Perish? A true believer perish? Let the Person best able to answer that weighty question do so. He says, “Never!” “I give unto them eternal life; and they shall never perish” (John 10:2828And I give unto them eternal life; and they shall never perish, neither shall any man pluck them out of my hand. (John 10:28)). Wasn’t it God’s object in giving His Son to be lifted up, that “whosoever believeth in Him should not perish, but have everlasting life”? (John 3:1616For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life. (John 3:16)).
Now if the Great and Good Shepherd has pledged His holy word that no sheep of His shall ever perish (and it is the unbeliever who is not His sheep, see John 10:2626But ye believe not, because ye are not of my sheep, as I said unto you. (John 10:26)), why not honor His blessed word, and take the comfort for your trembling soul that such an assurance gives? We maintain that to do otherwise is to cast a slur on His faithfulness! With the greatest sincerity some sing that line of the hymn —
“A charge to keep I have,”
and entirely overlook the fact that there is another side to be considered — that the Lord Jesus Christ, in loving devotedness to His Father’s will, has a precious “charge to keep.” Didn’t He say, “This is the Father’s will which hath sent Me, that of all which He hath given Me I should lose nothing”? (John 6:3939And this is the Father's will which hath sent me, that of all which he hath given me I should lose nothing, but should raise it up again at the last day. (John 6:39)).
How, then, can any speak of the possibility of one of “His own” being lost, without suggesting at the same time the possibility of His being unfaithful to the perfect carrying out of His Father’s will? Such Christ dishonoring thoughts could never find a place in any heart that knew and loved that blessed One — the “Holy” and the “True.” Impossible! Listen to His own words to the Father: “Those that Thou gavest Me I have kept, and none of them is lost, but the son of perdition; that the Scripture might be fulfilled” (John 17:1212While I was with them in the world, I kept them in thy name: those that thou gavest me I have kept, and none of them is lost, but the son of perdition; that the scripture might be fulfilled. (John 17:12)). And again: “Of them which Thou gavest Me have I lost none” (John 18:99That the saying might be fulfilled, which he spake, Of them which thou gavest me have I lost none. (John 18:9)). No. The great Captain of our salvation is “bringing many sons unto glory” — nothing short of it is the Father’s purpose for them — and when they surround Him there, He will, without exception, be able to say, “Behold I and the children which God hath given Me” (Hebrews 2:1313And again, I will put my trust in him. And again, Behold I and the children which God hath given me. (Hebrews 2:13)). Not one, not even the weakest, will be missing; and He will get all the glory of bringing them there.
But doesn’t Scripture say we may fall from grace? Yes, from grace as a principle of blessing in contrast to the law. The apostle writes to the Galatians this way: “Christ is become of no effect unto you, whosoever of you are justified by the law; ye are fallen from grace” (Galatians 5:44Christ is become of no effect unto you, whosoever of you are justified by the law; ye are fallen from grace. (Galatians 5:4)).
Now grace means favor without merit, and when it is God’s grace it is unlimited favor on His side, with no trace of merit on ours. Perhaps there is nothing that God, in His word, has expressed Himself more jealous about than an infringement upon His grace — a setting it aside — a frittering away of its beautiful character by the introduction of some meritorious reason in us why He should bless us.
Take the case of Gehazi, in Elisha’s days. What grace it was, that the commander-in-chief of the forces of Israel’s powerful enemy should have to come to Israel’s prophet for healing and cleansing, and that when his pride was humbled to bow to God’s means of blessing, he should get all he sought for. How that grace becomes doubly magnified when we consider that the very link between him and this blessing was that little Hebrew captive maiden who served in his household. Israel had been robbed of one of her daughters, yet she becomes the link to the needed healing. But there was even more than this. The prophet of Israel’s God wouldn’t receive anything in payment for this blessing. What all of the leper’s possessions — goods and glory — couldn’t have purchased elsewhere, he has free of charge in the land of Israel. What “grace upon grace” it was! Yes, thought Elisha God’s prophet of grace, this Naaman shall return to Syria and say, All this for nothing! and all from the very nation I helped to oppress and plunder! All that I took as a means to the blessing was unnecessary. My royal letter of commendation to the king was of no use. My ten talents of silver, my 6,000 pieces of gold, my ten changes of raiment, have all had to be brought back. Indeed, the only thing I didn’t bring back was my filthy leprosy. This I left in the depths of Jordan’s flood. All this for nothing, how wonderful!
But now notice what follows. Gehazi sets about, immediately, to spoil all this. With ruthless stroke he robs this sweet fruit of heavenly grace of its lovely bloom; and one mean, selfish sentence does it. “Give, I pray thee, a talent of silver, and two changes of garments.” He gives a false impression of his master; he mutilates the testimony of grace; and God marks His displeasure by inflicting, next to death itself, one of the most severe punishments on record. “The leprosy of Naaman shall cleave unto thee and unto thy seed forever.”
The Galatians, in the New Testament, were rebuked more severely than, perhaps, any of the other offending saints to whom epistles were addressed. They had begun with grace, and were going back to merit. “Are ye so foolish?” writes the apostle, “having begun in the Spirit, are ye now made perfect by the flesh?” (Galatians 3:33Are ye so foolish? having begun in the Spirit, are ye now made perfect by the flesh? (Galatians 3:3)). It must be grace all through. You cannot mix “law” and “grace.” Sinai will never become a suburb of the Jerusalem which is above. “The son of the bondwoman shall not be heir with the son of the freewoman.”
You cannot begin by standing on the merits of Another and end by standing on your own. You cannot get the blessing through grace and retain it through merit. Take a simple illustration:
A rich merchant chooses to take a homeless, ragged young beggar from the public streets into his own house. He dresses him properly, and makes every effort to make him feel happy and at home in his new circumstances, and he succeeds.
One day the rich merchant is astonished to find this boy in the bottom cellar, with coat off and apron on, busily shining shoes! What are you doing here, my son?
Someone told me, sir, that if I rightly appreciated my new position I must begin to do something in order to be kept here, and that if I failed in this I should one day be turned out of house and home, and again become a miserable street wanderer. I didn’t want this to happen, so I thought I would start and do something as a motive for you to keep me here! Now that boy had fallen from grace, that is, as far as the figure goes. Grace had placed him as a son, without a single claim or merit, in the best place, and he had now got into the lowest cellar and taken the servant’s place in order to retain his valued blessings.
This was what the Galatians were doing. Grace had called them to the highest blessings. Sonship, with the enjoyment of that relationship by “the Spirit of His Son” sent forth into their hearts had been given them, and with it heirship also. And instead of standing fast in the liberty wherewith Christ had made them free, they were seeking perfection in the flesh by being “justified by the law.” (See Galatians 3:33Are ye so foolish? having begun in the Spirit, are ye now made perfect by the flesh? (Galatians 3:3) and Galatians 5:1-41Stand fast therefore in the liberty wherewith Christ hath made us free, and be not entangled again with the yoke of bondage. 2Behold, I Paul say unto you, that if ye be circumcised, Christ shall profit you nothing. 3For I testify again to every man that is circumcised, that he is a debtor to do the whole law. 4Christ is become of no effect unto you, whosoever of you are justified by the law; ye are fallen from grace. (Galatians 5:1‑4).) In other words, they had “fallen from grace.”
Three motives may be assigned for the performance of good works.
The first is in order to get the blessing.
The second, to retain it when I have got it.
The third (and this is the gospel motive) is to serve, in loving gratitude, the One who died to secure the blessing for me, and who lives to keep me for the blessing.
I once noticed a striking inscription carved on the end of a beautiful row of cottages in Leicestershire. It was to this effect:
For the poor relatives of Thomas C — .
Good behavior alone to entitle possession.
When in possession,
Disorderly behavior to cause instant removal.
Here was an illustration of the first two motives named above, and, thousands are found today either with one or both of these motives.
But what is the motive in such service? It is self. If I am working to get salvation, for whom am I working? For myself.
If I am working to keep it when I have got it, for whom am I working? Obviously for myself!
Then what kind of service ought I to give? “He died for all, that they which live should not henceforth live unto themselves, but unto Him which died for them, and rose again” (2 Corinthians 5:1515And that he died for all, that they which live should not henceforth live unto themselves, but unto him which died for them, and rose again. (2 Corinthians 5:15)). And what is the motive for this kind of service? It is love, as the previous verse will show; for “the love of Christ constraineth us.”
One of Her Majesty’s blue-jackets was once asked why he wore so much white cord around his neck. He immediately put his hand into his shirt and pulled out a pocket-knife, which was fastened by this cord. This cord, he said, we call a lanyard. And then, stretching out his arm at full length, he said, You see the cord is long enough for the knife to be used by us when the arm is at full stretch. We blue-jackets sometimes say that we have one hand for Her Majesty and one for ourselves. In rough weather we often have to hold on for dear life to the rigging with one hand; with the other we serve our sovereign.
Now, such may be quite suitable for Her Majesty’s service, but it won’t do for the service of our Master. Yet how many thousands of professing Christians are doing it! That is, they are holding on for salvation, so to speak, with one hand, and serving the Lord with the other. It may be asked, What should it be? Is it not right to hold fast? Yes. But hold fast to what, and why? Hold fast lest we should be lost? No. But, “We receiving a kingdom which cannot be moved, let us have grace, whereby we may serve God acceptably with reverence and godly fear” (Hebrews 12:2828Wherefore we receiving a kingdom which cannot be moved, let us have grace, whereby we may serve God acceptably with reverence and godly fear: (Hebrews 12:28)).
Be assured of this, that no service is “acceptable” that does not come from a grateful sense of the grace on which I stand. The moment self becomes my motive, it is worthless. I don’t have to hold on for salvation with one hand, and serve Him with the other; but to enjoy the blessed truth that He holds me with both His hands, and loves me with all His heart. Then I can be free to serve Him with both my hands and all my heart. Nor is it a dangerous doctrine, as they suppose who don’t know the constraint of love.
Ask some father whether he would prefer entrusting his helpless child to the mother or to the hired nurse during his month’s absence from home; and he will tell you that the question needs no answering.
But how is this? The mother has no fear of being fired — she is his wife: he doesn’t fear for his baby’s welfare because she is the mother. The hired nurse might fear this, but the mother serves from the instincts, and with the tenderness and untiring patience of a mother’s love. And this makes all the difference. How sad that any should try to reduce Christian service to the restraint and bondage of a hireling!
We say it boldly, You will grieve the Lord’s heart if you do, and rob yourself of one of the greatest privileges your earthly life can have — serving Him in the gratitude of a heart touched by the sense of His own precious grace to you.
I would not work my soul to save —
That work my Lord has done;
But I would work like any slave,
From love to God’s dear Son.