Is a Gradate of Northwestern University in 1911
EVERYONE WHO has this hope in him purifies himself, just as he is pure" (First John 3:3). This is an appeal to purity of life. The standard is the purity of Christ - nothing less than that. It is addressed to those who have a certain hope - to no others. What is this hope? It is stated in the preceding verse. "Dear friends, now we are children of God, and what we will be has not yet been made known. But we know that when he appears, we shall be like him, for we shall see him as he is" (verse 2). This is an unqualified statement that those who are now children of God shall be like Christ. It is not, "those who remain children," or "remain faithful," or "hold out," it is all who are now children, and this "now" has been there during the entire Christian era. This hope is "an anchor for the soul, firm and secure. It enters the inner sanctuary behind the curtain, where Jesus, who went before us, has entered on our behalf" (Hebrews 6:19, 20).
It is because of this sure hope that those who have been saved are urged to purify themselves. A constant realization of the fact that one shall be like Jesus Christ, the Son of God, makes all impurity of life seem strangely out of place.
But if a person has no definite assurance that he shall be like Jesus, then the appeal loses its force. How many Christians are there who do not K-N-O-W that they shall be like Christ! How can anyone know, if it is possible to be lost? If it is possible for any one saved person to be lost, that same possibility exists for all. Thus no-one can know that they shall be like Christ if the teaching against eternal security is right. If no-one can know for sure, that he or she shall be like Christ, then this appeal is just so many words wasted.
How different God's appeal is from that which is so often made from pulpits: "If you do not do this," or "if you do that," you will not be taken when Christ comes!
Thus the teaching of the eternal security of the believer supports God's appeal for purity of life while the denial of it undermines it. Another appeal to pure living is found in Colossians 3:5, 6. "Put to death, therefore, whatever belongs to your earthly nature: sexual immorality, impurity, lust, evil desires and greed, which is idolatry." Again the appeal is based on an unconditional statement to which the word "therefore" points back. It is this: "When Christ, who is your life, appears, then you also will appear with him in glory." Again it is a definite, unconditional statement that connects the believer with Christ in glory that is the reason given as the incentive to purity. To teach that one who is saved might not appear with Christ in glory (that is, be lost), possibly because of one of the sins mentioned in the verse quoted, is to take away from such a person this written incentive to purity that God has given for his or her special help when tempted.
DESIRE THE WORD OF GOD
God's appeal for purity of life is not merely negative; it is for the purpose of making the saved person yearn for the word of God, as in the following appeal:
"Therefore rid yourselves of all malice and all deceit, hypocrisy, envy, and slander of every kind. Like newborn babies, crave pure spiritual milk, so that by it you may grow up in your salvation" (First Peter 2:1, 2). This is an appeal which may well be heeded in many churches today. The things mentioned here are of a class that are usually not mentioned by those that oppose eternal security as causing someone who has been saved to be lost. Such things as envy and slander are so subtle and common that few Christians would escape being lost, if sin could cause a saved person to become lost. Yet Peter says get rid of all of these and crave the word of God. What a great need there is now to be occupied with the word of God! Yes, and there is a crying need for the simple explanatory preaching of it.
This appeal is to persons who have been addressed as "chosen according to the foreknowledge of God the Father" (First Peter 1:2). It has already been shown that election (God's choosing) based on God's foreknowledge means eternal security or else God is not omniscient. Therefore in the very greeting these persons (and it is all who are saved) are reminded of their eternal security in Christ.
But the appeal is based on a particular argument as is shown by the introductory word "therefore." This argument is found in the last three verses of the previous chapter. "For you have been born again, not of perishable seed, but of imperishable, through the living and enduring word of God. For, "All men are like grass, and all their glory is like the flowers of the field; the grass withers and the flowers fall, but the word of the Lord stands forever""(First Peter 1:23-25. Quoting Isaiah 40:6-8). The unending nature of the life that results from the new birth, and which is offered as the sole argument for laying aside malice, envy and so on, and desiring the word of God is the very heart of this passage. That life is not of perishable, but of imperishable seed.
This statement is both a negative and a positive statement. By the unchangeable law of birth, the one born has the same nature as the one who gave birth. The unending nature is asserted for the third time in the words "living and enduring." Then the perishable nature of flesh which is like grass, is contrasted with the new life which comes from the word of God; and finally it is stated that the word of God (which is the life of the saved person, because Christ is the Word, and our life) stands (or endures) forever. This passage forcefully declares the eternal nature of the new life of the saved person. It is just this fact that is the reason given for those who are born again (saved) to get rid of malice and deceit, hypocrisy, envy and slander and instead of these, desire the word of God.
If the fact of the unending characteristic of the new life of the saved person (which means that he or she is eternally secure) is denied, then there is very little left, if anything, on which to appeal to saved people to get rid of all these things and to cultivate an appetite for God's word. Nothing can stimulate a desire for knowledge of God's word more than a clear understanding of the fact that one is born again of imperishable seed and is certain of being in glory with Christ.
Thus again the appeal to a godly life is based on the security of the saved and denying it robs the appeal of its force.
You have read a chapter from the book _"SHALL NEVER PERISH" by J. F. Strombeck you can read the entire book at,
Shall Never Perish - By J. F. Strombeck
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