This is a precis of David Bercot's book:
WHAT THE EARLY CHRISTIANS BELIEVED ABOUT ETERNAL
SECURITY
DOES
THE BIBLE MEAN WHAT IT SAYS
Another parable put he
forth unto them, saying, The kingdom of heaven is like to a grain of mustard
seed, which a man took, and sowed in his field: Which indeed is the least of
all seeds: but when it is grown, it is the greatest among herbs, and becometh a
tree, so that the birds of the air come and lodge in the branches thereof. (Matt
13:31-32 KJV)
The obvious interpretation is that
the kingdom of God will eventually fill the whole earth, but it will start
small. As a Jehovah’s Witness back in the 1970’s Bercot was taught that this
passage meant “that the counterfeit kingdom of God (all the churches) would
grow and fill the earth. Further, it said that the birds of the air which nest
in the mustard tree represent the demons.”[1]
Yet the passage does not speak of a counterfeit kingdom.
Another parable put he
forth unto them, saying, The kingdom of heaven is like to a grain of mustard
seed, which a man took, and sowed in his field: Which indeed is the least of
all seeds: but when it is grown, it is the greatest among herbs, and becometh a
tree, so that the birds of the air come and lodge in the branches thereof. Again,
the kingdom of heaven is like unto a net, that was cast into the sea, and
gathered of every kind: Which, when it was full, they drew to shore, and sat
down, and gathered the good into vessels, but cast the bad away. So shall it be
at the end of the world: the angels shall come forth, and sever the wicked from
among the just, And shall cast them into the furnace of fire: there shall be
wailing and gnashing of teeth. (Matt 13:47-50 KJV)
The passage is clear that the wicked
will be separated from the righteous, and cast out at the end of the age,
however, the Jehovah Witnesses taught Bercot that this passage is speaking of “two
kingdoms: a genuine one and a counterfeit one. The genuine one is like a
dragnet that brings in just clean fish. And the counterfeit one brings in all
of these bad fish that Jesus talks about. The [Watchtower] book further
explained that Jehovah’s Witnesses, in their door-to-door evangelism, find the
good fish that are out there and bring them into the kingdom dragnet.”[2]
The fact is however that Jesus didn’t say anything about “two dragnets or a
counterfeit kingdom and a real kingdom.”[3]
EVANGELICALS
AND ETERNAL SECURITY
Bercot left the Jehovah’s Witnesses
when he discovered their way of handling Scripture. This led to their
conversion as evangelical Christians, and they joined a Bible Church where the
men studied Major Bible Themes by Chafer and Walvoord. The chapter on Security
of Salvation stated that, and shared the Armenian’s list of 85 verses that
support their view of conditional security; Chafer and Walvoord explain all the
verses away. Bercot discovered that “Chafer and Walvoord take clear Scripture
passages and try to make them say just the opposite of what they’re clearly
saying,”[4]
just as the Jehovah’s Witnesses do. See my blog for the list of 85 verses, and Bercot’s further discussion of them.
THE
HISTORIC FAITH
In a discussion with the pastor of
the church about the matter, Bercot was told that “unconditional eternal
security was the historic belief to which Christians had always held.”[5]
He promptly purchased a ten-volume set of the Ante-Nicene Fathers (ANF) to
discover historic Christianity for himself.[6]
WHAT
I DISCOVERED
In the year that it
took to read the ten-volume set, Bercot discovered that not one single early
Christian writer ever held to the doctrine of unconditional eternal security.[7]
The early church father’s beliefs affirmed the teaching of Hebrews and other
passages, that “if you die in sin, there will remain no repentance for
you. (ANF 7.400).”[8]
Clement of Alexandria, Tertullian, and Cyprian affirm Matthew 24:13 that the
one who endures is the one who will be saved.[9]
WHAT
DO THE OTHER EARLY CHRISTIANS SAY
All early Christian
writers agree unanimously that eternal security is conditional; wickedness must
be forsaken and righteousness practiced “so that we may be saved unto the end.
ANF 7.522, 523.”[10]
The Apostolic Constitutions declare, “He who sins after his baptism,
unless he repents and forsakes his sins, will be condemned to Gehenna. ANF
7.398.”[11]
BUT
WHAT DOES THE BIBLE TEACH
Even as we go to the
early Christian writers for information and not inspiration, we discover that
they “simply took on face value what the Bible says” and concluded that “our
salvation is conditioned on our being faithful to death” (2 Chron. 15:2; Ezek.
33:12; Luke 9:62; 2 Tim. 2:12; 2 Peter 2:20-21; Rev. 3:5).[12]
If we would read the New Testament and take the “security” passages at face
value, we would discover the same; and notice all the “if” passages (John 8:31;
John 15:6, 10. 14; 1 Cor. 15:1-2; Gal. 6:9; 2 Tim. 2:12; 1 John 1:7; 1 John
2:3-4).
SHOULD
CHRISTIANS LIVE IN CONDITIONAL INSECURITY
The early believers did
not live in daily fear of being disinherited because those who walk in the
Spirit do not live with such fear. Bercot provides an illustration:
“Suppose that a
wealthy man had a son, and he told his son one day: “Listen, when I die, all of
this that you see, the home, the land, everything I own, is going to be yours.”
Now what would you think of this son if then the next day he came to his father
with a tablet and a pen and said: “Father, you know, yesterday you said you
were going to leave all of this for me, that this is my inheritance. Well, I’ve
drawn up a little contract here that I’d like you to sign saying that you are
never going to disinherit me no matter what I do, and that this inheritance is
definitely mine even if I renounce you and do a lot of wicked things.” What
kind of son would that be? What kind of relationship would that reveal if he
demanded such a guarantee from his father?”[13]
Faithful Christians need not live in
insecurity and fear, but the carnal Christian does, and they need to repent; if
they die without repentance they are lost.[14]
Security is conditioned on bearing fruit, as we find in John 15.
THE
GNOSTICS
The only group in the
second and third century who believed in eternal security were the Gnostics.[15]
The early Christian writers wrote against them, and so did John.[16]
How did this teaching get into the church? Augustine was a Manichaean; they
were a revived form of the Gnostics, in the 300’s and 400’s.
“Augustine was the
person who introduced the doctrine of predestination into the orthodox church.
He taught that the elect can never be lost. At the same time, Augustine
taught that you can never be sure that you are of the elect. So even his
unconditional security didn’t make you very secure. That’s because you couldn’t
know for certain that you are of the elect. Augustine’s doctrine of
predestination never became a formal dogma of the Roman Catholic Church. And
the eastern church rejected it entirely. However, at the time of the
Reformation, Augustine’s doctrine of predestination was revived by Luther and
was promulgated by Calvin. Their doctrine was a little more palatable. They
took what Augustine said and changed one little thing. They said that you can
know positively that you are of the elect. So, with Luther and Calvin,
everything is wrapped up. According to Luther, there is nothing to fear no
matter how little of your life you give to Christ or how much you deny Christ
by the way you live. In contrast, Calvin would say that an ungodly life would
indicate you are not of the elect. From Luther, the doctrine of unconditional
eternal security has spread far and wide because it’s obvious that this is what
most people want to believe.”[17]
Luther disparaged books
like Hebrews and James that clearly go against this teaching; he declared
Hebrews to be going against the Gospels and Paul and called it an epistle mixed
with hay and wood and straw, and said that it could not be put on the same
level as the apostolic epistles. Luther also considered Matthew, Mark, and Luke
to not be on the same level as John’s gospel, and he called the book of James
an epistle of straw that was not on the level of Paul’s epistles.[18]
DOES
IT REALLY MATTER WHAT YOU BELIEVE ABOUT ETERNAL SECURITY
Whilst believing in the
doctrine of eternal security does not exclude one from salvation, it is a
dangerous doctrine because it “guts all of Christ’s teachings.”[19]
For example, we can believe that divorce is a sin, but if we are eternally
secure regardless, and it is therefore not going to affect our salvation, then
we can proceed with the divorce. “If we can willfully disobey Christ, never
repent, and still enjoy eternal life in heaven, what our most Christians going
to do? The answer is that most believers are not going to live obedient lives,
particularly if obedience requires great sacrifice.”[20]
Tertullian reminds us that God is not under necessity to bestow on the unworthy
that which He promised ANF 3.661.[21]
WHAT
ABOUT THE OTHER SIDE OF THE ARGUMENT
Chafer and Walvoord’s Major
Bible Themes uses John 3:16 to support their doctrine of eternal security,
saying,
“Scripture reveals the sovereign
promise of God, which is unconditional, and which promises eternal salvation to
everyone who believes in Christ.” (John 3:16)…The infinite love of God not only
accounts for God’s eternal purpose but assures that His purpose will be
fulfilled. (Rom 8:38-39).”[22]
John 3:16 speaks of those who believe
and does not speak of those who lose their faith. This one verse also cannot
cancel out the teaching of Hebrews.[23]
Romans 8:38-39 speaks of God’s love for us but if that were the same as
salvation then we would have universal salvation. “God doesn’t stop loving us
when we disobey Him or rebel against Him. However, that doesn’t mean He is
going to give us eternal life either.”[24]
Their final proof text, John 10:29 which speaks of none being able to snatch us
out of Gods’ hand is about the power of God; it does not contradict the
passages about conditional security that have been explored. The question is
not of God’s power but of his conditions: the fruitless branch
will be cut off.[25]
God’s word tells us “If we sin willfully after we have received the knowledge
of the truth, there no longer remains a sacrifice for sins, but a certain
fearful expectation of judgment (Heb. 10:26).”[26]
The fact that we cannot be snatched out of God’s hand does not equate to God
never cutting us off the Vine.
PLAYING
GAMES WITH GODS WORD
To read Scripture and then
say that the verses are not meaning what they very clearly say, is playing
games with God’s Word. The early Christian writings help us realize that we can
take God’s Word at face value. We can indeed read the Bible and literally
believe what it says.[27]
Bibliography
Bercot, David. What the Early Christians Believed
About Eternal Security. Amberson: PA, 2013.
[1] Bercot, David. What the
Early Christians Believed About Eternal Security (p. 4). Scroll Publishing Co..
Kindle Edition.
[2] Ibid, 5
[3] Ibid,.
[4] Ibid, 8
[5] Ibid, 9
[6] Ibid, 10
[7] Ibid, 11
[8] Ibid, 12
[9] Ibid, 11-13
[10] Ibid, 14
[11] Ibid, 16
[12] Ibid, 17
[13] Ibid, 19
[14] Ibid, 20
[15] Ibid, 21
[16] Ibid, 21-22
[17] Ibid, 23
[18] Ibid,.
[19] Ibid, 25
[20] Ibid,.
[21] Ibid, 26
[22] Ibid, 27
[23] Ibid,.
[24] Ibid, 28
[25] Ibid,.
[26] Ibid,.
[27] Ibid, 29
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