Position Paper:
The security of a believer

The elders of Front Range Alliance Church affirm the Bible’s teaching that the one who has been born of God by the regenerating work of the Holy Spirit will be kept secure by God throughout all eternity. The Scriptures make it very plain that those who are born from above will never perish and that no being, including the regenerate individual himself, will be able to take them from either the Son’s or the Father’s hand (John 3:3-21, 10:27-29, 17:1-12; Romans 8:28-39; Philippians 1:6).

The Scriptures also teach that those who are secure in Christ will demonstrate the reality of their salvation through the bearing of spiritual fruit and persevering in the faith until the end of their lives. Those who depart from their original profession of faith and do not repent and seek restoration demonstrate that they were never truly born of God. They, in essence, merely professed the truth of the gospel, but did not possess it (Matthew 7:15-23, 13:1-23; Hebrews 3:7-14; I John 2:4-6, 18-19).

Furthermore, those who do persevere do so by divine enabling which Christ provides and guarantees through His substitutionary death and his continuous intercession at the Father’s right hand. The believer is not left to persevere on the basis of his or her own will or strength, it is done entirely by grace through faith (I Corinthians 1:4-9; Ephesians 2:8-10; Philippians 1:6, 2:12-13).

These truths regarding the believer’s eternal security are designed to serve as a tremendous encouragement and blessing to the believer in the midst of the intense spiritual battle which he or she remains involved with in this life. It also provides the foundation and motivation for our walk of obedience to Christ. It should never be used as a justification for sin though we fully acknowledge that the believer will never be perfect in this life nor totally free of sin.

The assurance of salvation, and the security which it guarantees, is found in the Word of God, in the internal witness of the Holy Spirit and the enabling of the Holy Spirit in putting to death the deeds of the flesh (I John 5:11-13, Romans 8:12-17).