This is the plain teaching of Scripture, as the following Scriptures prove. "By the which will [God's] we are sanctified through the offering of the body of Jesus Christ ONCE FOR ALL." (Heb. 10:1010By the which will we are sanctified through the offering of the body of Jesus Christ once for all. (Hebrews 10:10)). "By one offering He hath perfected Forever them that are sanctified." (Heb. 10:1414For by one offering he hath perfected for ever them that are sanctified. (Hebrews 10:14)). "And I give unto them [believers on the Lord Jesus] eternal life; and THEY SHALL NEVER PERISH, neither shall any man pluck them out of My hand. My Father, which gave them Me, is greater than all; and no man is able to pluck them out of My Father's hand." (John 10:28, 2928And I give unto them eternal life; and they shall never perish, neither shall any man pluck them out of my hand. 29My Father, which gave them me, is greater than all; and no man is able to pluck them out of my Father's hand. (John 10:28‑29)).
The believer in the teaching that a true child of God may fall away and perish forever, may say in response, " It is quite true that believers can never be plucked by any man out of the hand of the Good Shepherd of the sheep, nor out of the hand of the Father, but he may take himself out of their hands, or else where does human will come in?" We have had a very long experience of Christian work, and we have yet to meet the Christian man or woman, who wishes to take himself or herself out of the hands of the Lord. The advocates of such an idea must be very hard up for an argument, to descend to such a low level as this.
But in the last Scripture we have just quoted we have the absolutely unqualified statement as to the sheep of Christ, that " they shall never perish." Write these glorious words in golden letters across the skies so that all mankind can see them! If a sheep of Christ perishes, either by the action of any, or by his own act, then these words of our Lord Jesus are proved false. Far be the thought! These words stand grandly true for all time, and for every believer on the Lord Jesus without one single exception, for these words were spoken by One no less than the Son of God. We may well enjoy the assurance and comfort they bring.
Does The Blood Of Christ Cleanse From All Sin?
It is taught by some that only the believer's PAST sins are forgiven, and that sins AFTER conversion need to be confessed, and a fresh application of the blood of Christ is necessary for their cleansing. But let us see what the Scripture says as to the precious blood of Christ. We read, "if we [believers] walk in the light, as He [God] is in the light, we have fellowship one with another, and the blood of Jesus Christ, His Son, cleanseth us from ALL SIN." (1 John 1:77But if we walk in the light, as he is in the light, we have fellowship one with another, and the blood of Jesus Christ his Son cleanseth us from all sin. (1 John 1:7)).
"Exactly," says the teacher of the reapplication of the blood of Jesus, "this Scripture plainly says cleanseth. Surely this is a process, and not once for all." But not quite so fast! This verse says nothing about PAS!' sins, nor about FUTURE sins, but simply says that for the believer ALL SIN is cleansed by the blood of Christ. This verse sets forth the quality of the shed blood of Christ, that when applied, it cleanses from ALL SIN.
If a professor of chemistry were to hold up a phial containing deadly poison, and say to his students, " This poison killeth," or, to use a less archaic form, " This poison kills," would he not be greatly surprised at the stupidity of his pupils, if they thought his words conveyed the idea that the poison was at the moment killing, and that this was a process to be repeated again and again? No, they would understand that he was describing the quality and nature of the liquid, and that when it was applied it would kill.
A Scriptural illustration confirms what we have been saying. We read, "He that cometh from above [the Lord Jesus] is above all: he that is of the earth is earthly, and speaketh of the earth: He that cometh from heaven is above all." (John 3:3131He that cometh from above is above all: he that is of the earth is earthly, and speaketh of the earth: he that cometh from heaven is above all. (John 3:31)).
Twice repeated in this Scripture we get the word cometh, in precisely the same form of the verb, as in the word cleanseth. Does cometh mean a process, that our Lord came once, then kept coming continually; or does it mean that He came once for all? Most surely the latter. The Lord, having completed the work of atonement at the cross of Calvary, sat down forever at the right hand of God (Heb. 10:1212But this man, after he had offered one sacrifice for sins for ever, sat down on the right hand of God; (Hebrews 10:12)). In perpetuity the work of atonement was completed once for all to God's fullest satisfaction.
What then are the instructions for a sinning saint? We read, "If we [believers] confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. If we say that we have not sinned, we make Him a liar, and His word is not in us. My little children, these things write I unto you, that ye sin not, And if any man sin, we have an Advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ, the righteous." (1 John 1:9-2:19If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. 10If we say that we have not sinned, we make him a liar, and his word is not in us. 1My little children, these things write I unto you, that ye sin not. And if any man sin, we have an advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous: (1 John 1:9‑2:1)).
Please bear in mind that these verses immediately follow the Scripture, which tells us of the precious blood of Christ, cleansing from all sin. Read the Scripture carefully and you will see that it is not a question of a sinner coming to God for pardon of his sins for the first time, but of a sinning saint, coming to his Father in Heaven, seeking His forgiveness and restoration to communion with Him. And please note particularly that the Advocate, Jesus Christ, the righteous, is with the Father.
And what does the word, Advocate imply? It means one who comes alongside to help, just as an earthly advocate will undertake the case of his client, and carry it through. Was it not in essence illustrated by our Lord's actions towards Peter, after he had denied Him with oaths and cursings, resulting in his restoration and recovery? Is this not a sample of the way the blessed Lord will act for us and with us, when alas! it may be necessary?
And further note, it does not say that God is loving and gracious (He surely is that, blessed be His name), but "faithful and just." Why does it say, "faithful and just"? It is because the precious blood of Christ cleanses from ALL SIN, that our Lord has the righteous ground to put into action His restoring grace, so that the sinning saint, brought to repentance and confession, can receive the pardon of the Father, who is " faithful and just " in doing so, and able " to cleanse from all unrighteousness."
David, who sinned very grievously in the matter of Bathsheba, confessing his sin in deep contrition, prayed: "Restore unto me the JOY of Thy salvation; and uphold me with Thy free Spirit." (Psa. 51:1212Restore unto me the joy of thy salvation; and uphold me with thy free spirit. (Psalm 51:12)). Note carefully, he did not ask for salvation, but the JOY of salvation, to be restored. Salvation is a blessing, once given, never to be withdrawn, blessed be the Lord. Our Lord became the "Author of eternal salvation." (Heb. 5:99And being made perfect, he became the author of eternal salvation unto all them that obey him; (Hebrews 5:9)).
But the inquiry may be pressed, How can God forgive sins BEFORE they are committed? Scripture furnishes the only answer to our question. We read that our Lord "was delivered for our offenses, and was raised again for our justification." (Rom. 4:2525Who was delivered for our offences, and was raised again for our justification. (Romans 4:25)). For how many of our offenses was our Lord delivered? If it were only our sins up to conversion, we were in a sorry plight indeed, for our Lord will not be called upon to die again. Surely this Scripture was written for all time. And it is a matter of fact when our Lord died for our offenses on the cross, we, believers alive today, were not born, nor had we committed a single sin.
The Apostle Peter writes in similar strain, "Who His own self bare our sins in His own body on the tree." (1 Peter 2:2424Who his own self bare our sins in his own body on the tree, that we, being dead to sins, should live unto righteousness: by whose stripes ye were healed. (1 Peter 2:24)). Was not this verse also written for all time? Does it not cover untold millions of believers, who were unborn when our Lord died upon the cross? It must be as this Scripture states, that our Lord bore ALL our sins in His own body on the tree. Let us rejoice that in God's sight the FUTURE is as the PAST, and that the precious blood of Christ cleanses from ALL SIN, judicially satisfying fully Divine justice, setting the believing sinner free from all charge of guilt the moment he believes.
But this leads us to another inquiry, the complete opposite of what we have been considering.