The question of whether the Bible teaches eternal security or that believers are “once saved always saved” is not uncommon at all. We might recall Nicodemus—a brilliantly educated Jewish leader—asking Jesus how things related to the new birth and salvation could actually be.1 In a sense, Jesus’s answers were so simple that they seemed to throw Nicodemus for a bit of a loop. But Jesus’s teaching in John 3 is very clear.2
“The questions raised by these passages are important and require answers. At worst, a misunderstanding can engender an obsessive or fearful introspection that risks damaging our relationship with our heavenly Father.” - TGC
How is a person justified before God? That was the question that ignited the Reformation. Beyond that foundational question, theologians have debated additional questions, such as “What is the importance of justification in relation to the other benefits of salvation?” and “Where does justification fit logically in relation to saving faith?”
To answer these questions about justification, we must first explore the exact nature of justification. Theologians have held two main positions: infusion and imputation.
At the time of the Reformation, Catholics and Protestants differed greatly in their understanding of justification and grace. The Catholic position defined justification to include all of the benefits of salvation, making it a process. Grace was understood as a God-given ability to do good works which was infused into the person. This Catholic view is sometimes described by the words, “Christ IN us.”
“”Eternal security is one secondary issue—an issue which sincere followers of Christ debate—that has presented significant challenges for many congregants in the pews.” - P&D
“The opposite of election is reprobation, sometimes called double predestination. This is the belief that God not only predetermines those who will be saved but also predetermines those who will not be saved. Admittedly, this is a hard doctrine.” - Kevin DeYoung
“the true gospel is not complimentary. It is not admiring or flattering. Rather, it describes humanity in all our sinfulness and depravity, all our hopelessness and lostness.” - Challies
“Occasionally, some well-meaning Baptists have asserted that belief in both the active and passive obedience of Christ as the ground of our justification is something foreign to Baptist life… is this understanding of the active obedience of Christ something new to Baptist life or is it rather something that many Baptists have affirmed from the early decades of Baptist history?” - DBTS Bl
“Phil Cecil talks with Dr Mark Snoeberger and Dr Ryan Meyer about the Active Obedience of Christ. Some today hold that such a doctrine is unbiblical. They might even say that true Dispensationalists cannot be for the Active Obedience of Christ as imputed righteousness to the redeemed.” - DBTS Podcast
2 Cor. 3:18 “is describing our experience now. We are being transformed. Not just in the sweet by-and-by but in the sour here and now. Progression, by degrees, from glory to glory. That sure sounds like ‘glorification.’” - Theology in 3D
“I would argue the passage is a warning, and as a warning it alerts us to lurking dangers that entice us to forsake Jesus. It does not announce faith’s possible failure.” - Christ Over All
