Do Arminians believe the saving message?
Someone asked that question in light of their denial of the doctrine of eternal security. Actually, some Arminians even say that eternal security is positively evil (see here)!
What is the saving message? It is Jesus’ promise of eternal life.
And this is the promise that He has promised us—eternal life (1 John 2:25).
You can think of that promise in terms of a condition and a consequence.
- The condition is a single act of believing that the promise of life is true.
- The consequence is eternal life as a present possession that cannot be lost.
You need both A and B to have the promise of life. If you deny either, you deny the promise.
Given that, do Arminians believe the saving message if they reject eternal security?
No.
Arminians explicitly deny B. They teach you can lose your eternal life. They also often deny that eternal life is a present possession. Instead, they believe it is a future goal that you can hit or miss (i.e., “final salvation”). Hence, Arminians do not believe the consequence of the promise of life.
Arminians also implicitly deny A. How so? By denying eternal security. They say you can lose your eternal life by sinning, by not doing good, or by not persevering in the faith. In other words, because they deny eternal security, Arminians say it is not enough to simply believe. You need to do other things to be born again or to stay born-again. Hence, they deny the condition of the promise of life.
By denying both A and B, it is clear to me that Arminianism, as a school theology, denies the saving message. While they may believe many true things about Jesus, they do not believe His promise of eternal life.
This raises a related issue: is eternal security essential to the saving message? I think it is. That is what Grace Evangelical Society holds. So do many Southern Baptists. But not everyone agrees, even among Free Grace people.
Some say that eternal security is a benefit that believers get without having to know about it or believing in it. They note there are nearly forty positional benefits that believers get at the moment of faith (e.g., a new creation, foreknown, qualified for inheritance, adopted, appointed a priest, etc.). You do not need to understand or to believe all those benefits to be saved, including the benefit of eternal security.
I disagree. Eternal security is different. It’s not just a side-benefit but part of the saving message itself, as I demonstrated above. It is essential to both the condition and the consequence of what Jesus promised.
You can be ignorant about the priesthood of all believers and still believe the promise.
You can be fuzzy about your life on the new earth, yet know that Jesus gives you eternal life through faith.
You can be clueless about your spiritual gift and know that salvation is by faith alone, in Christ alone.
But can you deny eternal security and still believe the promise?
No, you can’t, for all the reasons I mentioned above. Eternal security is central to the saving message. It is essential to both the condition and the consequence of the promise of life. If you deny it, you deny the salvation that God offers.
If any Arminian reads this, I pray they would read what Jesus promised about eternal life and believe what He said.
Keith Melton
He who has the Son has the life; he who does not have the Son of God does not have the life.
These things I have written to you who believe in the name of the Son of God, so that you may know that you have eternal life.
Brady
It never occurred to me that Arminians and any one else who believes in some kind of final salvation, do not actually believe that eternal life or “life” begins at the moment you believe. That is shocking to me because the NT makes it very clear that once you believe you have passed from death to life and are no longer under judgement. “I tell you the truth, those who listen to my message and believe in God who sent me have eternal life. They will never be condemned for their sins, but they have already passed from death into life.” John 5:24 – You can’t interpret this any other way.
Buddy Smith
Very thought provoking. Solid argumentation as well. Definitely will be thinking it over.
Lee Presley
Eternal security puts the “Good” in good news, period!
Apart from the promise of eternal life, what else does the Christian have to offer a lost and hopeless world?!
Eternal security in Christ IS the Gospel! An irrevocable promise to all who believe!
Praise the Lord Jesus who has secured our salvation by His blood and raised us up through the power of His resurrection from the dead – and reconciled us to the Father forever and ever Amen!
Erin
AMEN and AMEN Brother Shawn! Thank you for this article! You and Bob Wilkin and everyone else at Grace Evangelical Society are very precious souls and I care for you all, we are family in the Lord Jesus Christ. This article is very important. I have some friends who are saved also and they defend eternal security very strongly and rightfully…but…they are convinced that when I tell people that to believe in Jesus Christ for ETERNAL life that can NEVER perish, that I am “making a big deal on a side issue” and that I am making it so that a person has to believe strong doctrine before they can be saved. I love how you lay it out from the word of God, that eternal security IS the promise of the Gospel. I know that when I believed in/on the Lord Jesus Christ alone for eternal life when I got saved, I did trust in Him for eternal life, eternal salvation, not for temporary salvation. Please keep up the great work in encouraging and showing us these wonderful Bible truths!
The King's Lady
Eternal security IS THE PROMISE!
J.D. Partain
Not sure that I would label myself as strictly “Arminian” though I come from that heritage. Your blog tries to create an argumentation that seems solid, but is full of assumption. I believe in both A and B! …and yet, knowing that there is nothing that can remove the promise of eternal security (an enormous comfort!) God has granted us the ability to choose whether or not to give back such a gift. Hebrews 10:26-31 speaks to this, and the resultant judgment to follow, should anyone who has already begun a journey of sanctification (acceptance of both A and B), return to a life of “sinning willfully”. I fail to see how this “Arminian” view betrays a saving faith? Despite your arguments, the eternal security stance as you have described is not a detrimental component to a saving faith. On the other hand, in the sense that there does remain a security of the reward given us – should we continually choose to keep it – we rejoice and have tremendous peace! My prayer is that you can understand my position, but I humbly accept argument that shows fallacies to it. Blessings to your work!
Austin
Not saying it is right or wrong, but here is someone else’s opinion within the Free Grace Community.
http://chafer.nextmeta.com/files/v13n1_3anderson_is_belief_in.pdf