First of all, let us establish a very important point regarding Biblical exegesis. The "unclear" passages in the New Testament should always be interpreted in light of the crystal clear passages. For example when Paul sites passaged that seem to indicate we don't have eternal life (unending) then we need to realise this cannot be what Paul actually means, for Paul himself crystal clearly asserts in the eternal life of the believer as do the gospels. So now we turn to what is arguably the best proof text in the whole of the NT regarding the eternal security of the believer; OSAS (Once Saved Always Saved).
John 10:27-30 (KJV):
27 My sheep hear my voice, and I know them, and they follow me:
28 And I give unto them eternal life; and they shall never perish, neither shall any man pluck them out of my hand.
29 My Father, which gave them me, is greater than all; and no man is able to pluck them out of my Father's hand.
30 I and my Father are one.
Anyone reading this text as it is comes to only one conclusion; we sure are safe! Lets break it down verse by verse. Starting with verse 27.
Verse 27
Jesus here asserts that those who are the sheep are those that hear Jesus and they follow him. The Calvinist loves this verse because they assert that "See! You have to follow Jesus, that is continue to follow him to have everlasting life". This I admit could be a sound reading of verse 27, however it all hangs on this ideas of Calvinists that God from eternity past decided who was going to be saved, this is the Calvinist doctrine of unconditional election. The flip side of this doctrine of Calvinism is that those who God didn't elect are those doomed to hell from the very start, this sits uncomfortably with many clear passages of scripture! So we can forget the doctrine of unconditional election for this blog post, it will be dealt with another time on my blog.
So what about the 5 point Arminians? Well they seem to have a leg to stand on at first, until you read all surrounding verses rather than just one in isolation. You see the Arminian can shout "You see! You have to follow Jesus (continually) in order to receive eternal life." But think about this for a second, this is how the 5 point Arminian logic goes when it comes to this text:
- We continue to believe and receive eternal life.
- So once we believe we are in a sense "continuing" to believe, this is how we receive eternal life.
- When we stop believing we stop receiving eternal life.
Now looking at those 3 point above the 5 point Arminian can assert "exactly!", but the problem is that the life you had whilst you "continued to believe" was not really eternal was it? For it had an end point. It ignores the fact that eternal life is eternal, it does not end!
So straight away we can see that the 5 point Arminian and the 5 point Calvinist interpretations cannot be correct, the latter due to the fact all points are inherently unbiblical, but Calvinism is far too large to address here. We can clearly see my fellow Arminians who actually believe the 5th point of Arminianism are wrong. But don't take my word for it, take the Saviours who clearly asserts that eternal life is NOT how the 5 point Arminian understands it, it is not a "continuing to be saved though continuing belief":
John 4:10-15 (NIV)
10 Jesus answered her, “If you knew the gift of God and who it is that asks you for a drink, you would have asked him and he would have given you living water.”
11 “Sir,” the woman said, “you have nothing to draw with and the well is deep. Where can you get this living water? 12 Are you greater than our father Jacob, who gave us the well and drank from it himself, as did also his sons and his livestock?”
13 Jesus answered, “Everyone who drinks this water will be thirsty again, 14 but whoever drinks the water I give them will never thirst. Indeed, the water I give them will become in them a spring of water welling up to eternal life.”
15 The woman said to him, “Sir, give me this water so that I won’t get thirsty and have to keep coming here to draw water.”
What is this passage teaching? Simply this:
- Jesus talks about living water that He provides.
- The woman asks where she can receive this.
- Jesus goes onto say that whoever drinks natural water (that you and I drink) will become thirsty again. He then creates a direct contrast saying whoever drinks the water Jesus provides never actually becomes thirsty again. In other words; they won't have to keep drinking for they will never thirst again.
- Jesus explains this with a welling up (eternal life), a person takes one drink and they will never thirst again. The well of eternal life inside them has now sprang up, they won't need to come back to drink.
So what's the problem for the 5 point Arminian? Well they clearly have to pretend that The Lord never actually spoke these words! For they claim you can be:
- Saved and then through unfaithful behaviour (and some add habitual sin) can become "unsaved", that is to say; lose one's salvation.
- One must be "born-again" yet again.
Jesus says in this passage that the person shall never thirst again, the 5 point Arminian says that they will indeed thirst again and will need to come back to drink once again. This is not what Jesus is saying.
Therefore the correct view is this; Jesus sheep hear him and they trust in him for eternal life and they instantaneously receive it as the passage in John 4 shows, they then possess eternal life for eternity. Thats what eternal life means!
Verse 28
Could the verse be any clearer? The Calvinists from this point onwards agree with everything that I will have to say (generally), it is just the interpretation of verse 27 where myself and my fellow brother and sister Calvinists part into separate directions. However the Calvinists and eternal securest Arminians (like myself) will no doubt unite in dispelling the false belief of 5 point Arminians, which is what I will be doing here in this section. Jesus says:
- He gives us eternal life (unending).
- We shall never perish (never perish spiritually)
- No one shall ever pluck us out of His hand (we cannot be plucked from his hand).
It is a clear cut 3 fold assertion from the Lord. So what does the Arminian do? Well if you're anything like well known heretical teacher (on this issue) David Pawson then its fairly easy what you do. You ignore the first 2 points, I have actually caught him doing this on a YouTube video regarding his address of "Once Saved Always Saved?". He says something along the lines of that we cannot be plucked out of God's hand but we can freely leave his hand. This is something I have heard quite commonly, presumably such individuals have learnt it from Pawson, or Pawson has learnt it from someone else. Problem is that of the 3 fold truths that are held in verse 28 he ignores the first 2 and skips to the last, but I wonder if he realises what he has done? He has denied that:
- Eternal means everlasting.
- We cannot perish.
Lets say for a moment that Pawson and his ilk could be right, that we could voluntary jump out of the Fathers hand (as Pawson asserts). Well they are left to refute the above 2 points that we can lose something everlasting and that we can perish. The text does not support such an assertion. So what is a better understanding of the term that we cannot be plucked from God's hand? Literally what it says! No one, that means you and all other people cannot jump out or be plucked from God's hand. For if we could we would perish and loose everlasting life, something the text speaks solidly against!
Verse 29
The text here asserts something clear, the Father is greater than all, and that no man is able to pluck himself or someone else from the fathers hand. So what does the 5 point Arminian do? Well they assert, perhaps unwittingly that:
- They are greater than the Father!
- That when the text says that "no man" does not mean himself/herself. It only means other people.
But is that what the text says? Well obviously not! Go back and read verse 29 for yourself and listen to what the text is saying. It is saying that the Father is greater than all, and for someone to be taken from the Fathers hand they need to be greater than the father. Who is greater than the father? Are you or I, or anyone else greater than the Father? No, perish (ho-ho) the thought.
So what does the 5 point Arminian have to assert here? Well I have already stated above, that they have to say ultimately that they as a limited and time bound human being are greater than the Father and that when the text says "no man" it does not include themselves. Whilst at the same time denying all the points of verse 28.
What Does Eternal Mean Anyway?
Simply using Google translate to translate the word and its meanings in English reveals what it actually means:
- Lasting or existing forever; without end or beginning.
- (of truths, values, or questions) Valid for all time; essentially unchanging.
These are the English definitions of the word "eternal", however we do need to understand what the Greek definitions of the word actually means! This is vitally important as the New Testament was written in Greek, it was not written in English.
Go to the Online Greek Bible and look up John 10:28 and then click on the word "αἰώνιος" which is the Greek word used here that we translate as "eternal". It brings up a definition of what the word actually does mean. Here is the definition taken straight from the website:
αἰώνιος,a \{ahee-o'-nee-os}
- without beginning and end, that which always has been and always will be
- without beginning
- without end, never to cease, everlasting
So we can see here we have 3 different definitions of the word. To understand which one is relevant to the text we need to consider the context of the passage itself. Definition 1 cannot be correct, why? Well because eternal life has a beginning, you receive it upon believing in Jesus. You did not have this eternal life before you believed, in essence; it has a beginning. Based upon this we can also dispel definition 2 given, as I have already stated that given the context of the passage we are given eternal life when we respond to God and accept the eternal life that He gives. So our eternal life has a beginning. So we are left with the final definition of the word eternal (3), that it is without end, never to cease, it is everlasting. This is the correct definition for the following reasons:
- Eternal life has a beginning, it begins the moment we believe. We did not have it "without beginning".
- Everlasting means that once we receive it (with beginning - when we are saved) then it does not end.
- This is why many call it "everlasting life", as its more clear. It had a beginning but it does not have an end.
Note that in all the definitions of the word in the Greek not one of the three possible definitions ever has the suggestion that "eternal" can mean "with end" at absolutely any point. Two definitions stage that eternal can mean "without beginning" (how God is eternal), however both of these definitions never state that the word eternal means "with end". The reason? Eternal is never defined in the Greek as allowing for an "end". The context of the passage is clear, the definition of the Greek word "αἰώνιος" used in this passage is that of "everlasting", that is "without end", "never to cease", and "everlasting".
The 5 point Arminian reading this post may try to escape this problem by taking definition 2 which says "without beginning" and note that it does not say "without end". Well no, because that would be the exact same as the first definition given! But lets say it could mean "with end", then we need to turn to the context of the passage that states we shall "never perish". The context makes it crystal clear that definition 2 cannot be held because eternal life does in fact have a beginning and the context of the passage makes it clear that it will not end.
Conclusion
So what can we conclude from this wonderful passage of truth from the gospel of John? Well its simple; we have everlasting life without end.- God gives us eternal life.
- We shall never perish.
- No one (including yourself) can pluck yourself from the Fathers hand.
- You would have to be greater than the Father in order to pluck yourself from the Fathers hand.
So here are both texts used here in this blog post in the 5 point Arminian translation. First is John 10:27-30
John 10:27-30 (5 point ARMINIAN):
27 My sheep hear my voice, and I know them, and they continue to always follow me:
28 And I give unto them temporal life; and they shall perish if they are faithless, no man can pluck them from my hand, unless its you, then you can pluck yourself out of my hand,
29 My Father, which gave them me, is greater than all, but I am greater than the Father so I can jump out of his hand; and no man apart from himself is able to pluck them out of my Father's hand.
30 I and my Father are one.
Next is John 4:10-15, this one is good. Once again its 5 point Arminian translation:
John 4:10-15 (5 point ARMINIAN)
10 Jesus answered her, “If you knew the gift of God and who it is that asks you for a drink, you would have asked him and he would have given you living water.”
11 “Sir,” the woman said, “you have nothing to draw with and the well is deep. Where can you get this living water? 12 Are you greater than our father Jacob, who gave us the well and drank from it himself, as did also his sons and his livestock?”
13 Jesus answered, “Everyone who drinks this water will be thirsty again, 14 but whoever drinks the water I give them will actually thirst again if he is faithless and needs to come back to take another drink. Indeed, the water I give them will become in them a spring of water welling up to temporal life, until he needs to come back for another drink.”
15 The woman said to him, “Sir, give me this water so that I won’t get thirsty again until I need to come back here again when I become thirsty again.”
The above are obviously not passages taken from the scriptures!
So if you want to be unsaved or lose your salvation I have some bad news, unless you are holding to the brand new 5 point Arminian scriptures you cannot lose or forfeit eternal life. Like you would want to anyway, praise God for your own salvation secure forever.
Blessings in Jesus name,
Andrew (an ex-conditional securest)
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