"I cannot believe your doctrine, sir, that all who are once truly saved can never be lost. I once felt happy myself, but it is all gone now." These statements were made to me by a farmer's wife when speaking of God's salvation.
"What made you feel happy?" I asked.
"Well, sir, for some years I was in deep distress of soul, seeking rest here and there. I was troubled about my sins and my lost condition. One night, as plain as though someone were speaking to me, I heard the scripture: `Daughter, thy sins be forgiven.' How happy I was! But I have lost everything now; it is all gone. My peace has fled.”
I immediately turned to two little girls who were listening to their mother, and asked, "Are these your daughters?”
"Oh, yes, they are mine.”
"Were they always your daughters?”
"Of course they were.”
"Will they always be your daughters?”
"Certainly they will," she replied, looking at me as though I were stupid to ask such questions.
"What did you hear yourself called that night?" "Daughter.”
"Did it say 'daughter'? If you were a daughter then, you are a daughter now. The relationship of a parent and child can never be broken.”
Reader, are you in the difficulty in which I found the farmer's wife? If so, permit me to direct you to a few plain scriptures that prove beyond question that a person once truly believing can never be lost. He becomes a child of God forever. If my reader be inclined to argue that there are some difficult scriptures which seem to prove the contrary, all I ask is, believe what is plain, and what you can understand. Then quietly wait upon God until the other scriptures are made plain; for, rely upon it, God cannot contradict Himself.
The first scripture I ask you to look at is John 1:1212But as many as received him, to them gave he power to become the sons of God, even to them that believe on his name: (John 1:12): "As many as received Him [Jesus], to them gave He power [or the right, title, or privilege] to become the sons [rather, children] of God.”
Again, John 8:3535And the servant abideth not in the house for ever: but the Son abideth ever. (John 8:35): "The servant abideth not in the house forever." Our servants leave us, or we send them away at our pleasure, and the link is broken. Not so our children; "the Son abideth ever." The new or spiritual birth is as real as the natural; and being "born of God" brings us into His family. If your child were to go to the other side of the globe, he would still be your child; and wherever your house was, he would still be able to point to it and say: "This is my father's house.”
Perhaps you reply: "I must feel I am a child before I can enjoy the relationship; and if the Spirit does not witness within, I cannot be one.”
The Word of God says, "The Spirit itself beareth witness with our spirit, that we are the children of God." Rom. 8:1616The Spirit itself beareth witness with our spirit, that we are the children of God: (Romans 8:16). Notice, being children, the Spirit of God takes possession of our hearts, giving us the conscious relationship of children.
Dear suffering soul, do you look upon affliction as a sign that you are not a child of God?
We read in Heb. 12 that God as Father deals with His erring children. The 6th verse tells us that "whom the Lord loveth He chasteneth, and scourgeth every son whom He receiveth." The 7th verse says, "If ye endure chastening, God dealeth with you as with sons; for what son is he whom the father chasteneth not?”
Moreover, if a believer sins, he is dealt with as a child of God, by the Father, to maintain the holiness of His house; but he never ceases to be a child.
Doubting Christian, will you not give full credit to the love of God? "Behold what manner of love the Father hath bestowed upon us, that we should be called the sons [children] of God." 1 John 3:11Behold, what manner of love the Father hath bestowed upon us, that we should be called the sons of God: therefore the world knoweth us not, because it knew him not. (1 John 3:1). "Beloved, now are we the sons [children] of God, and it doth not yet appear [is not yet fully manifested] what we shall be: but we know that, when He shall appear, we shall be like Him; for we shall see Him as He is." 1 John 3:22Beloved, now are we the sons of God, and it doth not yet appear what we shall be: but we know that, when he shall appear, we shall be like him; for we shall see him as he is. (1 John 3:2).
Nothing can be more distinct, clear, and emphatic than that "the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord." Rom. 6:2323For the wages of sin is death; but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord. (Romans 6:23). To doubt or question this is to deny the recorded words of God. "And this is the record, that God hath given to us eternal life, and this life is in His Son." 1 John 5:1111And this is the record, that God hath given to us eternal life, and this life is in his Son. (1 John 5:11). The special purpose of the Spirit of God in writing thus is: "These things have I written unto you that believe on the name of the Son of God; that ye may know that ye have eternal life." 1 John 5:1313These things have I written unto you that believe on the name of the Son of God; that ye may know that ye have eternal life, and that ye may believe on the name of the Son of God. (1 John 5:13). Mark, it is ours, not to fear or to hope for, but to know with certainty on no less authority than the Word of the living God who cannot lie, that we are "children of God by faith in Christ Jesus." Gal. 3:2626For ye are all the children of God by faith in Christ Jesus. (Galatians 3:26).
Unsaved soul, you have no claim on God as a Father. To you He is Judge. But by this same holy Word you can become a child of God, a member of His family, by faith in His dear Son Jesus.
This blessed Savior of sinners said, "No man cometh unto the Father, but by Me." John 14:66Jesus saith unto him, I am the way, the truth, and the life: no man cometh unto the Father, but by me. (John 14:6). And His precious promise is: "Him that cometh to Me I will in no wise cast out." John 6:3737All that the Father giveth me shall come to me; and him that cometh to me I will in no wise cast out. (John 6:37). Will you not believe Him, receive Him, and enter into the eternal joys of family relationship with the Lord of glory?