John 6 and Eternal Security

John 6 and Eternal Security

By Reese Currie, Compass Distributors

I was reading a book recently entitled Eternal Security, written by Charles Stanley, a television minister and former president of the Southern Baptist Convention. I am personally a member of a Southern Baptist Convention church (in the Canadian Convention of Southern Baptists) and I am about as Baptist as you can get. This does not stop me from disagreeing with Stanley’s views.

I noted two central flaws in Mr. Stanley’s book. First, the teaching on salvation was disturbingly weak. Repentance is not mentioned at all, and faith is represented as a blind leap rather than as being utterly convinced of the truth of the gospel message.

Without the preaching of repentance there is really no point in preaching. In Luke 24:45-47, Jesus commissioned the church to preach a very specific message. "Then he opened their minds, that they might understand the Scriptures. He said to them, ‘Thus it is written, and thus it was necessary for the Christ to suffer and to rise from the dead the third day, and that repentance and remission of sins should be preached in his name to all the nations, beginning at Jerusalem.’"

If you do not preach the message of repentance and remission of sins, then you are operating without Christ’s commission. I don’t know whose commission you would have, but if it isn’t Christ’s commission, I know I don’t want it.

Further, Mr. Stanley claims that a believer can stop believing and still be saved. In light of such incredibly false teaching, I have a new understanding why people such as Jimmy Swaggart refer to eternal security as a "damnable heresy." Presented the way Stanley presents it, eternal security would indeed be a heresy. It is important to note, though, that Stanley’s heresy has nothing to do with the way eternal security has been presented in the past.

Stanley’s heresy is certainly not the teaching of the Southern Baptist Convention. The SBC’s statement of faith, the Baptist Faith and Message, says on the subject, "All true believers endure to the end. Those whom God has accepted in Christ, and sanctified by His Spirit, will never fall away from the State of grace, but shall persevere to the end. Believers may fall into sin through neglect and temptation, whereby they grieve the Spirit, impair their graces and comforts, bring reproach on the cause of Christ, and temporal judgments on themselves, yet they shall be kept by the power of God through faith unto salvation." So in taking Stanley’s teachings to task, I intend no disparagement of the SBC, which is teaching the truth on the matter. I do not ask you to believe it because the SBC teaches it, but I will show that the Bible states the same thing.

Perhaps there are two different teachings, and I should not say I believe in "eternal security" but I do believe in "perseverance of the saints." I had always thought that "eternal security" was a dumbed-down way of saying the same thing but in light of Stanley’s teachings, perhaps I was wrong.

The historical doctrine of "perseverance of the saints" does not teach that a person may stop believing in Christ and remain saved, it teaches that a person who truly believes in Christ cannot stop believing in Christ. This doctrine of perseverance of the saints is found in Scripture, but Stanley’s belief is not.

The entire teaching on the eternal security of the believer (as I see it) can be found by reading John 6:22-66. I have quoted from the World English Bible due to its great readability, accuracy, and its non-copyrighted status. I will be interspersing my own notes to explain my position and I will be bringing quotations from the Analytical-Literal Translation where a more literal translation is necessary to achieve the full effect of the underlying Greek.

People read John 6 all the time and do not see the very strong teaching on eternal security. Most arguments in favor of eternal security are based on Paul’s epistles, but I find it nowhere more strongly represented than here in Jesus Christ’s own words.

6:22 On the next day, the multitude that stood on the other side of the sea saw that there was no other boat there, except the one in which his disciples had embarked, and that Jesus hadn't entered with his disciples into the boat, but his disciples went away alone. 6:23 However boats from Tiberias came near to the place where they ate the bread after the Lord had given thanks. 6:24 When the multitude therefore saw that Jesus wasn't there, nor his disciples, they themselves got into the boats, and came to Capernaum, seeking Jesus. 6:25 When they found him on the other side of the sea, they asked him, "Rabbi, when did you come here?" 6:26 Jesus answered them, "Most assuredly I tell you, you seek me, not because you saw signs, but because you ate of the loaves, and were filled. 6:27 Don't work for the food which perishes, but for the food which remains to eternal life, which the Son of Man will give to you. For God the Father has sealed him." 6:28 They said therefore to him, "What must we do, that we may work the works of God?" 6:29 Jesus answered them, "This is the work of God, that you believe in him whom he has sent."

NOTE: We see something very interesting here in John 6:28,29. The people want to work their way to their salvation by "working the works of God." Jesus immediately shows them that the work of God is no more than to believe in Jesus Christ. As we will see in the next verses, however, even this work proved too difficult for the multitudes. Indeed, to rest in Christ’s finished work requires more faith than trying to work your own way to salvation.

6:30 They said therefore to him, "What then do you do for a sign, that we may see, and believe you? What work do you do? 6:31 Our fathers ate the manna in the wilderness. As it is written, 'He gave them bread out of heaven to eat.'" 6:32 Jesus therefore said to them, "Most assuredly, I tell you, it wasn't Moses who gave you the bread out of heaven, but my Father gives you the true bread out of heaven. 6:33 For the bread of God is that which comes down out of heaven, and gives life to the world." 6:34 They said therefore to him, "Lord, always give us this bread." 6:35 Jesus said to them. "I am the bread of life. He who comes to me will not be hungry, and he who believes in me will never be thirsty. 6:36 But I told you that you have seen me, and yet don't believe. 6:37 All those who the Father gives me will come to me. Him who comes to me I will in no way throw out.

NOTE: John 6:37 encapsulates the whole doctrine of belief in Christ and eternal security in a single verse. I feel moved to comment on both aspects, which goes a little beyond the discussion of eternal security at hand; please bear with me. I feel that believing in eternal security enhances the quality of our Christian walk, but knowing the right Jesus is essential to walking with Him at all, and so to interject a brief discussion on this topic is very important.

People have written me recently asking me how I can categorically say that no Mormons or Jehovah’s Witnesses are Christians. Aren’t they seeking God? Well, this verse tell us all those that the Father gives to Jesus will come to the real Jesus, not their own twisted concept of Jesus.

What did Jesus say? He said, "All those who the Father gives me will come to me." How do you define the word "me" in reference to yourself? Let me give you a brief illustration. I am a man. If someone comes to me, they recognize that they are coming to Reese Currie, a man. If someone comes to Reese Currie the dog, or Reese Currie the horse, they are not coming to me. If they come to Reese Currie the woman, they’re closer, but they are still not coming to me. So when a Mormon comes to the created, exalted man Jesus, they are not coming to the eternal Son of God, Jesus. When a Jehovah’s Witness comes to the created angel Jesus, they do not come to the eternal Son of God, Jesus. When a "Jesus-Only" Pentecostal (not to be confused with the majority of Pentecostals who are Trinitarians) comes to the Jesus that switches modes between Father, Son and Holy Spirit, they do not come to Jesus, the eternal Son of God. People in these organizations need to repent of seeking their own concept of God and seek God as He really is. There is a popular hymn called "Just As I Am," but a more theologically appropriate number would be entitled, "Just As He Is."

John’s second epistle is wholly devoted to dispelling the heresy of Gnosticism. Gnosticism held that Jesus was indeed God’s Son, but that He did not come here as flesh and blood but was in spiritual form the whole time and the body was just an illusion. People who held that belief had not come to the real Jesus (who had a real body of flesh and blood) and were therefore going to hell. The Gnostic heresy didn’t question Christ’s essential identity as God’s eternal Son, but it was severe enough an error to invalidate their faith. The false concept of Jesus in Mormon and Witness theology is far more severe than Gnosticism because it denies the very identity of Christ as God’s eternal Son.

Therefore, I do not understand why today’s Christians deny the Bible by saying Mormons or Witnesses could possibly be Christians. I think it is because most Christians are man-pleasers rather than God-pleasers, and don’t desire the conflict of telling people openly that they lack saving faith in the real Jesus Christ. It would be too uncomfortable to take action and tell the truth about Jesus Christ. It is too bad more Christians refuse to follow John’s example. It is astonishing that those who follow John’s example are accused of being unloving by fellow Christians, when telling someone about Jesus is about the most loving act a human can perform.

I used to hold Jehovah’s Witness beliefs, and I can assure you I was by no means a believer in the real Jesus Christ at that time. I am insulted that any Christian would feel I was "close enough" and not even bother trying to bring me to the real Jesus Christ. Fortunately a Christian did witness to me as a part of God bringing me to saving faith in the real Jesus Christ.

From this verse we also must understand that all who can know who Jesus really is must be led by the Father to this belief, and those led by the Father will invariably come to faith in the real Jesus Christ. The Father leads people through His servants, the church, although if necessary He can lead in other ways. In Revelation, we learn that the Father will work through circumstances and even send angels to preach the Word when necessary. When this verse says "all those the Father gives me will come to me," it means "all!"

When someone comes to Jesus, Jesus will "no way throw out" that person. A preacher who claims otherwise is saying more about himself and his own lack of faith than he says about Jesus Christ. When a preacher says Jesus will throw out those the Father gives him, he is first saying that Jesus Christ is a liar. Second, he is saying the Bible is untrue. Finally, he insults Christ by saying that Christ has the same kind of character as humans. That’s about the most grievous insult toward Christ I can imagine, and perhaps the most Biblically ignorant statement a preacher could ever make.

Salvation is a gift of God, and in Romans 11:29, Paul writes, "For the gifts and the calling of God are irrevocable." To say that Jesus will throw out those God the Father has gifted with salvation by bringing them to Jesus the Son is to say that God’s gifts are revocable, and it reflects disbelief in the Bible and distrust of God. I’m not saying that they are out-and-out unbelievers; as long as you believe in the real Jesus Christ, you’re a believer. But they have been blinded to what the Bible is telling them on this.

6:38 For I have come down from heaven, not to do my own will, but the will of him who sent me. 6:39 This is the will of my Father who sent me, that of all he has given to me I should lose nothing, but should raise him up at the last day. 6:40 This is the will of the one who sent me, that everyone who sees the Son, and believes in him, should have eternal life; and I will raise him up at the last day."

NOTE: At this point it is important to understand that there are two sets of listeners present. The people following Christ (His disciples) do not take issue with Christ’s saying He has come down from heaven – only the Jews, who are not following Christ, take exception to this part. It is important to note at this point that the term disciple only means a student following Christ physically; it does not necessarily imply belief or that they are following Christ spiritually. Judas Iscariot was a disciple and an apostle, but Jesus knew all along that he was not a believer.

The Bible text uses a clear demarcation between the two groups: The disciples are referred to as "disciples" and the non-disciples are referred to as the Jews. The terms are mutually exclusive in the narrative portion of the text: the word Jew never applies to disciples in the narrative (although the disciples were also Jews).

6:41 The Jews therefore murmured concerning him, because he said, "I am the bread which came down out of heaven." 6:42 They said, "Isn't this Jesus, the son of Joseph, whose father and mother we know? How then does he say, 'I have come down out of heaven?'" 6:43 Therefore Jesus answered them, "Don't murmur among yourselves. 6:44 No one can come to me unless the Father who sent me draws him, and I will raise him up in the last day. 6:45 It is written in the prophets, 'They will all be taught by God.' Therefore everyone who hears from the Father, and has learned, comes to me. 6:46 Not that anyone has seen the Father, except he who is from God. He has seen the Father. 6:47 Most assuredly, I tell you, he who believes in me has eternal life.

NOTE: In John 6:44, Jesus says with certainty that no one can come to Him unless the Father draws him, and there is no "maybe" about it – Jesus will raise him up at the last day. In John 6:47, it is important to note the full significance of the word "has", in "he who believes in me has eternal life." Eternal life comes to us when we believe in Jesus Christ. We have it now, not at a future point. The Greek tenses here would even justify the paraphrase, "he who believes in me already has eternal life." The Analytical-Literal Translation gives us the most accurate rendering of all, ""Most positively, I say to you*, the one believing in Me is having life eternal" (ALT).

6:48 I am the bread of life. 6:49 Your fathers ate the manna in the wilderness, and they died. 6:50 This is the bread which comes down out of heaven, that anyone may eat of it and not die. 6:51 I am the living bread which came down out of heaven. If anyone eats of this bread, he will live forever. Yes, the bread which I will give is my flesh, for the life of the world." 6:52 The Jews therefore contended with one another, saying, "How can this man give us his flesh to eat?" 6:53 Jesus therefore said to them, "Most assuredly I tell you, unless you eat the flesh of the Son of Man and drink his blood, you don't have life in yourselves. 6:54 He who eats my flesh and drinks my blood has eternal life, and I will raise him up at the last day. 6:55 For my flesh is food indeed, and my blood is drink indeed. 6:56 He who eats my flesh and drinks my blood lives in me, and I in him.

NOTE: Verse 56 proves the doctrine of "perseverance of the saints," but we need to look at a more literal translation of this verse to really bring out the truth of it. In the Analytical-Literal Translation, John 6:56 reads, "The one eating My flesh and drinking My blood is remaining in Me, and I in him" (ALT). Any who truly believe in Jesus remain in Christ, and He remains in them. Jesus doesn’t move out and we don’t move out. So, contrary to Charles Stanley’s writings, if they do not remain in Christ, it is because they have not believed.

6:57 As the living Father sent me, and I live because of the Father; so he who feeds on me, he will also live because of me. 6:58 This is the bread which came down out of heaven -- not as our fathers ate the manna, and died. He who eats this bread will live forever." 6:59 These things he said in the synagogue, as he taught in Capernaum. 6:60 Therefore many of his disciples, when they heard this, said, "This is a hard saying! Who can hear it?"

NOTE: This is critically important to understanding these verses. These disciples were not objecting only to Jesus’ statement that He had come down from heaven. They were objecting also to the notion that their salvation was eternally secure based on the work of Jesus alone, having nothing to do with their own work, because they insisted on having a part in their own salvation.

The disciples’ problem should not be lumped in with the problem of the Jews. The Jews were caught up with the notion that Jesus had come down from heaven, but only the disciples recognized that their own works then meant nothing. That the disciples had taken issue with eternal security can be verified by studying very carefully the response of our Lord. First He addresses the fact that He came down from heaven, but then He addresses the fact that the spirit gives life, not the flesh.

6:61 But Jesus knowing in himself that his disciples murmured at this, said to them, "Does this cause you to stumble? 6:62 Then what if you would see the Son of Man ascending to where he was before? 6:63 It is the spirit who gives life. The flesh profits nothing. The words that I speak to you are spirit, and are life.

NOTE: John 6:63 directly answers their belief that their own works need to be a part of their salvation. They do not! There were two problems addressed here, two separate and distinct problems. First Jesus addressed the problem of His coming down from heaven. But after a brief statement on that, Jesus moves on to the eternal security of salvation.

6:64 But there are some of you who don't believe." For Jesus knew from the beginning who they were who didn't believe, and who it was who would betray him. 6:65 He said, "For this cause have I said to you that no one can come to me, unless it is given to him by my Father." 6:66 At this, many of his disciples went back, and walked no more with him.

NOTE: In Verse 64, Jesus encapsulates the whole teaching of the preceding verses. Those who do not believe Jesus Christ came down from heaven are unbelievers. As such, the offer of eternal security discussed in John 6:63 is unavailable to them.

In verse 65, Jesus Christ explains why we have this eternal security: People cannot come to Jesus unless the Father brings them. The Father knows who will believe and who will not, and only brings the ones who will believe. The Father would have to be in error to not know who would believe, which is impossible.

Why did many of His disciples turn away and desert Jesus? Jesus Himself already answered the question in verse 64. They did not believe and then stop believing. They simply did not believe in the first place. A person who believes will be upheld in his faith, his faith will be preserved. This is not so for a person who does not believe.

John 6:66 from the Analytical-Literal Translation casts even more light on the severity of their rejection of Christ. "From this [time] many went away of His disciples to the things behind and were no more walking about with Him" (ALT). The disciples who left "went away to the things behind." That brings to mind Jesus’ statement from Luke 9:62, "But Jesus said to him, ‘No one, having put his hand to the plow, and looking back, is fit for the Kingdom of God.’" This statement is related additionally to the Old Testament incident involving Lot’s wife, from Genesis 19:26, "But his wife looked back from behind him, and she became a pillar of salt."

In light of that, it is necessary to comment that Charles Stanley’s concept of eternal security is a serious heresy. Stanley says that those who "stop believing" will still be saved. First, we know it is impossible to stop believing from John 6:56. Next, we have corroborating statements from John 6:66 and Luke 9:62 that these people are not entering the Kingdom of God. It is not because they believed and stopped; it is because they never believed at all.

The conclusion of all these teachings in summary: 1) God calls all people who will believe. 2) All who God calls will come to believe in Christ personally. 3) Christ will in no way cast those people out. 4) Those who believe will remain in Christ forever, and He will remain in them. They can never stop believing. (This is referred to alternately as "eternal security" or "perseverance of the saints." I am beginning to think "perseverance of the saints" is a much more precise and accurate term.) 5) Those who do not truly believe do not have this offer of eternal security, and that is why those who "fall away" do so because they have not truly believed.

Scripture taken from the World English Bible.

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