has said (and He continues to say), "I will never ________________ thee, nor ______________ thee" (Hebrews 13:5). In the Greek this is a very strong statement. Five negatives are used and it could be translated in this way: "I will (1) never (2) ever leave thee, (3) no, I will (4) never (5) ever forsake thee." It is a negative way of saying, "I will positively be with you forever!" Christ will never abandon, desert, forsake or leave those that belong to Him!!

Note: The word "leave" in Hebrews 13:5 is the same word as the word "loosed" in Acts 16:26 (Paul’s chains "left" him). The chain that binds the believer to Christ will never be loosed. We are chained to Him forever. He will never leave us! Nothing shall separate us (Rom. 8:38-39).

            Christ was forsaken by God (Matthew 27:46) so that the believer will never be forsaken by God (Heb. 13:5). Because of this we may boldly say, "The _____________ is my _________________ and I will not F_________" (Hebrews 13:6). "The ______________ is my ___________________ I shall not _____________ (Psalm 23:1: "want" means to lack or be in need). We have Christ! Do we need anything or anyone else? ______ Will He always be with us (Matthew 28:20)? ______ Do we need to fear (Heb. 13:6)? ______ Was this same promise given to Old Testament believers (see Deuteronomy 31:6,8)? _______ If it were possible for a believer to be lost, then Christ would have to leave him and forsake him. Is this possible? _____ God will not abandon His own! No not ever!


6. The true believer is eternally secure in Christ because he is a child of God forever.

            John 1:12 declares that the moment you received the Lord Jesus Christ and believed on His Name you became a _________________ of God (Note: the word "sons" in John 1:12 means "children"). "Behold, what manner of love the _________________ hath bestowed upon us, that we should be called the _________ (children) of _______" (see 1 John 3:1). "Beloved, ______ are we the _________ (children) of _______" (1 John 3:2). According to 1 John 3:10, what are the two groups of people in the world today?
1) _________________________________ 2) ______________________________________ If a person is truly saved, then to what group does he belong? ________________________________ Thus, in order for a saved person to become "UN-SAVED" God would have to say to him: "I now DISOWN you as My child. You are no longer My child and you are no longer a part of My family." Do you think that our Heavenly Father would ever say this to His child? ____

            Let’s think about an earthly, human father. Suppose Mr. Smith has a nine-year-old son named Joey. One day Joey disobeys his father by messing around with his father’s expensive computer and breaking it. He had been told not to even touch it without permission. How do you think Mr. Smith would respond to Joey’s act of disobedience (circle the sentences below that that best describe how you think this father might handle this situation)?

            How would Mr. Smith respond to Joey’s act of disobedience? (Circle the correct answers)

  1. He would be very displeased.
  2. He would stop loving his son.
  3. He would be grieved and saddened that his son would do such a thing (compare Ephesians 4:30).
  4. He would disown his son.
  5. He would tell Joey to go and find another father.
  6. He would expect Joey to come to him and admit that what he had done was wrong (compare 1 John 1:9).
  7. He would throw Joey out of the house, telling him to never come back (compare John 6:37).
  8. He would chasten, discipline, correct and/or spank his disobedient son (Proverbs 13:24; 22:15).

            Read Matthew 7:9-11 carefully. Can we expect our Heavenly Father to be "much more" fair and loving towards His children than an "evil" earthly father? _______ Would an earthly father give his son a rattlesnake for lunch? ______ Would he feed his son rocks? _____ Would a human father disown his son? ______ Would God disown His child? ______

            As God’s children (sons) we are not to despise the ____________________ (discipline, training, correction, "spanking") of the Lord (Hebrews 12:5). Whom does the Lord chasten (Hebrews 12:6)? ________________________________________ True or False: ___________ Every son is chastened by his father and the person who is not chastened is not really his son (Heb. 12:7-8). Thus, the fact that Mr. Smith chastens Joey proves that Joey is his _______. Would Mr. Smith dare spank or discipline his neighbor’s child? _______ The fact that he does not discipline his neighbor’s child proves that his neighbor’s child is not his ___________. Is it enjoyable to be chastened by the Lord (Hebrews 12:11)? ______ And yet we can endure (Hebrews 12:7) the chastening of the Lord because it produces the peaceable ____________ of _________________________ in our lives (Hebrews 12:11).

            In 1 Corinthians 11:31-32 we find two important words (both beginning with the letter "C"): 1) Chastened 2) Condemned. Which of these words describes God’s way of dealing with His children? ________________________ Which of these words describes God’s way of dealing with the world? ________________________   Answer the following True or False:

________ God’s children are chastened by the Lord.
________ God’s children will be condemned by the Lord.
________ The unsaved world is chastened by the Lord.
________ The unsaved world shall be condemned by the Lord.
________ The believer is not under condemnation (Romans 8:1).
________ God is the Father of all men (John 8:44).

            Please answer True or False:

________ God corrects and chastens His children but will never disown them.
________ I thank the Lord that I am a member of God’s family (John 1:12; Eph. 2:19) and I know that He will never cast me out (John 6:37).
________ Because God will never disown me, I might as well live as a disobedient child (1 Peter 1:14).  It pays to disobey.
________ Because I am God’s child, I never want to displease or dishonor (Malachi 1:6) or grieve my Heavenly Father.
________ The parent who spanks and firmly disciplines his child is showing his hatred for that child (Proverbs 13:24).
________ God chastens those whom He hates (Revelation 3:19).

            In the next chapter we will study four more reasons why the true believer is safe and secure in Christ FOREVER!


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