Assurance
"They shall never perish, neither shall any man pluck them out of my hand."
John 10:28
Once a soul is truly born again, can it ever be lost again? Many sincere people live in fear, wondering whether they might sin their way out of God's family. The Word of God gives a settled and joyful answer: the one who is saved by God is kept by God, for ever.
If we were saved by our own works, then we might indeed be lost by our own failures. But salvation is the gift of God, and it is His work from beginning to end. What God begins, God finishes.
"Being confident of this very thing, that he which hath begun a good work in you will perform it until the day of Jesus Christ." (Philippians 1:6)
The believer does not hold on to God by his own strength; God holds on to him. Our security rests not on the strength of our grip, but on the strength of His.
Hear the plain words of the Saviour Himself. He gives eternal life — and eternal life that could be lost would not be eternal at all.
"And I give unto them 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 10:28-29)
The believer is held in two hands — the hand of the Son and the hand of the Father — and no power in heaven, earth, or hell can pluck him out.
The moment a sinner trusts Christ, the Holy Ghost comes to dwell within him and seals him — a mark of ownership and a guarantee — until the day of redemption.
"In whom also after that ye believed, ye were sealed with that holy Spirit of promise, which is the earnest of our inheritance." (Ephesians 1:13-14)
"And grieve not the holy Spirit of God, whereby ye are sealed unto the day of redemption." (Ephesians 4:30)
The apostle Paul searched heaven, earth, life, and death for anything that could separate a believer from the love of God, and he found nothing.
"For I am persuaded, that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor powers, nor things present, nor things to come... shall be able to separate us from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord." (Romans 8:38-39)
This precious truth is not a licence to sin, but a comfort to the trembling and a spur to grateful obedience. The child of God is not kept in order to live carelessly; he is kept so that he may serve his Saviour with a heart set free from fear. If you have truly trusted the Lord Jesus Christ, lift up your head: you are His, and He will never let you go.
"For I know whom I have believed, and am persuaded that he is able to keep that which I have committed unto him against that day."2 Timothy 1:12